New to the forums but had my little vibe for a year Edit: now with Pictures!

Park your vehicle in a thread here - list your vehicle info, pics, etc. all in one place.
Post Reply
AnonymousStoner
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2020 8:19 pm
Location: Michigan

New to the forums but had my little vibe for a year Edit: now with Pictures!

Post by AnonymousStoner »

Hey fam. Last year I crashed my Pontiac G6 and I had a Pontiac key lanyard so I was like well it looks like I'm getting another Pontiac..... XD I'm cheap ok... Anyways my cousin is 6'11" yes that's right he is 7foot With his work boots on, he drives a huge Duramax truck as expected but for his work daily he has a 2005 Vibe Base W/ the 5 Speed manual trans. So I'm looking for a new car and I want something with a stick shift, this will be my third vehicle I'm 26 and I want to learn stick. My cousin is 7 foot and if he thinks this car is comfortable enough for a daily I guess I'll consider them. I live in Michigan so there is no shortage of GM cars either. I start looking and I find an all black 2004 Vibe GT. The brake calipers and rims are factory spec, but powder coated black. Subtle for sure but it looked good and I was sick of driving a car and so I wanted a hatchback and the price was right. So I got it. She had 215,000 miles on her and she was clapped out. So here's me the first time driving it and I'm doing ok I'm shifting at like 3000rpms... I bought it from some shade tree car lot... Admittedly not the best idea but W/E.... don't know much about the previous owner but there is no rust for 215,000 and it's clean. So I got it. There was a short ram intake however. So me, driving the car I noticed that the redline is just over 8000rpm!! I'm thinking to myself, that can't be right it's a joke... At this point I was learning that it was a Toyota power train and stuff. Didn't know what kind of gem I had. Tried to rev it out and it just hit a limiter at like 6500(car was warmed up). Was weird, because it felt like it was just starting to go, and according to my guages I still had like 1700 Rpms... After some research I decided to clean the lift screen thing. I've never been a car guy but I'm smart and idk I just wanted a new hobby. After I cleaned it and hit lift for the first time. SOLD. THIS MOTOR IS SO HAPPY. so happy, anyways I think that motor was actually tired and had a bad crank bearing or something because after about 20,000more miles it died. But alas a story of triumph! I swapped in a lower mileage 2ZZGE and it runs great! Been swapping out all the suspension parts and everything too. Not going crazy just putting new factory spec (or similar) parts on, mainly because this is my daily but I'm still learning how to do everything and I love it. So glad I got this car!!! When I had the motor out for swap I ported the factory exhaust head manifold thing too. Made it all flush instead of the lip from the raw casting but yeah that's about it. She runs good. Has a sunroof. And a single black sharpie is touch up work for the whole car now that I tinted the windows! Oh and I also put the rain guard things on the windows. It's a good looking car. It's only on stock fitment for rims and stuff but hey w/e it's all black.

Edit: final mention, the motor i got was from japan so it didnt have the pipe for the secondary air injection systems on the exhaust manifold/header. my header was kinda old and the new one was nicer plus the big gay pipe for that system was really in the way when i was trying to get it out... so i decided to run the Jap header/manifold(ported) and i deleted the entire Secondary air injection system. the smog pump that comes on the 2004 models was already removed by the previous owner. like i said i wish i knew the guy but its w/e it seems like he/she took good care of the car it was just at the end of its life before i saved her.

It's a vibe~~~
Attachments
recent picture of car at a hotel in Idaho Springs Colorado after a car wash
recent picture of car at a hotel in Idaho Springs Colorado after a car wash
IMG_20200629_1308025743.jpg (29.49 KiB) Viewed 2199 times
swapping in new 2zz-GE
swapping in new 2zz-GE
IMG_20200324_155448572.jpg (973.31 KiB) Viewed 2199 times
First car wash after i bought it!
First car wash after i bought it!
IMG_20190519_075848608_HDR3.jpg (35.23 KiB) Viewed 2199 times
Last edited by AnonymousStoner on Sun Jul 12, 2020 10:03 am, edited 5 times in total.
tpollauf
Posts: 4025
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 11:37 am
Location: Toledo/Oregon, Port Clinton Ohio
Contact:

Re: New to the forums but had my little vibe for a year

Post by tpollauf »

Welcome to GenVibe ... "stoner" (I love that title). Sounds like you got yourself a pretty good deal on this Vibe. The fact that it has minimal rust for Michigan in it's 16 year history, is unheard of ... BUT great for you! Maybe part of its life was somewhere else outside of us here in the midwest. You're likely not too far from me and several other members here on this forum. Post pics when you get a chance and glad you finally joined up. Visit often ;)
Image
2009 Vibe GT (manual), 2009 G8Gt, 2009 Vibe GT (auto)
2014 Silverado, 2004 Vibe GT

"everything is modifiable"
AnonymousStoner
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2020 8:19 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: New to the forums but had my little vibe for a year

Post by AnonymousStoner »

Haha thanks man! I'll post some pics later today when I get my laptop setup, I tried to post from my phone and it said some error because the image was too large or w/e and yeah ik the rust factor is unheard of!! but i had all the interior out when iwas swapping the motor because why not? and i got a full assessment of all the components and the whole chassis(minus the cab side of the firewall because i didnt remove the dash) very very minimal rust, mostly on the parts i replaced like the suspension compenents but the body is rock solid. the rust i did find i treated with that rust disolve gel stuff and then i painted it black rustoleum
zbyers
Posts: 1767
Joined: Thu Apr 03, 2014 6:12 pm
Location: Sheffield, Pennsylvania

Re: New to the forums but had my little vibe for a year Edit: now with Pictures!

Post by zbyers »

Welcome to the group. If you've deleted the smog pump (secondary air injection) you can throw in an ECU from a 2003 Vibe GT. It will lower the "lift" point, as well as bypass the smog pump. I have an 04 GT with an 03 GT ECU in it to bypass the smog pump.
'74 Thing, '79 El Camino, '83 VW DoKa '91 Vanagon, '03 Base, 04 GT
'06 CRV, '06 AWD, '07 Base, '12 Highlander Limited, '17 Frontier CCLB

Byerscrew Garage, GenVibe Facebook, How-To Index
Everything You Need To Know About the Pontiac Vibe
Vulcan
Posts: 64
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2020 5:53 pm

Re: New to the forums but had my little vibe for a year Edit: now with Pictures!

Post by Vulcan »

Nice rig! I've thought I may paint the wheels on mine black also, when I get around to painting them. They are an eyesore with badly-applied silver paint flaking off everywhere.

I read somewhere else on this forum, that some people with the 2ZZ engine use, or maybe that Toyota recommends, using the V6-size oil filter? You probably already know if that's true.

Just learning here, too. I haven't taken so good care of a car since I had my 87 Toyota Van spacecruiser. Them's were the days...
2006 AWD, 207k
AnonymousStoner
Posts: 28
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2020 8:19 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: New to the forums but had my little vibe for a year Edit: now with Pictures!

Post by AnonymousStoner »

No I haven't heard that... But I have been searching for a larger size oil filter to run. Back when I had my 4.3v6 S10 I used a larger oil filter that was offered.

I'll see if the V6 one fits and get back to you here, give me until the next oil change I just did her like a week ago.
zbyers
Posts: 1767
Joined: Thu Apr 03, 2014 6:12 pm
Location: Sheffield, Pennsylvania

Re: New to the forums but had my little vibe for a year Edit: now with Pictures!

Post by zbyers »

Vulcan wrote: Tue Jul 21, 2020 6:51 amI read somewhere else on this forum, that some people with the 2ZZ engine use, or maybe that Toyota recommends, using the V6-size oil filter? You probably already know if that's true.
I am sure there is some other filter for a different Toyota that would fit, but most prefer using the Toyota F1 Filter, which is what is offered for the 2ZZ. Most will even use this filter on the 1ZZ. Same specs, just slightly deeper/taller so has a bit more filtering capacity.
'74 Thing, '79 El Camino, '83 VW DoKa '91 Vanagon, '03 Base, 04 GT
'06 CRV, '06 AWD, '07 Base, '12 Highlander Limited, '17 Frontier CCLB

Byerscrew Garage, GenVibe Facebook, How-To Index
Everything You Need To Know About the Pontiac Vibe
Vulcan
Posts: 64
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2020 5:53 pm

Re: New to the forums but had my little vibe for a year Edit: now with Pictures!

Post by Vulcan »

I'm using the "Mobil" premium filter (which is made by Fram) since there is a steep discount when you buy it with a jug of Mobil Synthetic.
2006 AWD, 207k
Post Reply