csxt8058's 2010 Vibe AWD

[csxt8058]

Well guys and gals, I finally have pics posted of my Vibe. It's been a long time coming, since I joined here in 2009. I bought my Vibe new in August of 2009, traded my 2005 Malibu Maxx for it. I absolutely love the car and it's the best vehicle I've owned to date.While I'm not into mods necessarily, I have made my Vibe my own with various items to give it a railroady feel, as that is what my hobbies involve, and it's not stuff you see on a car everyday. I apologize in advance for not posting photos before now, it takes me a while to warm up to online sites such as this one. I joined other sites that dealt with the cars I've had in the past, and this was the first site that seemed like a great bunch of folks who loved their Vibes, right up my alley now that I'm a proud Vibe owner. Ok...on with the pics.Decal I had made of a CP/D&H train passing the Plattsburg station. The photo was taken at night and in the fog, giving it a fuzzy and surreal feeling.Just added this yesterday. It's funny, I planned on putting the decal there and did, then noticed how many others have it in the same location. I went with reflective white.Put this 600v sticker on the fuse panel, it's from a locomotive electrical cabinet.Put this on yesterday as well. It looks awesome and I'm glad I went with the white as I had thought about red.So, that's it for now. Now that I have this started, I'll update often. Thanks for looking, JR

[star_deceiver]

Looks good!!!Be sure to catch the reaction of the service attendant when he sees that 600V sticker... if you ever have to take it in.

[KITT222]

It looks good! My grandpa was actually an engineering consultant for repairing train cars. He worked at Transco in Oelwein, IA for most of his life. So as a train hobbyist, what exactly do you do, out of curiousity?

[MotoAce51]

Looks good. How's she handle through those mountians. I was up in Plattsburgh last winter. But then moved down to Prattsburgh.

[csxt8058]

Quote, originally posted by KITT222 »It looks good! My grandpa was actually an engineering consultant for repairing train cars. He worked at Transco in Oelwein, IA for most of his life. So as a train hobbyist, what exactly do you do, out of curiousity?I've heard of Oelwein, that was big railroad town for the Illinois Central. The railfan hobby is mostly just being out and around the railroads, basically I either railfan right here in town or my wife and I travel around to watch and take photos/videos of passing trains. I also collect old railroad stuff/books/photos, and a big part of the hobby that I started in 2001, was collecting and restoring locomotive horns. That's really fun and rather loud at times, as you can imagine.Quote, originally posted by MotoAce51 »Looks good. How's she handle through those mountians. I was up in Plattsburgh last winter. But then moved down to Prattsburgh. The last two winters have been fine. It's very stable in the snow, especially when you stop and start again. Seeing as my commute is mostly stop and go on poorly maintained highways(at least in the winter), that was big factor in getting the AWD Vibe. JR

[Salsa Guy]

Nice Car! Hope it serves you well.

[tpollauf]

Definitely a Vibe like no other Way to sport the GenVibe decal That is the perfect location for it on the 09-10 Vibes

[vibenvy]

Glad you finally posted pictures! Very nice AWD! The engine cover overlay does look really good in white . Quote, originally posted by tpollauf »Way to sport the GenVibe decal That is the perfect location for it on the 09-10 Vibes x2 !

[csxt8058]

Went out railfanning with the wife around home today and caught a southbound from Montreal, heading to Saratoga and points south. After seeing J_TO_ENVY's post with the train and her mom's Vibe, and me being a railfan, I had to incorporate my Vibe with a train. I was shooting video and my wife got this shot.A sunny day would've been nice, but lately that's hard to find around here. JR

[(Double D)]

Looks good. Since you are all train gung ho. You should mount a train horn under that thing somewhere.

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by csxt8058 »After seeing J_TO_ENVY's post with the train and her mom's Vibe, and me being a railfan, I had to incorporate my Vibe with a train. I was shooting video and my wife got this shot.Glad to hear my pictures inspired you . Great picture your wife took !

[csxt8058]

So I took advantage of having sun this morning/early afternoon and went out and got some pics of my Vibe, all cleaned up after waaay too long of not washing it.I apologize for the lack of 'interesting stuff' in the pics, other than the railroad crossing and the old barn, but I've got some great future photo props, but that's another time. I went searching for some Vibe love earlier as well...spotted three Vibes around town, all parked but could'nt get next to them . JR

[csxt8058]

Well, after a long time of trying to decide how to do it, I finally got my set up completed to blow my collection of locomotive horns on my Vibe. I ended up using a set of Thule load bars and mounted them to the Vibe cross bars with rubber coated U bolts. I bolted an aluminum plate to the bars, that has a machined alum. riser to bolt the horns to. You can see that in this pic.I use a full 1/2 inch valve from a locomotive to blow the horns, and I built a box to mount the valve to, which slides over my center console, the towel keep the wood from scratching the console.1/2 in air hose connects to the quick connect fitting on the right, goes out the passenger side rear window, and to the quick connect under the horn mount. A 20 gal. tank feeds the valve on the left side. I fill this tank from my garage compressor.And here are two views of the set up on my Vibe with one of my 5 chime locomotive horns mounted.And finally, a video clip of today's trip.http://youtu.be/DJdlXNkJDE8 This whole set up is not permanent, the only thing that stays on my Vibe is the mount. The tank, hoses, and valve assembly all come out when not being used, which was my ultimate goal. JR

[CAMOGIRL]

WOW. It is absolutely amazingly cool that your vibe sounds like that. I have to admit it terrifies me though... I'm siderodromophobic. If I was not near any tracks and I hear that near me, I would be reduced to a fetal mass of blubbering tears. But still, I want one. But not one that sounds like a train. lol.

[csxt8058]

I had no idea there was such a phobia..wow, makes me think about where I play with these horns, although it's mostly in the woods with no houses or people around. Glad you like the idea, pehaps truck horns would be something to try. JR

[KITT222]

Very cool. I love those horns!

[sbzero]

LOL! Those horns are amazing.

[Mariachi]

wow! thats like a "get out of my way" horn right there!!!

[csxt8058]

1/14/12 update. So, my latest additions to the Vibe..both the Christmas gifts I spoke of. First off is the 'SD70M' in the upper center of the windshield. It goes along with the railroad aspect. It denotes a locomotive model, one of my favorites in fact. I had the font matched and I've attached a pic of said locomotive model so you see where the idea came from, you can see the SD70M below and forward of the loco. number.Next up is a shot of the WeatherTech cargo mat. Perfect fit and color match and will really help with whatever large or rough I may put in the Vibe.That's it for now..too darn cold to do much else! JR

[vibenvy]

That WeatherTech cargo liner does look really good ! Looking forward to seeing your Vibe in Erie this summer !

[csxt8058]

3/12/12 Update:Dressed up the interior a bit with help from J_TO_ENVY. Added this nice chrome overlay to the shifter console and I think it looks awesome Thanks again Carrie JR

[lannvouivre]

Looks great...sounds great, too, those horns were fancy!Quote, originally posted by csxt8058 »Put this 600v sticker on the fuse panel, it's from a locomotive electrical cabinet.I would get one of our DANGER 480 VOLTS stickers from work, but those are too big...maybe I could ask for one of the "Danger of electrical arcing" stickers instead, but perhaps that would be excessive...My dad's company (where I'm working right now) is right next to train tracks, maybe I'll be able to get a shot of my Vibe with one of the Union Pacific trains going past!

[ligion]

why does the shifter knob on the newer models looks like a maze? that chrome looks nice tho!

[tpollauf]

Quote, originally posted by ligion »why does the shifter knob on the newer models looks like a maze? that chrome looks nice tho!Answer: They took away the button on the shifter knob which locks it in each gear/position. Instead of pushing in a button and moving up/down, you now navigate around like a jigsaw puzzle Not me though ... I'm driving a manual

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by csxt8058 »3/12/12 Update:Dressed up the interior a bit with help from J_TO_ENVY. Added this nice chrome overlay to the shifter console and I think it looks awesome Thanks again Carrie Looks great JR ! It's so nice to see it finally getting put to good use instead of collecting dust in my room .You're very welcome! Thank you !