GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I am starting a build thread for what will end up being my sons first car. Here are a couple pics to get the thread started, more to come once I really get into the build.Here he is new and stockNow riding on 18"s and with tinted windowsNot much but its a start. I have new sway bar endlinks that my son and I will be installing this weekend along with a K&N CAI and a new cabin filter. The one thats in the Vibe has been in there since it was new. I popped open the access panel and (removed) it was a horror show. More pics to come after we get some work done this weekend.Here is a list of planned mods, I am sure that more will get added as we go along.Body kitWingCat back exhaustTB SpacerPossible lowering springs (depending on how low it is with the body kit)CAI (Done)De-badge (Done)Powder coat/paint the rimsNew PaintJust a short list...

Goodluck and have fun!

Best color!

Quote, originally posted by lovemyraffe »Best color!+1+1 MORE because its TWO TONE!! + yet another because it's my fave bodystyle

The boy got home from school and jumped right in with me on the vibe, we swapped out the cabin filter. It's AMAZING, the A/C freezes you out like it did when it was new and it doesn't smell horrible when its running. YEAH! We also went ahead an installed the K&N Typhoon CAI. The new and old filters side by side. GRRRRRRRRRR.Before and after the CAI upgrade

Nice job!

Like others have commented on ...... Nice color Glad to see another father/son team working on juniors new ride, and an excellent choice if it is his first car Didn't see any electronic mods mentioned YET I'm sure there will be some in the future plans. Good luck and keep us all posted on progress

Lookin good!!

Looking good!

im jealous of the typhoon

awesome build thread youve got going! i too love that body style which makes me mis my 04.

So I got bored out of my mind today and decided to burn a whopping hour of my day by de badging the vibe. Cross one more minor mod off the list. Now nobody will know what kinda car I am driving. HA!

De-badged is the way to go!

Quote, originally posted by ajflan »De-badged is the way to go!+1nice work so far. and great year, if i do say so myself. good luck on finding the body kit. i'm running on 17s with tein stechs. a couple guys have used the same springs on 18s with no issues

Thanks Ramen, I have found several body kits, so now its just a matter of making up my mind which one to get. The boy and I got out to the garage this morning and swapped out the worn out old sway bar end links. As you can see from the pic they were blown out, and before you ask yes my son can see what he is wrenching on thru all that hair. After a quick inspection, I noticed that the tires were rubbing on the inner fender well plastic. So we took care of that issue. No more rubbing now. If it starts to rub now I am sure to notice, since i will be rubbing on my winshield washer fluid tank. Also modified the plastic guard for the crank pulley so that it will aleast deflect a little material that may happen to come of the tire. Also noticed that the strut boots are completely deteriorated, but the struts seem to work just fine. So I guess if we end up putting lowering springs in we may as well replace the struts while were at it, or at least put new boots on them. Typical, cross one item off the to do list add a new one to it.

Just out of curiosity, what kits did you find? As far as I know, there are only two real options, one of which being the very hard to find GM kit, which took me a long time and a bit of luck to procure. Quote, originally posted by ramenboy... »+1nice work so far. and great year, if i do say so myself. good luck on finding the body kit. i'm running on 17s with tein stechs. a couple guys have used the same springs on 18s with no issuesI'd be one of those guys.

@ AJ,AIT racing makes a full, kit, Duraflex makes a kit, and you also have the GM kit that you spoke of. I would really love to do my own with the AIT front and rear bumpers and the GM GT style side skirts like you have on yours. This is the style front bumper I am looking at

Not to worried about your son's hair... more worried that he appears to be working on the car in his socks? nice job on getting things fixed up and looking purrdy

True that..... I have just swept the floor in the garage, and I had the car all blocked up on jackstands and all he really had to do was change 4 bolts for the swap. So it was sock day in the garage...LOL

Quote, originally posted by (Double D) »Also noticed that the strut boots are completely deteriorated, but the struts seem to work just fine. So I guess if we end up putting lowering springs in we may as well replace the struts while were at it, or at least put new boots on them. Typical, cross one item off the to do list add a new one to it. Like a bunch of people have said on the forum before .. Tein S-tech springs with Tokico HP struts are a faaantaaastic combination, if you go that route. Good luck with the rest of the build, and I think it's great you're working with your son - I wish I could have learned some more DIY car work growing up.

Got the boy out this week and decided to do yet another unplanned mod. We put in a new Pioneer DVD head unit. The stock unit display was all scratched up and was becoming unreadable, so it was a good investment.StockGuttedChecking the displayTesting out the first DVD... CARS... LOL

Hello again GenVibe, Its hard to believe that its been a year since putting a post on here. I finally made it back from Afghanistan, and still couldnt convince my son that the Vibe is a great first car. So after some pursuading and looking around found a 1998 Z24 for him. Only now I get to teach him to drive a stick. Oh well just more bonding time, with the boy. Any way after being gone for so long, the Vibe needed a little attention, Zac and I put on some new brakes tonight, UPGRADE! Anyway, Enjoy and Its great to be back in the good ole U.S of A!

Old and New Rotors

Old and new pads

Old and Frumpy

New and Styling

All Buttoned Up

I see you got the smaller Pioneer, still good.

Your son should enjoy his cavalier, I enjoyed my sunfire. Still have my built stroker motor for it, with all the little goodies sitting in the garage, waiting for a new home, either my VW beetle, or someone else's car.

It's good that he is learning to handle the mechanics of a car, most kids these days don't care about how a car works, just that it looks good and goes fast

Alright, I know that its been forever since I posted to my garage, but that mostly because I have been busy working on either the kids car or doing more stuff with the Camaro. So I figured I would spend a little quality time with the Vibe. So here goes, I got new staggered XXR wheels and tires, Fronts are 18"x8.5" with 205/40 tires, Rears are 18"x9.5" with 255/40 tires. I also put new struts and Tein springs on it. Who knows whats next? Possibly, GFX, Forced induction, and freshen up the paint. I love my Vibe!

Before Tein Springs

After Tein Springs

Rear Before

Front Before

Rear After

Front After

looks great man keep the updates coming!

Nice Ride and nice lookin wheels! It makes me so upset that there isn't any reasonably cheap way to lower the AWD. I like my vibe, and the AWD is so much fun to rip around in the winter, but I really wish to be able to lower it a couples inches. Stupid independent rear suspension.


No I'm not cutting the springs.

Nice Ride and nice lookin wheels! It makes me so upset that there isn't any reasonably cheap way to lower the AWD. I like my vibe, and the AWD is so much fun to rip around in the winter, but I really wish to be able to lower it a couples inches. Stupid independent rear suspension.


No I'm not cutting the springs.

they do have some springs out there to lower the AWD's, maybe not as low as you want but still a good looking drop non-the-less.

Love the look of the vibe DoubleD! it just keeps getting better and better!

Love the look of the vibe DoubleD! it just keeps getting better and better![/quote]

Thanks NASCAR, This little car is starting to become a bit of an obsession.

ya need to get ya a set of new headlight housings and some HID's, thatd make it look sweeter that it already does

sweet ride, also jealous of the Typhoon, seems to be the hardest thing for me to save for haha

Looking Good...I see a Texas plates. You going to the Texas mile?

Where in Texas are you? /nosy

lannvouivre wrote:Where in Texas are you? /nosy

i was going to ask the same thing

Zvibe2004 wrote:ya need to get ya a set of new headlight housings and some HID's, thatd make it look sweeter that it already does

I've had great results with the Meguiars Headlight Restoration kit, or others like it. Some of them come with fine grit sandpaper, the other ones just come with a buffer that attaches to a portable drill and some polish. I do mine every spring, and it improves the look a lot. I would get new headlight housings if I had the money, but unfortunately, I can't do that right now.

Do you have a link for that head unit? I'm growing tired of the stock radio's light shenanigans and lack of Aux imput. Did the radio come with an install kit?
I love the car men! keep up the good work!