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In 2009 I bought a 2004 Acura TL 5AT. I drove it for almost a year before accidentally running a red light. I was T-Boned on the driver's side, but walked away without a scratch. The car, however, was a total loss. In 2009 early model TL’s were still selling for nearly 20k (CAD), and in buying one at age 17 I had severely stretched my budget. So severely that I was unable to afford 2-way insurance. Running that red light cost me my car, and worse, I was still over 15,000 in debt for it.
Jump forward to June of 2015. I’ve been working in a career job for 3 years, and am finally stable enough to look at getting a car again. There was no other choice: It had to be a TL. So here it is! I’m very happy to introduce my 2008 TL Type-S 5AT.
That’s how it looked in June. I haven’t been all that diligent in taking photos at each stage of its evolution, but here are the highlights. At the bottom of the post I’ll list the mods to-date. And talk about future plans.
The first mod was installing the AckTL05 Color-matched tail lights I had made for my ’04 SSM. Behind the plastic of the tail light, SSM and ASM are nearly identical, so they matched up with the new car without issue.
Next up was a suspension upgrade that saw the stock suspension replaced with a shiny new set of Tein Street Advance Coils. Originally I dropped about 3’’, but after scraping on absolutely everything, I moved it back up to about a 1.5’’ drop, and like it where it is.
Next up I worked with JnC to get some custom headlights done. I wanted these to be color-matched as well, and we went all-out with the internal upgrades: ZKW-r swap, projector DRLs, cleared turn signals with chrome bulbs, and silver side reflectors.
My good friend Bill, who owns ThreeTwenty (the watermark on some of these photos), also owns MacKenCo, a graphic design and vinyl company, so with his help we’ve applied some vinyl items to the car, including a gloss black roof, a window banner, and various decals.
This is pretty well where it’s at today, but there’s a lot more in the works. I’ve already purchased the A-Spec Lip Kit (Type-S Rear, ‘07/’08 base front), Have an arrangement to buy some pretty extreme wheels (hint: badazzTL-S and some others provided inspiration), and am working with a local shop for some one-off, custom items.
Sorry for the long post, but I feel like I’ve done a lot in a year, and so there’s lots to catch you all up on! I’ll be updating regularly, since I seem to do something new every week or so. Especially as we approach show season. Thanks for reading!!
Full mod list:
Lighting/Electronics:
Interior LED Conversion
JnC Colormatched Headlights
AckTL05 Colormatched Taillights
Power Magic Pro
BlackVue DR650GW-2CH
2016 North America Navigation Maps
looks great! and happy to see you got yourself into another TL and a type s at that.
keep me updated on the front lip install, i'm going to be doing the same conversion in about 1-2 weeks and i've alraedy talked to a few people about it but always nice to see someone recently do it
smart move on the dash cam! after getting one for me and my wife's car i'll never have another car without one
looks great! and happy to see you got yourself into another TL and a type s at that.
keep me updated on the front lip install, i'm going to be doing the same conversion in about 1-2 weeks and i've alraedy talked to a few people about it but always nice to see someone recently do it
smart move on the dash cam! after getting one for me and my wife's car i'll never have another car without one
Thanks a lot! I'm really glad to be back on the platform.
I won't be jumping in to the lip kit install for at least a few more weeks. I have a meeting on Saturday with a custom shop to design and then fab a custom splitter (front) and diffuser (rear), so he'll need the lips for measurements and potentially a while longer for mock-up. I'll then need to get the front painted, since I could only order it WDP. Guess that's what I get for modding an 8 year old platform (preaching to the choir I'm sure).
The dashcam is great! I'd recommend it to anyone and I'll never have another car without one. So far in 9 months I've captured countless bad/dangerous drivers (including a BMW 335i doing a full drift through an intersection), a police chase, and a meteor burning up. Plus all the footage of road trips, and of course the added safety and security.
Thanks a lot! I'm really glad to be back on the platform.
I won't be jumping in to the lip kit install for at least a few more weeks. I have a meeting on Saturday with a custom shop to design and then fab a custom splitter (front) and diffuser (rear), so he'll need the lips for measurements and potentially a while longer for mock-up. I'll then need to get the front painted, since I could only order it WDP. Guess that's what I get for modding an 8 year old platform (preaching to the choir I'm sure).
The dashcam is great! I'd recommend it to anyone and I'll never have another car without one. So far in 9 months I've captured countless bad/dangerous drivers (including a BMW 335i doing a full drift through an intersection), a police chase, and a meteor burning up. Plus all the footage of road trips, and of course the added safety and security.
ok so i'll have tips for you when i do my install then haha.
keep me updated on the splitter, interested to see that. how come you don't do the 2011 sti lip and fit that one on (most popular one for 07-08 TL cars)?
yea it's crazy the stuff you can catch with a dash cam. i do it mainly for safety and security, i've heard too many bad stories about people getting hit and people taking off
ok so i'll have tips for you when i do my install then haha.
keep me updated on the splitter, interested to see that. how come you don't do the 2011 sti lip and fit that one on (most popular one for 07-08 TL cars)?
yea it's crazy the stuff you can catch with a dash cam. i do it mainly for safety and security, i've heard too many bad stories about people getting hit and people taking off
Looking forward to leaning on your expertise in a few weeks time.
I dont mind the STI lip, and am open to it if I can't get something (subjectively) better, but I'd like to explore what other options are available. I'll work with the shop to see if we can come up with something unique at a reasonable cost, and if not, I always have the STI lip in my back pocket.
I'm more interested in the rear diffuser I'm working on and that will almost definitely need to be custom. It's loosely (very loosely) inspired by the GT-R Varis Rear which has the molding wrapping around the bottom of the exhaust tips.
I figure if I already have a shop working on that, I may as well see if they can do something better for the front. Stay tuned.
looks great, the tailights and headlights definitely flow together. Are you doing silver wheels too? I think some color could definitely make them pop. Interested in how the lip and diffuser turn out.
looks great, the tailights and headlights definitely flow together. Are you doing silver wheels too? I think some color could definitely make them pop. Interested in how the lip and diffuser turn out.
They won't be silver, but still monochrome. The manufacturer calls it 'Dark Gun Metallic'.
Originally Posted by Oh Sickest TL
Great story! Glad you got back on your feet again. I like the car but I think id have to see the headlights and taillights in person
Originally Posted by Jakes_tl
Congrats on the TL-S. Looks good but I do have to say i don't care for the headlights and tail lights but we are all different.
Let me know the next time you're in Alberta They're definitely the piece I get the most comments on, and I adore them, but they're not for everyone.
lol, kidding, my good buddy is a big bruins fan. crazy mtl is going to be a bottom 10 team this year. I wasn't expecting bruins to do what theyre doing this year. how the fuck does brad marchand have like 35 goals LMFAO
Haha, I figured. I don't know anyone that's "meh" about the Bruins. you're either a fan, or you hate them. Pretty stunning what's happening in MTL. Not sure anyone can really explain it. I think treating the rest of this year as a wash and making sure Carey Price is healthy heading in to next year should be priority 1. Also sad to see Therrien - he's a great coach, but something has gone terribly wrong.
Bradexander Nosevechkin? Lost of folks think its just TOI. Boston being young at the back end has meant that Bergy and Marchand need to be on the ice more to balance things out. The extra 3-4 mins of ice-time a night is working wonders.
To tie it back in to the car, I even rock a 'spoked B' during the season.
Hey all, No real progress on the TL over the weekend, so no new pictures of it to share. I did talk to the custom shop about the splitter/diffuser I wanted to work on. Rough quote for material and labor added up to about $3,500, so that project is off the table until I win the lotto.
Also, there was a manufacturer auto show here in town, so I got some (phone quality) pictures of this beauty.
ok so i'll have tips for you when i do my install then haha.
I've bitten the bullet and ordered a brand new OEM front bumper for a base 2008 TL. For how much I paid for the A-Spec Lip ($750 for product and delivery, $300 to strip the WDP and paint it ASM), I couldn't justify messing around with the fitment, and the possibility of ending up with a gap in 6 months when the double sided tape wears down. The new bumper will cost about $450 to bring in, and another $450 to paint. That's all in CAD, so about $3.50 for those south of the border.
I've bitten the bullet and ordered a brand new OEM front bumper for a base 2008 TL. For how much I paid for the A-Spec Lip ($750 for product and delivery, $300 to strip the WDP and paint it ASM), I couldn't justify messing around with the fitment, and the possibility of ending up with a gap in 6 months when the double sided tape wears down. The new bumper will cost about $450 to bring in, and another $450 to paint. That's all in CAD, so about $3.50 for those south of the border.
ah i see. i just did mine last night! it was tough only because i had to do the entire thing myself but i got it done! with two people it would be much easier haha. i'm very happy with the outcome, my updates are below
Wow that photo of your old ride after the accident made me wince.
I'm glad you walked away from it.
Your story of hard work and perseverance will surely get sweeter as time goes by as that new type S goes from awesome to awsome....er?
Anyway congrats! Love the color matched lights and the progress so far!
ah i see. i just did mine last night! it was tough only because i had to do the entire thing myself but i got it done! with two people it would be much easier haha. i'm very happy with the outcome, my updates are below
That's awesome! I commented over there, but it looks fantastic! I really hope the extra tape keeps things together.
Originally Posted by VMRWheels
Wow that photo of your old ride after the accident made me wince.
I'm glad you walked away from it.
Your story of hard work and perseverance will surely get sweeter as time goes by as that new type S goes from awesome to awsome....er?
Anyway congrats! Love the color matched lights and the progress so far!
Thanks a lot! It's definitely been an adventure. Appreciate the support!
The front bumper and ASPEC lip are at the paint shop. Originally they asked me to leave the car there for the week so that they can paint match the pieces to the car, but since it's my only car, and the parts their painting aren't actually on the vehicle (it's a brand new OEM bumper and lip), I convinced them to just let me be 'on call', and I'll run my car up there when their mixing the paint. Definitely better than handing it over for a week, and should mean I still get a great color match. The install for everything (front bumper, ASPEC all around, and a couple other minor updates) will be happening on Saturday, so there should be a good update - to make up for the last few boring ones - on Sunday/Monday.
I've been pondering what to do with the stock Type-S bumper, and I think it'll be handy to hold on to. Living in Canada, there will inevitably be some winter driving, and if I can swap back to the already winter driven bumper (and side skirts) it will help keep the new ones pristine for longer.
On a less fun note, it looks like the molding at the top of my windshield is peeling...
I contacted my friend at my local Acura dealership and he said I have two options: Replace the windshield, or glue it down. Pretty easy decision, but I'll have to keep an eye out for leaks, etc. Has any one else had this happen?
Hey you are in Alberta too. What city? There is a tread for Edmonton guys and Calgary guys in the regional section of the forum. Check it out. I know the Edmonton section is a little bit more busy and we have had some meets in the past
I finally got the new bumper and ASPEC lip kit on! It only took 7 hours...
I got all the items back from paint on Friday night, and they looked fantastic; the paint match is spot on. The shop works mostly on high-end Italian imports - I parked beside a Gallardo when picking up, and there were a couple others in the paint booths - which is the exact reason I chose this shop.
I was able to go to a friends shop to do the work, and having access to a hoist made it so much easier. It was clear I was a rookie, as I raised and lowered the car about a dozen times through the day (could be part of the reason it took 7 hours... ). We kicked off around noon with removing the front Type-S bumper, and then installing some of the Type-S trim, as well as the new base model grilles, in to the new base bumper. I also took the opportunity to replace one broken foglight, and cover both with clear Lamin-X. The Aspec lip was then installed on the front bumper.
Once that was done, I quickly installed the RDX rear caliper covers, so that the RTV had as much time to cure as possible.
We then hung the front bumper back on the car, and began installing the rear lip on the rear bumper, taking a quick break to play with the 'shop dog', who is admittedly still a shop puppy.
Last was the side-skirts, which went on without too much fuss. Without further ado, here are some pictures!
Last but not least, a quick teaser of this season's wheels. I've hinted at them a few times in other posts, but I've officially taken ownership of them, and did a quick test fit on the weekend. They can't be installed until I have the fenders rolled (appointment on the 14th), but I'm extremely excited.
Last edited by Alex.Leslie; 04-05-2016 at 09:58 AM.
03-10-2016, 11:17 AM
Looking forward to leaning on your expertise in a few weeks time.
)
It only took 7 hours... 
). We kicked off around noon with removing the front Type-S bumper, and then installing some of the Type-S trim, as well as the new base model grilles, in to the new base bumper. I also took the opportunity to replace one broken foglight, and cover both with clear Lamin-X. The Aspec lip was then installed on the front bumper.
