MrHatchWagon - 2004 Vibe base, 5MT

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 2:06 am

I've had the car since March 2010 and she's treated me well since day one. My first aftermarket piece was the new set of wheels. Wheels really set a car apart from the rest. Slowly working my way towards more modifications, starting with a new head unit, speakers.

What I've done so far:
1- Wheels: 2-Crave Alloys No. 02, 16'' wrapped in Yokohama Avid TRZ(05/2010)
2- AVS VentShades and Bug Deflector (05/2011)
3- Kenwood DPX-308U head unit (01/2012)
4- Polk Audio DB651, shallow in the front, regular in the back. (01/2012)
5- Custom fog light covers (03/2012)
6- LED license plate bulbs (03/2012)
7- Carbon Fiber license plate frame (03/2012)
8- Sickspeed Supertone horns (04/2012)
9- Wheels: 17'' RTX Turbine, Black, wrapped in 225/45/R17 Triangle TR968 tires (04/2012)
10- Red tail light overlay (06/2012)
11- Polished metal shift knob (06/2012)
12- Interior LED conversion (Dome lights & map lights) (06/2012)
13- Red LED footwell lights (30cm strips) (06/2012)

Here are a few pictures of the car from Summer 2011:

Wheels, with brake drums painted with high-temperature paint to match the car:

The interior: Radio soon to be replaced with a Kenwood DPX-308U, double-din unit.

Vibe vs. Civic:

And last but not least, my friend's car and mine sitting in the driveway after a nice thorough cleaning:

I'll be sure to add more pictures as I change things here and there!To-Do List/Wishlist, to be updated as things get done:

1- New head unit DONE 01/12
2- New speakers DONE 01/12
3- Sound deaden the doors
4- Window tint
5- Bigger wheels, probably 17's (18's aren't too great on our roads..) DONE 04/12
6- Red-out tail lights
7- K&N SRI
8- Paint brake calipers
9- Spoiler
10- Lowering & Sway bars
11- Rear disc swap
12- Ultimate Retrofit projectors, HID
13- RKSport Ram-Air hood/SLP Hood
14- Dual exhaust
15- Forced induction w/ 6-spd swap, LSD, built engine... It's nice to dream.
16- Paint: Phantom Black Pearl, see Lancer Evo XSome of these things will have to wait; student budget.

KITT222 · Post by **KITT222** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 3:51 am

Welcome! Your Vibe looks great. I love that color!

Salsa Guy · Post by **Salsa Guy** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 5:55 am

Welcome! Nice wheels!

star_deceiver · Post by **star_deceiver** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 6:49 am

Welcome to GenVibe!!!

Serj22 · Post by **Serj22** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 7:33 am

Vibe vs. Civic? No contest. I had a civic... it was heavily modified, and barely made it to freeway speed...

CAMOGIRL · Post by **CAMOGIRL** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 8:31 pm

I love that color on the early gen 1. And I love that your bud has a similar civic. My bestie has a 91 civic hatch. Did you pick up the wheels new?

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Wed Dec 07, 2011 9:22 pm

Thanks guys & gals! The civic is a stock 1.7L, but at least it has the manual. It's got a nice sound system though, my friend is kind of an audiophile. I'm actually the one who found the car for him.And yeah Camogirl, I got the rims new my first summer with the car, so far they're holding up well! When I clean them, they shine just as much as day one, people tend to notice them when I'm driving.I'm thinking I might give them to my brother next summer though to put on his Legacy, it would give me an excuse to go with 17's and maybe a little drop. Edit: Added a to-do list (it's nice to dream). Question: Is our grey body cladding paintable or would it just peel? I've heard of someone sanding it and then adding clear-coat, but I don't know if that's just hearsay or if it's actually been done.

CAMOGIRL · Post by **CAMOGIRL** » Thu Dec 08, 2011 3:07 am

I think a drop would be fabulous! And the cladding is paintable, those lucky enough to have monotone paint just have their cladding painted over at the factory. Look at one if you get a chance, the texture is still there

Mariachi · Post by **Mariachi** » Thu Dec 08, 2011 6:50 am

welcome to genvibe

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Mon Dec 12, 2011 3:04 am

Guess what came in the mail today! It'll only be going in after Christmas, because I'm spoiled and my parents decided to pay for it haha. This means I have a budget for speakers in the near future!

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 5:42 am

I ordered a cheap ELM327 OBD2 bluetooth dongle on eBay and it came in the mail today. Here it is coupled with the Torque app on my phone:

dustie · Post by **dustie** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 2:22 pm

That head unit is pretty sweet. what do they retail for?

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 8:08 am

Thanks, it was $200 CAD on Crutchfield with the wiring harness, the mounting brackets, and the radio antenna adapter, so I'm guessing somewhere around that for you too, or maybe a bit less. It's a Kenwood DPX-308U.

98se5speed · Post by **98se5speed** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 10:58 pm

Interior looks really sweet. I love the Torque app for Android, What are you using to hold your phone on the dash? I never did find a good mount to work with the angled dash in the Vibe my wife used to have. I'm about to get myself a "new" 03 Vibe tomorrow, so I need to figure something out.

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 8:03 am

Thanks! I found a DIY mount online, it was basically a 2'' binder clip, bent into the right shape with pliers, using rubber bands for reverse-tension. I had a bit of a hard time fitting it into my vent, as my phone is rather large and the clip was hard to open up to latch into the vent. After a bit of fiddling I got it to work, and it's great for iPods too. Here's a link to the guide I used:http://lifehacker.com/5747897/...pliesInstead of thread, I used hockey tape on mine, and I put it all over to make sure I didn't scratch anything with the clip.

DressedInBlack · Post by **DressedInBlack** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 9:06 am

I don't think those wheels would look as good on any other car. They are the PB to your car's J.

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Wed Mar 14, 2012 12:05 am

Thanks I can't wait to put them back on and give them a good cleaning.And, here are a few things that will be going on as soon as the weather warms up and the roads get cleaner: Woo! Carbon fiber license plate frame, and I finally got around to finishing my fog light covers! Waiting for my license plate LED bulbs to arrive in the mail, as well.

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Wed Apr 04, 2012 7:21 am

Horns came in the mail today! I'll try to have them wired by the weekend, and I'll take before & after videos. They're claimed to put out 118db so I can't wait to try them out! Installed:

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 9:09 am

Well, I forgot to take a before video, but here's one of the Sickspeed horns:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...tu.beAnd here are my new wheels! RTX Turbine 17-inch with Triangle TR968 225/45/R17 rubber.

KITT222 · Post by **KITT222** » Wed Apr 11, 2012 9:45 am

Those rims look good

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 1:18 pm

New pictures, spring 2012! I went out and shot some pics with my buddy's 04 Honda Civic for company. Here's the aftermath:

43 by Snake n' Bacon, on Flickr

39 by Snake n' Bacon, on Flickr

42 by Snake n' Bacon, on Flickr

34 by Snake n' Bacon, on Flickr

30 by Snake n' Bacon, on Flickr

22 by Snake n' Bacon, on Flickr
I liked this one so much I made it my signature!

20 by Snake n' Bacon, on Flickr

19 by Snake n' Bacon, on Flickr

15 by Snake n' Bacon, on Flickr

6 by Snake n' Bacon, on Flickr

I plan to get rid of that zombie dealership sticker (It's a zombie because the dealership has long since stopped selling Pontiacs, they're into Nissans now; and because it's already halfway torn off.) very soon, and my red tail light film is in too so I'll do that as well.

86foxgt · Post by **86foxgt** » Tue Apr 24, 2012 6:11 pm

Sweet Vibe! I love the new wheels, where did you purchase them from? Also, how hard was it for you to wire your horn in? Thanks!!

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 5:38 pm

86foxgt wrote:Sweet Vibe! I love the new wheels, where did you purchase them from? Also, how hard was it for you to wire your horn in? Thanks!!

Thanks! I went to my local tire store and asked for them specifically, they had to order them from Montreal, Quebec, as nobody had them in stock in the province.

As for the horns, it wasn't as hard as it was time-consuming. If you've got a plan for the wiring beforehand, most of it is just taking your time to ensure a proper seal so as to not short anything out. The front grill is easy enough to remove, just some clips and a few screws, and you have to remove the one on the drivers side first because they overlap in the back. There's also a spare positive lead for the power near the front of the fuse box, so you can tap that with a female disconnect and run the wires around the side, to the front. I did have a bit of a problem with moisture though so I'll have to move my relay.

Here's a brief walkthrough of how we did it:

1- The positive lead from your stock horn goes into a relay, on the switching circuit.
2- Ground your relay to the drivers side horn's bolt, using a ring terminal.
3- The positive lead from battery goes to the relay, you can take it either from the battery pole or from the fuse box in the location I mentioned, using a female disconnect.
4- Pin 87 on your relay (mine had two of these) plugs onto the positive terminals on the horns. This gets the power to them. Ground your horns in the same spot as you grounded your relay.
5- Mount the passengers side horn using a self-tapping screw, measuring the same distance from the middle as your drivers side horn.

When you honk your horn, you send the signal through the stock wire, to your relay's switching circuit. This activates it and tells it to draw power from the battery, and distribute it to both your new horns. Power goes through, noise happens (And they're quite loud!)

If I left anything out or you have any questions, don't be shy to ask! Crabbycrab also had a nice write-up on the matter here: viewtopic.php?t=35780 and it was a huge help when I did mine, even though I did a few things slightly differently.

86foxgt · Post by **86foxgt** » Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:27 pm

That might be another good add for my Vibe! I think I could tackle it pretty easily now. What brand and model do you have?

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 4:13 am

Yeah, the install wasn't as bad as I thought at all, and the moment when I used them for the first time was well worth it. I got them on ebay, they're Sickspeed brand horns and they were $40, but you have to buy a relay (if you plan on using one; and I'd recommend it), some wiring, some connectors, and some heat shrink tubing. All in all it must have been about $75 for everything, horns included.

86foxgt · Post by **86foxgt** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 6:19 pm

MrHatchWagon wrote:Yeah, the install wasn't as bad as I thought at all, and the moment when I used them for the first time was well worth it. I got them on ebay, they're Sickspeed brand horns and they were $40, but you have to buy a relay (if you plan on using one; and I'd recommend it), some wiring, some connectors, and some heat shrink tubing. All in all it must have been about $75 for everything, horns included.

Well worth it.

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Fri May 18, 2012 2:30 pm

Waiting on a few things to come in the mail, and have a few projects on hold until I have more free time. School year's almost over. Coming Soon: FINALLY putting on my red tail light overlays, polished metal shift knob, painting my brake calipers red, hatch debadge, and maybe plasti-dip my side Vibe emblems black to fit my color scheme.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of my body cladding restoration using Meguiars Ultimate Protectant. Looks good, hope the results last!

Life's more fun when you get a little dirty.

Headlight was done up with tape just for fun.

mac99d · Post by **mac99d** » Fri May 18, 2012 3:57 pm

I like the green tape....You should leave it on lol.

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Sat May 19, 2012 7:59 am

mac99d wrote:I like the green tape....You should leave it on lol.

Hahahah neon green pinstripe, anyone? If I'd had more tape I might have been tempted to tape the entire car

Newbkakes · Post by **Newbkakes** » Wed May 23, 2012 9:32 am

I like your horn set up... I don't really like the stock horn sound... sounds too girly (Not that there's anything wrong with that ladies)
You should plasti-dip the VIBE emblems and if you haven't already debadged and do the roof rack. It makes the car pop. You've already seen my pictures so you know what I'm saying

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Wed May 23, 2012 10:35 pm

Vibe emblems are coming up on my To-Do list, on the fence about the racks because I like the shininess, though yours do look good. Also on my list: Polished metal shift knob, paint brake calipers red, red-out my tail lights, debadge the hatch, and LED dome light mod. I'd like to get my windows tinted, too.

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Fri May 25, 2012 12:39 pm

De-badged hatch!

Mmm.. So clean.

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Wed May 30, 2012 12:21 pm

New shift knob:

Comparison to stock:

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Sun Jun 03, 2012 12:31 pm

Update: I finally put on my red tail light overlay, and am quite satisfied with the results. If I were to do it again, I'd just get a can of red spray-tint, because the vinyl was not cooperative.

thebarber · Post by **thebarber** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 10:42 am

Less wheel gap, please

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 11:29 am

thebarber wrote:Less wheel gap, please

I knoww, I'm seriously considering getting Teins or Canucks. My only concern is I'm afraid the S-techs are too low for where I live, and I hear the H-techs aren't worth it because they don't go low enough. I do like Kitt222's setup, though. Seems like it could work...

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Tue Jun 12, 2012 6:54 pm

LED interior lighting:

Special mention: KITT222. Thanks for the wonderful write-up on how to change them out. Waiting for map lights to arrive in the mail, and one more 12-LED board for the rear dome light. Two up front, soon to be two in the back as well.

thebarber · Post by **thebarber** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 4:44 am

MrHatchWagon wrote:
thebarber wrote:Less wheel gap, please
I knoww, I'm seriously considering getting Teins or Canucks. My only concern is I'm afraid the S-techs are too low for where I live, and I hear the H-techs aren't worth it because they don't go low enough. I do like Kitt222's setup, though. Seems like it could work...

my h-tech's drop about 1.8" front and rear in real life....

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 6:36 pm

Red LED footwell lights and miscellaneous pictures:

LED license plate lights:

Interior, all lit up:

KITT222 · Post by **KITT222** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 7:29 pm

I'm glad I'm providing some inspiration in ways of height and LED lights. I guess this is the cycle of mods. I'm inspired, then I inspire others, and it keeps going. I'll probably do something like what you did for the footwells. Your Vibe is great!

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 11:30 am

Thanks! And speaking of inspiration, is it you who had LED reverse light bulbs? If so, how bright are they compared to stock?

KITT222 · Post by **KITT222** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 12:54 pm

Yes actually. Output is kinda good (I got a very cheap set) but they are bright in the housings, which is their function. I'm sure that if I got better, more expensive bulbs I'd have better output.

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Wed Jul 11, 2012 3:16 pm

Good to know. I may experiment with LED brake lights as well, I bet they'd look good. I've got all summer, and imagination. I'm sure I can do something nice

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Wed Jul 11, 2012 3:16 pm

First attempt at the transparent hood effect:

Wingnut · Post by **Wingnut** » Wed Jul 11, 2012 8:18 pm

The vibe looks awesome! Love the upgrades.

dinopiratedavid · Post by **dinopiratedavid** » Thu Jul 12, 2012 10:41 pm

Transparent hoods are awesome if you have the money for em. Had a guy on the F-body Camaro forum I was on a few years back with one and it looked amazing.. not too sure how it'd look on a vibe tho lol...

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Fri Jul 27, 2012 11:19 am

Here's a wiring diagram for my footwell lights, in case anyone's looking for a way to wire them. The ground is entirely up to you, but I tapped the ground for the power inverter switch, because it was the most accessible one with a bit of prying. (White w/ black stripe).

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:54 pm

Nokya Hyper Yellow headlight bulbs:

thebarber · Post by **thebarber** » Sun Aug 12, 2012 6:23 pm

i sell HID's in kitchener/waterloo...if you're interested in 3000k bixenon H4's, let me know, i can special order them. i ran that setup in our aveo at one point. they'll be waaaay brighter than halogens (and subsequently not shitty at night)

links to pics as not to muddy your thread
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b339/ ... 0_0021.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b339/ ... 0_0020.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
3000k and a 5000k, iirc (camera makes the 5000k look blue, which it isnt)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b339/ ... 2_7570.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

MrHatchWagon · Post by **MrHatchWagon** » Mon Aug 13, 2012 10:58 am

Those look awesome! I have to manage my finances for now because school starts soon, but I'll definitely keep it in mind when I want to change my headlights again. I would have loved to go with HID's but the price point was a little high compared to the yellow bulbs. For now...