Been putting at least a couple hours a day of 'sweat equity' into the Vibe, along with parts and whatnot. 2 heavy coats of plastic protectant, inside and out, all the way around. That made a big difference in her appearance. Windows cleaned spotless, vacuumed twice
(holding off on a steam cleaning for now). Clay barred half of her so far today, might be able to get the rest before sunset. Pulled the driver side hubcabs, wirebrushed the rust on the steel rims, hit it with two coats of 'rust converter' prior to some paint.
That got me looking at the wheels themselves, and I came up with this idea, GIMP'ed (photoshopped) onto a Vibe pic on here somewhere I found via Google Image search.
Again: the car below is NOT mine! Just the same color, an easy one for me to grab to do a quick edit. 
- Elbow grease + rattle can paint = 'new' rims.
- vibe.jpg (96.78 KiB) Viewed 4855 times
Flat black steel wheels, then deep gray on the hubcaps, except for a silver trim ring at the very outer edge. Should spruce up her appearance a little, for relatively little work/expense - certainly cheaper than new rims.
! At least it's in much better hands now. I look forward to seeing the progress.
!
That's the 2nd I have seen around here, and then yesterday on my road trip, I ran with a Matrix for a little while on the I outside of Wilmington, NC. 