Hello, new member & semi-new owner!
I have been restoring my 2004 Vibe for several months and just found this site! Probably would have saved me some heart ache but where's the fun in that?
Goal:
Have a daily driver / weekend fun car that I can take near anywhere, pay near nothing in fuel (40MPG?
), and feel nice and safe in knowing it won't ever break down on me. I want it to be smooth, quiet, and overall comfortable as humanly possible!
Starting Point:
2004 Pontiac Vibe Base, Black, 1.8ltr 4cyl with Automatic Transmission & AWD; 141k Miles - Purchase price $4,200.
What is needed:
1. Rims & Tires - Steel wheels are a no go, need light and affordable! Tires? They are re-tread's and my luck with them is 0, so replacement!
2. Shocks & Struts (front) - Struts are so bad when I sit on the fender (and I'm fat...) it goes down maybe a 1/2 inch before it hits the bottom...
3. Shocks & Struts (rear) - Haven't inspected these but if the front was bad, I can replace the back while I'm at it I guess.
4. Rotors (front) / Pads - They are somewhat warped and not a hole lot of life left on them.
5. Drums (rear) / Pads - Guessed it, warped and no meat on the pads!
6. Drive Axle's - All the way around they have an amount of rust on them I am not too comfortable with!
7. Wheel bearing & Hub assembly - They are so buggered! The lugs on a couple of them have been stripped, out with them...
8. Exhaust - boy is this tricky, it's rusted and has what looks like patched holes. I don't want noise, I want pure quiet, I want less noise than stock.
9. Fluids Exchange - This should be easy, a drain and fill of fluids: Oil, Coolant, Brake, Steering, Differential, if its viscous, it will be replaced.
10. Ignition Coils / Spark Plugs - They appear good, but there's a small miss under load, I think is a bad coil.
11. Battery - I'm going to be out in nature, I still want juice! I need a deep cycle AGM that can give me lots of hours of juice with the car off.
12. Door Seal - Air squeaks in at random and it's so noisy, new rubber for all the moldings that help keep that air out should help.
13. Safety - I want to know my airbag's and airbag sensors are not faulty, and will save my life if the time comes. Repack the bags and replace the sensors, this is one of the things I've never done on a car... Suggestions are most certainly welcome!
14. Body Trim - it is so grey & faded, It offers ZILCH in protection. I think I'll rhino line it if possible, I need protection from Arizona brush.
15. Body Trim 2 - There are 2 trim pieces missing totally! The window belt mold (driver side), which keeps debris and water from draining into my door! The other, is the center mold skirt of the passenger side, kind of looks like a rocker panel, runs underneath the doors.
16. Auxiliary Port - I don't like the sound quality of those pesky FM transmitters, I want an auxiliary port! There is a button, to the left of the radio under the A/C, Circulate buttons, I might be able to drill a hole in that for an aux port, hey, maybe enough space for a USB outlet for charging too??
What is wanted:
1. A Trailer - I want a really tiny trailer I can put dirt bikes on! Is this even possible? Surely a small wagon like this could pull a bike or two, or four?
2. Blacked Out - I live in AZ and I don't like the sun burning me in my car. My wife is white as can be, 30 minutes of travel and she is bright red, and that is no fun at all.
3. Blacked Out 2 - I don't like a two tone interior (light on top, dark on bottom), and grey in the back??? I want all of it black except for the trim pieces which I want the same metallic grey they are now, perhaps rhino liner in the back so I can toss the moto gear in without regerts
4. Passenger Power - I want a cigarette lighter for people who come with me to charge up their devices, without needing a long cable, or an open line going inside my center console for the lighter port in there, 1 cigarette liter on the back side of the console would be nice.
5. Sound of Silence - I LOVE the quiet ride through the country, so since no one else does, passenger, and backseat occupants need some headphone ports to plugin to the sound!
6. Absence of Silence - Occasionally I like to rock out, when I do, I like good quality noise with a modest thump. The speakers in it now are pretty shot, so I'd like some decent ones to replace, and add a pair of those base units that can be installed underneath seats so I don't lose any other room. If it was comparable to the Bose system in my truck, which has a built in amplifier, that would be perfect to me.
7. True Peace and Quiet - There is so much road noise coming into this thing? I would really like some spray in sound dampener to erase a bit of the drone from the tires & wind. If not the glue on mats are fine too.
8. Interior Dress-up - Fitted floor mats, dash mat, cargo mat.
Seems like enough right?
What has been done:
Part1 #2 - Shocks and struts replaced with Monroe quick struts. They feel a bit stiff, but I figure that will fade with use.
Part1 #4 - Rotors and Pads replace with Duralast's gold rotor and pad set with lifetime warranty.
Part1 #10 - Ignition Coil & Plugs replaced with (guessed it) Duralast premium coils and NGK Laser Iridium plugs
Part2 #8 - Floor mats, dash mat, cargo mat all custom for the vehicle.
Part1 #6 - All but 1 cv shaft was in good condition, replaced the one, kept the 3. Placed the 3 new ones in storage.
Part1 #7 - Tap & Die kit used to repair threads, components appear to be in good condition otherwise, new ones put in storage.
I've done a bunch of other things but they are mostly attempts at things on the list. For example I tried to buff the paint a bit, need a fine grit sand paper that comes to a nice pencil tip for the dremel to get the small rust spots off, seems the car was pelted with rocks behind someone spinning them... Oil changes have also been done, but that doesn't begin to complete my fluids list so... You get the picture.
Thoughts, tips, tricks, requests, post it all. I'll start taking before and after pictures, videos if requested, all that jazz now that I'm going to keep it tracked on this forum.
Thanks!!!
P.S: Budget is currently $8,500 but adding to it constantly! Why not buy a nicer car? Because I wouldn't get the joy of customizing everything to little old me