E_Master's Anthracite Metallic TL Progress Thread
11-22-2016, 09:19 PM
#1
Intermediate
Thread Starter
E_Master's Anthracite Metallic TL Progress Thread
Greetings everybody. I was going to wait a while longer to start my own thread when I had actually made a good amount of modifications to the car, but I figured I may as well just start it now.
My first car back in 2014 was a 2004 Hyundai Elantra. I had purchased it for $500 from my mother's work because they were getting rid of old work vehicles. It had 112k miles on it and absolutely zero problems. Being my first car, I wasn't concerned about its looks. It was a great deal and got me from point A to point B without a problem. Due to me being an inexperienced driver, I had done some things that put a lot of stress on the car. For example, I put the car into drive before completely stopping in reverse. I of course somewhat slowed down before switching gears but I know better than that now. I also constantly stomped on the petal to get into passing gear so I could go faster. Starting to drive without warming the car up sometimes in the winter because I was in a rush also probably wasn't a good idea. I also drove 40k+ miles in 2 years because of commuting to college and because I delivered food for a pizza place After a year and a half of abusing the car, I started running into problems. The first problem was the catalytic converter going bad. It costed me over $1000 to replace, which took a huge dent out of my bank account. Then the transmission started to go. After warming the car up I would put the car into drive and after letting off of the brakes the car would jolt as it was going forward. The car also banged into gear when going from reverse to drive. It was August 2016 and the car was due for inspection by the end of the month. The catalytic converter was going bad again for some odd reason and I was not putting another cent into the car. Knowing I was not going to pass inspection, and that the car wasn't going to last me much longer, I had decided I needed to find a new car.
I started going on a bunch of different used car websites and opened tab upon tab of cars I had considered as an option to buy. Upon my research I had tried to look for cars under $10k with less than 90k miles on them. I wanted a good looking car for my next car and my first option would have been an Infiniti G35 or G37 but I knew that parts wouldn't be so cheap because Infiniti is considered a luxury brand, and there also wasn't many of them under $10k. I also tried to find a WRX STI, but they aren't exactly easy to come by, especially unmodded and under 10k and less than 90k miles. I had considered a Scion TC but I heard a lot of people had problems with the car so I decided against it. Anyways, eventually I narrowed it down to just the Acura brand. It was either the TL or a TSX. I liked the way the back end of the TL looked a lot more than I liked the look of the back of a TSX. at the time I didn't know that 2004-2008 Acuras were 3g or that there was a Type-S, but for what I was looking for the 3G TL was looking like my best option. So I narrowed my options down as much as I could based on location, mileage, and if it had a carfax or not.
The first dealership I went to is where I got my car. Although I did not find out until later when I looked to see the reviews on the dealership, I had seen a lot of bad reviews on the dealership. There were good ones too but I couldn't tell if they were real or not. As I knock on wood, I am thankful that I have not had any problems with the car so far.
Being as it was my first time buying a car, I had my parents come with me to look at the car and such and make sure I wasn't going to buy a car that had problems. Upon my inspection, there were not many scratches or anything on the car and after a test drive around the back of the lot I couldn't find a problem with the car. Being that the dealership was located in Jersey City and there was traffic absolutely everywhere, I could not test drive it on an actual road, which makes it difficult to make a decision on whether or not the car was running fine. Because there was no guarantee the car would still be on the lot, I had to put $500 down, which was not refundable if I did not decide to purchase the car, to hold the car for a few days before we could come back and fill out all the necessary paperwork and go over the final numbers. Upon going over the numbers, the car that was originally $9k had turned into $11k after dealership fees and such. I had $5k to put down and I would have to make payments for the next 3 years if I went through with it. I was not expecting there to be such a huge amount of money in fees, and I was almost ready to back out, but I had already put down $500 that I couldn't get back, and it was over and hour drive to get there, and my car at the time was on its death bed, so I decided to go through with the purchase. And I know it wasn't the smartest choice, and I've already been sort of bashed on for paying so much for the car, but you live and you learn. I'll definitely be a lot more prepared for when I purchase my next vehicle and I'll know what to expect.
This picture was taken after I had finished the process of purchasing the car, and was getting ready to take the somewhat long journey home. This is my '05 TL, which had almost 85k miles at the time.
Upon my drive home from the dealership I immediately fell in love with the car. Although only a year younger than the Elantra, it was a MAJOR upgrade in every aspect. From the looks of the interior and exterior, performance, sound, and more, everything was so much better. Other than the cassette player and a lack of an auxiliary input, I really didn't and still don't have any complaints. Right now I'm using the cassette auxiliary cord and I purchased the iSimple connect a couple monts ago but haven't installed it yet. I am not looking forward to ripping my dash apart to install it. Anyways, the car handles great and I love how much more power the car has.
After a couple weeks, I stumbled across AcuraZine while looking up how to install iSimple and I saw there was an entire subforum dedicated to 3G TLs and decided to take a look around and there was a lot of cool information and even a photography section so I decided to sign up. For the last few months up until today I have been a complete lurker, looking at a lot of threads but never posting anything. I have went completely through many of the progress threads and photography threads and I started to see the full potential of this car. As I went through these threads, I became inspired to start doing some modifications and such to my car, and any time I saw something that I liked I would add it to the list of things I plan on doing to my car.
The first thing on that list was new rims. The rims that were on the car at the time had plastic hub caps with plenty of curb rash. The tires were also beginning to dry rot. I started to do a lot of research for new rims for my car that wouldn't break the bank and after looking though every page of the wheel/tire spec thread I had decided to go with the 18x8.75 XXR 530s in chromium black.
I loved the look of those rims. Since the rims were bigger than the stock ones, I had to get brand new tires as well, so I had to save up a little more for a couple weeks until I could afford tires. So once I finally bought the tires, I found a place to mount and balance the tires for cheap, and thankfully they were smart enough to not damage the rims and went with the stick on weights. Upon seeing the wheels being put in my car, I fell in love all over again with a car that I was and am still in love with. Here's how my car currently sits with the new rims.
Attachment 101043
Attachment 101044
and this the most recent picture I have taken thus far.
Attachment 101045
She is getting pretty dirty and I really need to save up so I can buy everything I need in order to wash her. I do not want to go to a car wash place.
Unfortunately, a couple weeks after getting the rims and tires, the pizza place I was delivering food for closed down without warning. I received a text the day they closed down and that was the end of it. I wasn't planning on staying much longer and putting a lot of miles on the car anyways, but seeing as I just purchased rims and wheels and had made the mistake of not saving up a little extra money before purchasing them, I was left in a pretty tough financial situation and had to find a job fast. Out of desperation, I decided to apply, and ended up getting hired at Toys R Us as a seasonal "back-of-house" worker, thanks to a former coworker at the pizza place who also worked a 2nd job at Toys R Us. I can't say I'm looking forward to Black Friday in a couple days but I'll survive.
Anyways, I am still not financially in the position to do any type of work on my car just yet, but here is a list of upcoming things (not necessarily in order) that I would like to do with her once I get my money situation straightened out:
A-spec lip kit (also considering retrofitting a 2006 STI front lip)
Lower on Tein SA coilovers.
Ampd rear emblem kit
Debadge trunk
Replace interior lights with LED lights.
(maybe) Interior underdash lighting
clear headlights
roof spoiler (probably from bmwoemshop)
trunk lip spoiler
Window visors
Inspire fogs with HiDextra 5k fog bulbs
VLED 6k Triton switchbacks
VLED 6k DRL
V3Triton turn signals
Blue illuminated door sills
Match read sidemarkers with front ones
ATLP v2 Exhaust
Custom sound system
Lexus IS250/IS350 rear bumper diffuser
The exhaust will more than likely be one of my last mods I do to the car, as I would rather tackle the appearance modifications first.
I also want tail lights like the one in this picture (Photo credits to Undying Dreams)
I would like to know how to go about getting tails like these.
I look forward to being able to work on my TL and modifying her to my liking and to share my progress with you all. It may be a while before more progress but I can promise there is a lot more to come. I probably missed some things on the list, and I will probably find even more things that I want to do to the car. Thank you all for taking your time to read through my thread and I hope I can get some feedback, tips, and help whenever I need it. and if you think I should add anything else onto the list feel free to share.
My first car back in 2014 was a 2004 Hyundai Elantra. I had purchased it for $500 from my mother's work because they were getting rid of old work vehicles. It had 112k miles on it and absolutely zero problems. Being my first car, I wasn't concerned about its looks. It was a great deal and got me from point A to point B without a problem. Due to me being an inexperienced driver, I had done some things that put a lot of stress on the car. For example, I put the car into drive before completely stopping in reverse. I of course somewhat slowed down before switching gears but I know better than that now. I also constantly stomped on the petal to get into passing gear so I could go faster. Starting to drive without warming the car up sometimes in the winter because I was in a rush also probably wasn't a good idea. I also drove 40k+ miles in 2 years because of commuting to college and because I delivered food for a pizza place After a year and a half of abusing the car, I started running into problems. The first problem was the catalytic converter going bad. It costed me over $1000 to replace, which took a huge dent out of my bank account. Then the transmission started to go. After warming the car up I would put the car into drive and after letting off of the brakes the car would jolt as it was going forward. The car also banged into gear when going from reverse to drive. It was August 2016 and the car was due for inspection by the end of the month. The catalytic converter was going bad again for some odd reason and I was not putting another cent into the car. Knowing I was not going to pass inspection, and that the car wasn't going to last me much longer, I had decided I needed to find a new car.
I started going on a bunch of different used car websites and opened tab upon tab of cars I had considered as an option to buy. Upon my research I had tried to look for cars under $10k with less than 90k miles on them. I wanted a good looking car for my next car and my first option would have been an Infiniti G35 or G37 but I knew that parts wouldn't be so cheap because Infiniti is considered a luxury brand, and there also wasn't many of them under $10k. I also tried to find a WRX STI, but they aren't exactly easy to come by, especially unmodded and under 10k and less than 90k miles. I had considered a Scion TC but I heard a lot of people had problems with the car so I decided against it. Anyways, eventually I narrowed it down to just the Acura brand. It was either the TL or a TSX. I liked the way the back end of the TL looked a lot more than I liked the look of the back of a TSX. at the time I didn't know that 2004-2008 Acuras were 3g or that there was a Type-S, but for what I was looking for the 3G TL was looking like my best option. So I narrowed my options down as much as I could based on location, mileage, and if it had a carfax or not.
The first dealership I went to is where I got my car. Although I did not find out until later when I looked to see the reviews on the dealership, I had seen a lot of bad reviews on the dealership. There were good ones too but I couldn't tell if they were real or not. As I knock on wood, I am thankful that I have not had any problems with the car so far.
Being as it was my first time buying a car, I had my parents come with me to look at the car and such and make sure I wasn't going to buy a car that had problems. Upon my inspection, there were not many scratches or anything on the car and after a test drive around the back of the lot I couldn't find a problem with the car. Being that the dealership was located in Jersey City and there was traffic absolutely everywhere, I could not test drive it on an actual road, which makes it difficult to make a decision on whether or not the car was running fine. Because there was no guarantee the car would still be on the lot, I had to put $500 down, which was not refundable if I did not decide to purchase the car, to hold the car for a few days before we could come back and fill out all the necessary paperwork and go over the final numbers. Upon going over the numbers, the car that was originally $9k had turned into $11k after dealership fees and such. I had $5k to put down and I would have to make payments for the next 3 years if I went through with it. I was not expecting there to be such a huge amount of money in fees, and I was almost ready to back out, but I had already put down $500 that I couldn't get back, and it was over and hour drive to get there, and my car at the time was on its death bed, so I decided to go through with the purchase. And I know it wasn't the smartest choice, and I've already been sort of bashed on for paying so much for the car, but you live and you learn. I'll definitely be a lot more prepared for when I purchase my next vehicle and I'll know what to expect.
This picture was taken after I had finished the process of purchasing the car, and was getting ready to take the somewhat long journey home. This is my '05 TL, which had almost 85k miles at the time.
Upon my drive home from the dealership I immediately fell in love with the car. Although only a year younger than the Elantra, it was a MAJOR upgrade in every aspect. From the looks of the interior and exterior, performance, sound, and more, everything was so much better. Other than the cassette player and a lack of an auxiliary input, I really didn't and still don't have any complaints. Right now I'm using the cassette auxiliary cord and I purchased the iSimple connect a couple monts ago but haven't installed it yet. I am not looking forward to ripping my dash apart to install it. Anyways, the car handles great and I love how much more power the car has.
After a couple weeks, I stumbled across AcuraZine while looking up how to install iSimple and I saw there was an entire subforum dedicated to 3G TLs and decided to take a look around and there was a lot of cool information and even a photography section so I decided to sign up. For the last few months up until today I have been a complete lurker, looking at a lot of threads but never posting anything. I have went completely through many of the progress threads and photography threads and I started to see the full potential of this car. As I went through these threads, I became inspired to start doing some modifications and such to my car, and any time I saw something that I liked I would add it to the list of things I plan on doing to my car.
The first thing on that list was new rims. The rims that were on the car at the time had plastic hub caps with plenty of curb rash. The tires were also beginning to dry rot. I started to do a lot of research for new rims for my car that wouldn't break the bank and after looking though every page of the wheel/tire spec thread I had decided to go with the 18x8.75 XXR 530s in chromium black.
I loved the look of those rims. Since the rims were bigger than the stock ones, I had to get brand new tires as well, so I had to save up a little more for a couple weeks until I could afford tires. So once I finally bought the tires, I found a place to mount and balance the tires for cheap, and thankfully they were smart enough to not damage the rims and went with the stick on weights. Upon seeing the wheels being put in my car, I fell in love all over again with a car that I was and am still in love with. Here's how my car currently sits with the new rims.
Attachment 101043
Attachment 101044
and this the most recent picture I have taken thus far.
Attachment 101045
She is getting pretty dirty and I really need to save up so I can buy everything I need in order to wash her. I do not want to go to a car wash place.
Unfortunately, a couple weeks after getting the rims and tires, the pizza place I was delivering food for closed down without warning. I received a text the day they closed down and that was the end of it. I wasn't planning on staying much longer and putting a lot of miles on the car anyways, but seeing as I just purchased rims and wheels and had made the mistake of not saving up a little extra money before purchasing them, I was left in a pretty tough financial situation and had to find a job fast. Out of desperation, I decided to apply, and ended up getting hired at Toys R Us as a seasonal "back-of-house" worker, thanks to a former coworker at the pizza place who also worked a 2nd job at Toys R Us. I can't say I'm looking forward to Black Friday in a couple days but I'll survive.
Anyways, I am still not financially in the position to do any type of work on my car just yet, but here is a list of upcoming things (not necessarily in order) that I would like to do with her once I get my money situation straightened out:
A-spec lip kit (also considering retrofitting a 2006 STI front lip)
Lower on Tein SA coilovers.
Ampd rear emblem kit
Debadge trunk
Replace interior lights with LED lights.
(maybe) Interior underdash lighting
clear headlights
roof spoiler (probably from bmwoemshop)
trunk lip spoiler
Window visors
Inspire fogs with HiDextra 5k fog bulbs
VLED 6k Triton switchbacks
VLED 6k DRL
V3Triton turn signals
Blue illuminated door sills
Match read sidemarkers with front ones
ATLP v2 Exhaust
Custom sound system
Lexus IS250/IS350 rear bumper diffuser
The exhaust will more than likely be one of my last mods I do to the car, as I would rather tackle the appearance modifications first.
I also want tail lights like the one in this picture (Photo credits to Undying Dreams)
I would like to know how to go about getting tails like these.
I look forward to being able to work on my TL and modifying her to my liking and to share my progress with you all. It may be a while before more progress but I can promise there is a lot more to come. I probably missed some things on the list, and I will probably find even more things that I want to do to the car. Thank you all for taking your time to read through my thread and I hope I can get some feedback, tips, and help whenever I need it. and if you think I should add anything else onto the list feel free to share.
Last edited by E_Master; 11-22-2016 at 09:26 PM.
11-22-2016, 09:33 PM
#2
Jeff
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Good stuff my man! You still got a good car regardless of the extra fees and what not so dont frown upon that!
I would get rid of those door moldings first as that is free!
My car started out just like yours, mine was prob in worse shape to be honest
Feel free to take a peek in my thread for ideas
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-p...-pearl-918317/
I can sell you my tails in the spring when I get different ones made. theyre not exactly like that but similar
Also I love Antracite Metallic. Do a good wash, polish and wax on that beast and youll love it even more
Last edited by Oh Sickest TL; 11-22-2016 at 09:38 PM.
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E_Master (11-22-2016)
11-22-2016, 09:38 PM
#3
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Good stuff my man! You still got a good car regardless of the extra fees and what not so dont frown upon that!
I would get rid of those door moldings first as that is free!
My car started out just like yours, mine was prob in worse shape to be honest
Feel free to take a peek in my thread for ideas
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-p...-pearl-918317/
I can sell you my tails in the spring when I get different ones made. theyre not exactly like that but similar
Last edited by E_Master; 11-22-2016 at 09:45 PM.
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Oh Sickest TL (11-22-2016)
11-23-2016, 03:07 PM
#5
Welcome!! Er, sort of lol
Some might say that's too much, but no one can value a car based off a picture. I paid nearly twice that for my Type S back in March.
Like OhSickestTL said, poke around the photo gallery. A lot of my decisions on mods came from here. Also a ton of advice and great people.
Keep on rocking!
Some might say that's too much, but no one can value a car based off a picture. I paid nearly twice that for my Type S back in March.
Like OhSickestTL said, poke around the photo gallery. A lot of my decisions on mods came from here. Also a ton of advice and great people.
Keep on rocking!
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E_Master (11-23-2016)
11-23-2016, 04:18 PM
#6
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Welcome!! Er, sort of lol
Some might say that's too much, but no one can value a car based off a picture. I paid nearly twice that for my Type S back in March.
Like OhSickestTL said, poke around the photo gallery. A lot of my decisions on mods came from here. Also a ton of advice and great people.
Keep on rocking!
Some might say that's too much, but no one can value a car based off a picture. I paid nearly twice that for my Type S back in March.
Like OhSickestTL said, poke around the photo gallery. A lot of my decisions on mods came from here. Also a ton of advice and great people.
Keep on rocking!
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11-23-2016, 04:30 PM
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11-23-2016, 04:34 PM
#9
Jeff
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fuck tell me about it brother.
And yes it all adds up, next thing you know your in for 10k or more hahah
What really did it for me was my car needed to be repainted so that took a huge chunk of my coin but man fresh paint is such an amazing thing lol
And yes it all adds up, next thing you know your in for 10k or more hahah
What really did it for me was my car needed to be repainted so that took a huge chunk of my coin but man fresh paint is such an amazing thing lol
11-23-2016, 04:39 PM
#10
11-23-2016, 05:40 PM
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I already know how much of a money pit this car is going to be for me but I've accepted it. My whole Christmas list is just going to consist of car parts. Anyways.. Call me a n00b but I had always seen people in threads telling people to remove the door moldings but I could never figure out what they were talking about.. Then I compare pictures of my car to ones of other TLs and I finally figure it out. I found a DIY for it but is there any other way to remove it without having to heat it up with a hair dryer or heat gun? I live in a condo and coming across an outside outlet wouldn't be easy for me. Perhaps I could just use a friend's garage though. Which is another issue. I need to find a trustworthy place near me for when I have work done to my car that I'm not confident enough to do it myself
11-23-2016, 05:45 PM
#13
Jeff
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yea youll need to heat it up to remove them but youll have residue from the adhesive so dunno what it will look like underneath. Mine did not have those. I think you can use something like goo gone to remove the left over adhesive
11-24-2016, 08:22 PM
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Looks good-I like the wheels. A drop now to go with the wheels though....
11-25-2016, 12:11 AM
#16
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Thank you Steven! And definitely after the winter I will try to get my hands on some coilovers. I'm probably going to put the original wheels back on soon for the winter
Last edited by E_Master; 11-25-2016 at 12:15 AM.
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Steven Bell (11-25-2016)
11-25-2016, 08:45 PM
#17
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Coils will do you good! But the damn Winter gets in the way....
11-26-2016, 10:53 AM
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sbuoy (12-11-2016)
11-27-2016, 11:55 AM
#21
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They are indeed the rockstar tails. I had gone though so many threads and pages I had forgotten they originated from him
11-28-2016, 06:49 PM
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Looks good!
12-01-2016, 06:24 PM
#23
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No major update here. In fact, this one was so minor it almost isn't worth posting about. But since I ran into difficulties I suppose I could share.
I finally got around to replacing the o-ring for my power steering. It wasn't as easy as it was supposed to be, however. I drained the old fluid first, then I tried to get the bolt off, but it was in such a difficult spot and it appeared to be stripped (turned out just had some residue on it) and my dad had just got home from work so I asked him to help. Anyways after toying around with the bolt he finally got it cracked and got the piece out and the old o ring out and put the new one on. anyways, my dad wanted to clean something that had power steering fluid on it with a rag and the next thing you know the new o-ring was gone. We spent like 20 minutes looking all under the hood and around on the ground and could not find it. the worst part was I had already drained my PS fluid. so he goes over his buddy's house to see if he has one (he's not a mechanic or anything so I'm not sure why, but he has a bunch of different o-rings) and he didn't have one that matched the old one. So he comes back, we look again, finally find it somewhere under the hood after looking another 10 minutes. so after taking probably more than an hour than it should have, it is finally fixed, or so I hope. One thing I should note is that I mistakenly did not put a rag over the timing belt before I started and I got some of the old fluid on it
. Hopefully it doesn't cause me any problems in the long run and it doesn't start to squeal.
I finally got around to replacing the o-ring for my power steering. It wasn't as easy as it was supposed to be, however. I drained the old fluid first, then I tried to get the bolt off, but it was in such a difficult spot and it appeared to be stripped (turned out just had some residue on it) and my dad had just got home from work so I asked him to help. Anyways after toying around with the bolt he finally got it cracked and got the piece out and the old o ring out and put the new one on. anyways, my dad wanted to clean something that had power steering fluid on it with a rag and the next thing you know the new o-ring was gone. We spent like 20 minutes looking all under the hood and around on the ground and could not find it. the worst part was I had already drained my PS fluid. so he goes over his buddy's house to see if he has one (he's not a mechanic or anything so I'm not sure why, but he has a bunch of different o-rings) and he didn't have one that matched the old one. So he comes back, we look again, finally find it somewhere under the hood after looking another 10 minutes. so after taking probably more than an hour than it should have, it is finally fixed, or so I hope. One thing I should note is that I mistakenly did not put a rag over the timing belt before I started and I got some of the old fluid on it
. Hopefully it doesn't cause me any problems in the long run and it doesn't start to squeal.
12-02-2016, 10:27 AM
#24
Timing belt is under a cover. You are probably referring to the serpentine belt. Those are relatively cheap and EASY to change if it does start to squeal. How did the new O-ring disappear? It's in a groove and should have been stretched a hair to seat properly.
12-02-2016, 11:13 AM
#25
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. And I guess it wasn't properly in the groove because the second time putting it on it stayed seated in the groove fine
12-03-2016, 12:58 PM
#27
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. I promise they'll be gone really soon
01-05-2017, 07:21 PM
#29
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Promise has been broken. The door moldings are still on 
. living in a condo isn't exactly convenient for me to do work on my car. That and the fact that I've been lazy. I know I could use an extension cord and go the hair dryer route or I could invest in a battery operated hair dryer or heat gun. I've got other things to worry about right now so I'm just going to hold off on it for the moment.
Anyways the real reason I'm updating this thread is because I went to an Acura dealership for my B maintenance. After 2 hours of waiting in the lobby (since I'm too young for a loaner car) they were finally finished. After they had inspected everything on my car, they listed everything that failed in the inspection and quoted me on how much it would cost to fix it all.
Here it is:
I starred what is most important and circled the motor mounts because I am unsure of what ones to get.
There is NO WAY I'm paying this STEALership anywhere close to this amount of money to do maintenance on anything listed here. As a matter of fact, I have found every part on this list (including 105k service parts) aside from the motor mounts for roughly ~$650 not including shipping. I can perform some of the maintenance listed here by myself, which will save me a lot of money. The only thing I wont be able to do is the 105k service (except I can do the spark plugs). I read on an old thread (from 2011) that a Honda dealership in Hamilton, NJ did a lot of 105k services for ~$400-$600, which included the cost of parts. So if they still offered to do the service for a pretty reasonable price including parts I may just go that route and not even buy those parts myself. It would also be interesting to see what the labor would cost if I had bought the parts myself and took it to the dealership or a trustworthy independent mechanic.
To cover the majority of the list I will more than likely get the following:). So now I'm going to have to show the place that installed my wheels the key and see if they can cut me some sort of deal. Otherwise, not a huge deal, I'll just get a new key and have the lugs torqued to spec, provided they're still fully functional.
Any advice or feedback for motor mounts that are better than OEM would be appreciated. I also am not sure if I really need to replace my battery yet, as it has shown zero hesitation in starting in the cold weather. Also, if any of you who has read this can think of a better and not too expensive brake package, let me know.
. living in a condo isn't exactly convenient for me to do work on my car. That and the fact that I've been lazy. I know I could use an extension cord and go the hair dryer route or I could invest in a battery operated hair dryer or heat gun. I've got other things to worry about right now so I'm just going to hold off on it for the moment.Anyways the real reason I'm updating this thread is because I went to an Acura dealership for my B maintenance. After 2 hours of waiting in the lobby (since I'm too young for a loaner car) they were finally finished. After they had inspected everything on my car, they listed everything that failed in the inspection and quoted me on how much it would cost to fix it all.
Here it is:
I starred what is most important and circled the motor mounts because I am unsure of what ones to get.
There is NO WAY I'm paying this STEALership anywhere close to this amount of money to do maintenance on anything listed here. As a matter of fact, I have found every part on this list (including 105k service parts) aside from the motor mounts for roughly ~$650 not including shipping. I can perform some of the maintenance listed here by myself, which will save me a lot of money. The only thing I wont be able to do is the 105k service (except I can do the spark plugs). I read on an old thread (from 2011) that a Honda dealership in Hamilton, NJ did a lot of 105k services for ~$400-$600, which included the cost of parts. So if they still offered to do the service for a pretty reasonable price including parts I may just go that route and not even buy those parts myself. It would also be interesting to see what the labor would cost if I had bought the parts myself and took it to the dealership or a trustworthy independent mechanic.
To cover the majority of the list I will more than likely get the following:
- PIAA SI-TECH SILICONE FLAT WIPER BLADES
- 8014-045-FFP YellowTop Group 34/78 Deep Cycle Battery by Optima (although I'm strongly considering RedTop instead because I don't think I'm going to have a very heavy audio system so I probably wont need the yellowtop)
- K&N Replacement air filter
- StopTech Slotted Street rear Brake Kit
- ATP HA-5 cabin air filter
- NGK Iridium IX Spark Plugs
- GATES TCKWP329 PowerGrip Premium OE Timing Belt Component Kit
- Gates K060841 Serpentine Belt
- Gates 33914 Engine Coolant Thermostat
). So now I'm going to have to show the place that installed my wheels the key and see if they can cut me some sort of deal. Otherwise, not a huge deal, I'll just get a new key and have the lugs torqued to spec, provided they're still fully functional.Any advice or feedback for motor mounts that are better than OEM would be appreciated. I also am not sure if I really need to replace my battery yet, as it has shown zero hesitation in starting in the cold weather. Also, if any of you who has read this can think of a better and not too expensive brake package, let me know.
Last edited by E_Master; 01-05-2017 at 07:32 PM.
01-06-2017, 09:26 AM
#30
-Wipers are $20 installed by yourself.
-Motor Mounts are a DIY, not sure of price off hand.
-Alignment is an OK cost.
-Battery around $135 installed yourself
-Engine filter around $20 installed yourself
-Rear pads and rotors (autozone prices) about $140 installed yourself
-Cabin Filter $15 installed yourself
-Spark Plugs $35.34 for 6 (6994 NGK Laser Iridium) installed yourself bought off amazon
-Brake Fluid Flush $10 done yourself
-Timing belt is about average.
They are trying to take your money and run. That is ridiculous what they charge!
-Motor Mounts are a DIY, not sure of price off hand.
-Alignment is an OK cost.
-Battery around $135 installed yourself
-Engine filter around $20 installed yourself
-Rear pads and rotors (autozone prices) about $140 installed yourself
-Cabin Filter $15 installed yourself
-Spark Plugs $35.34 for 6 (6994 NGK Laser Iridium) installed yourself bought off amazon
-Brake Fluid Flush $10 done yourself
-Timing belt is about average.
They are trying to take your money and run. That is ridiculous what they charge!
01-06-2017, 01:24 PM
#31
Intermediate
Thread Starter
^^^^I Know! $80 for windshield wipers? As if they're that hard to install myself. $100 for installing a cabin air filter? and they want to change like 9x what it would cost if i just bought spark plugs and did them myself. The battery install isn't too unreasonable but it would only take me like 5 minutes and save me like $30 (since I want an optima battery). and who would pay nearly $900 to get two motor mounts replaced?
Last edited by Steven Bell; 01-10-2017 at 08:17 PM. Reason: No need to re-quote the previous post, especially if you're the next person posting.
01-06-2017, 02:28 PM
#32
Gumball Rally Special
You made a good purchase man! These cars are definitely a money pit but it's the most fun I've ever had spending my hard-earned cash 
Looking forward to watching your build progress, be sure to update us with photos!
Looking forward to watching your build progress, be sure to update us with photos!
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E_Master (01-06-2017)
01-06-2017, 02:39 PM
#33
Intermediate
Thread Starter
It may be a while before any real progress is made. Unfortunately I have other expenses I need to take care of first (such as this speeding ticket I received about a week ago 
)
)
The following users liked this post:
Lie-Low (01-06-2017)
The following users liked this post:
Lie-Low (01-06-2017)
01-08-2017, 06:01 PM
#35
Senior Moderator
Regions Leader
Regions Leader
Damn that list is bullshit. You could do it. Just take it one job at a time. The motor mounts do suck. That and the timing belt would be the only thing I'd pay them to do
01-10-2017, 10:24 AM
#36
Suzuka Master
OP you can get most of the work done by Paul, he also locate in NJ.
04-01-2017, 11:36 PM
#37
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Hello everybody! I'm back with a few updates.
I'll go from the oldest update to the newest.
You're all going to hate me for putting my TL through this but I am now currently a delivery driver for a pizzeria. Basically my other job just does not give anywhere near enough hours for me to support myself and I had to get another one and this one kind of fell into my lap. I've worked 4 weeks straight between my two jobs (since I kept my other job) until a few days ago my license was suspended for 15 days because of my speeding ticket due to violation of motor vehicle law 11 months after taking a defensive driving class. So 3 days down, 12 to go. It is rough not being able to drive and having to find rides everywhere. Luckily I let my boss at the pizzeria know way ahead of time about my situation and he was pretty cool about it and says I'm not fired and I still have my job when I can drive again.
Notice the date on that battery ^^ not even that old
So almost a month ago I killed my old battery for the last time. I say killed since it was completely my fault for it dying. I had decided to wash my car at a self service car wash using the two bucket method and all my own supplies. Silly me decided I wanted to play music through the stereo while the car was off and I also kept my headlights on.. Needless to say my battery died and I hopefully tried to start it and after a third try it completely stopped cranking and I had to get it jumped. Well that didn't work so the tow truck driver suggested it was probably my starter since all my electronic stuff turned on but I was getting zero crank. So in an effort to save money I replaced my battery (that I had problems with holding a charge in the past and found out it was leaking) with a 24f Everstart yellow top from Walmart and got the car to start one more time and then tried later and the starter solenoid was hung up. So I replaced the entire starter with a rebuilt one and she came back to life.
Also this is the bigger part of the update. I finally removed the door molding and wow does it ever make a difference!
I have to admit there was a lot of left over adhesive I had to remove which took up the majority of my time. Anyways any tips on how to get rid of these lines left over?
Since I already had everything I needed to debadge my car and I had wanted to do that, I decided to get that done with as well.
I also just bought the Powerstop Autospecialty Daily Driver OE Brake kit (front rotors and pads) not too long ago and should get around to install them shortly. I need to get my lug nuts off without breaking the key because it was put on with a gun instead of a torque wrench.. Yes I've learned my lesson. So I have broken 2 keys already before learning the only way to get them off is by the way they were put on and to always torque them down to the proper specs with a torque wrench.
Also after washing my car I noticed somebody had scraped against the rear driver's side of my car and I have no idea when or where it happened. Assuming they pulled in too close when parking or turned too sharp backing out of a space.
Needless to say, I hope karma gets this person back because while accidents do happen I would have at least appreciated a note.
Actual mods should be happening after a couple more months. I just hit 100k about a week ago
(Still just breaking her in)
so I will need to do my 105k service soon and I still need to do my engine mounts plus a few other maintenance things before I can do anything else to the car.
Some bonus shots:
Let me know what you guys think so far!
I'll go from the oldest update to the newest.
You're all going to hate me for putting my TL through this but I am now currently a delivery driver for a pizzeria. Basically my other job just does not give anywhere near enough hours for me to support myself and I had to get another one and this one kind of fell into my lap. I've worked 4 weeks straight between my two jobs (since I kept my other job) until a few days ago my license was suspended for 15 days because of my speeding ticket due to violation of motor vehicle law 11 months after taking a defensive driving class
. So 3 days down, 12 to go. It is rough not being able to drive and having to find rides everywhere. Luckily I let my boss at the pizzeria know way ahead of time about my situation and he was pretty cool about it and says I'm not fired and I still have my job when I can drive again.Notice the date on that battery ^^ not even that old
So almost a month ago I killed my old battery for the last time. I say killed since it was completely my fault for it dying. I had decided to wash my car at a self service car wash using the two bucket method and all my own supplies. Silly me decided I wanted to play music through the stereo while the car was off and I also kept my headlights on
.. Needless to say my battery died and I hopefully tried to start it and after a third try it completely stopped cranking and I had to get it jumped. Well that didn't work so the tow truck driver suggested it was probably my starter since all my electronic stuff turned on but I was getting zero crank. So in an effort to save money I replaced my battery (that I had problems with holding a charge in the past and found out it was leaking) with a 24f Everstart yellow top from Walmart and got the car to start one more time and then tried later and the starter solenoid was hung up. So I replaced the entire starter with a rebuilt one and she came back to life.Also this is the bigger part of the update. I finally removed the door molding and wow does it ever make a difference!
I have to admit there was a lot of left over adhesive I had to remove which took up the majority of my time. Anyways any tips on how to get rid of these lines left over?
Since I already had everything I needed to debadge my car and I had wanted to do that, I decided to get that done with as well.
I also just bought the Powerstop Autospecialty Daily Driver OE Brake kit (front rotors and pads) not too long ago and should get around to install them shortly. I need to get my lug nuts off without breaking the key because it was put on with a gun instead of a torque wrench.. Yes I've learned my lesson. So I have broken 2 keys already before learning the only way to get them off is by the way they were put on and to always torque them down to the proper specs with a torque wrench.
Also after washing my car I noticed somebody had scraped against the rear driver's side of my car and I have no idea when or where it happened. Assuming they pulled in too close when parking or turned too sharp backing out of a space.
Needless to say, I hope karma gets this person back because while accidents do happen I would have at least appreciated a note.
Actual mods should be happening after a couple more months. I just hit 100k about a week ago
(Still just breaking her in)
so I will need to do my 105k service soon and I still need to do my engine mounts plus a few other maintenance things before I can do anything else to the car.
Some bonus shots:
Let me know what you guys think so far!
04-02-2017, 12:18 PM
#39
Suzuka Master
if you need any major work done, contact Paul he does great work for reasonable price.
The following users liked this post:
E_Master (04-02-2017)
04-02-2017, 12:49 PM
#40
Intermediate
Thread Starter