98se5speed - 2003 Vibe base

[98se5speed]

Now that my Vibe is all fixed up and back on the road, I figured I would make a dedicated "garage" thread to document my daily life with it. In case you're not familiar with what I've done to this Vibe, here are 2 threads that explain it all:

Getting the Vibe:
http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=46283" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fixing the Vibe:
http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=46325" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

So far, aside from replacing the engine and steering rack, I haven't done much. My father-in-law mounted and balanced some "new" tires for me, which I got from my brother for free (some extras he had from his Beretta / Cavalier days). So far they're nice for the price, but I need to do some rotating to try and get the car driving straight. It was pulling a tad right, I did some moving around, now it's pulling a tad left. Hopefully I figure it out without needing any new tires. I re-filled the tank for the first time yesterday, got 29.5 mpg. I was hoping for better, but not bad. I figure part of that low number is due to the engine doing some re-learning. Hopefully next tank is better, and I'll be a bit more mindful of my right foot. Next mods planned include installing the powered sub I bought, and tinting all the windows. AC feels like it could use a recharge, so I'll probably grab a can of r134a at Walmart soon. Maybe a trans fluid change too. Other than that, seems solid as a rock. Well, here's how she sits today, in my garage. Please don't judge my mess, I still haven't fully cleaned up from the engine swap. Love this car.

Here's a link to all of my Vibe images, including some engine swap pics:
http://jamieanton.zenfolio.com/p590535381" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[98se5speed]

Wow, guess I never really did anything with this "garage" thread I made.

Vibe has been treating me good over the last 10 months and ~10k miles of driving. Gas mileage has been a tad poor, with about 29 being my best-ever, and something like 26 being my normal average for work commuting. Part of me thinks I drive too hard, part of me thinks I should look to see if there's anything I could do to the car to improve it. Part of me just doesn't have the time or desire to slow down or look into it much more. Even at 26 mpg, my gas expense is decently low.

I seriously haven't done much to the car in the time I've been driving it. It did end up needing a water pump over last summer, but that's probably the only item I've had to repair. I added a cheap remote start system, which I installed myself over Christmas break. Thank goodness there is no anti-theft system in my Vibe. That always complicates a remote start.

Here's how she looks as of today. Sadly, I took this picture to show my friend how sad I was that we got JUST enough snow in the south burbs of Chicago this morning for them to bring out the dang salt trucks. Over the weekend, I had cleaned the car to showroom condition. Now it's a salty mess. Uggggh.