LawnPro

Wow nice work so far, cant wait to see the finished grille. Are you getting the itch to take your tl for a drive in the snow? Im trying not to drive mine too much with the salt on the roads , but i do wash it the next day after driving it.

Teddybear

hey when u got ur TL tinted... did they tint around the 3rd brake light? or did they remove it to get it done?

KarKraze

Thanks, they finished product is a while away,we have not had any snow here in Toronto,which kinda sucks because i did not need to store the car and could have still enjoyed driving it,we may not even have a white Christmas


The shop that did the tint removed the 3rd brake light,i personally prefered it this way,it was optional and they would have done it either way the customer wanted,did you get the rear windshield spoiler?

defconskylude

nice. curious to see how this will look.

here's mine. 2 grills. ron jon style and the mdx grill. painting the upper/lower grill in dark gunmetal. middle grill light gunmetal.

ronjon style

_MG_9100 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9085 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9078 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr



_MG_9082 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9094 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9076 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9080 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9075 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9067 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9091 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9073 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9092 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9090 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9071 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9068 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9072 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


mdx


grill by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9042 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9058 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9038 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9054 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9062 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9047 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9040 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9043 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9039 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9052 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


weather stripping

_MG_9101 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr


_MG_9102 (1024x683) by 79522LR, on Flickr

KarKraze

^^^^ I have seen your thread and i think that the MDX grille is a great looking option,i am also aware that a lot of folks would like to see what it would look like on the TL,i am not sure if i am the first to attempt this but it does require a lot of patience and time,due to time constraints my project will take a little longer to complete,i hope it all fit together well,btw your car looks smoking hot!!!!!!

Teddybear

nothing till spring. im also on the fence with mods on the TL because i wanna pickup an s2k (in addition, not replacing the TL anytime soon!).

i'm just wondering how tinting around the 3rd brake light would look compared to removing it and tinting over.

Just because on my civic, the light housing doesn't touch the glass, so if i tint around, it looks really bad. But on the TL, the housing is surrounded by a black film because it actually touches the glass, or at least looks like it is, so it might look ok. My cousin's 330xi was like this, and it looked ok. but i wanted to see how it is on the TL.

defconskylude

cool. the only part that would worry me is chopping the upper part of your OEM grill and how you plan to fill in the void.

ever thought of getting it done professionally instead of a DIY project?

it already looks good by the mock up.

jspagna1

defconskylude, I like the look of your grille. Similar to the Mercedes grille. Nice!

KarKraze

I had a chance to remove the sports grille last night and today i did a test fit,everything fits like a glove,i am personally custom making a part to fill the void at the top and i do enjoy the challenge of an diy project,all in all if it does not work out i don't really mind but i would hate to give it to someone else to do and have them screw it up,here are some pictures of it on the car













since all fits well i will now start to work of getting everything epoxied together,the final finishing will be done whenever i have the time,probably by the spring.

defconskylude

sweet.

are you going to trim the sides of the lower grill?

also are you going to paint the upper/lower grill?

also look up plastic welding.

KarKraze

Only minor trimming will be done,i like how it sits the way it is,i am thinking that i will leave the mdx the original color and the outer tl grill in titainum silver.I placed some white pvc wrap on the outer grill to see how it would look if i painted it white but i don't like it so i will opt to go as stated above.

24no7

iTrader: (2)

wow so much creativity going on on here. Love it!

KarKraze

I am posting a few pictures on the progress of the Tl/Mdx grille combo for my Tl





i think that it looks really good but on a project like this patience is your best friend.

acura_dipset_tl

iTrader: (40)

Nice progress

KarKraze

So far i have been enhancing my car visually,today however i recieved my first performance upgrade




thanks Richie,next will be the HFPC and ??????,Spring is shaping up nicely for me!!!!!!!

KarKraze

I finally had a chance to paint the Mdx/Tl combo grille,i did the outer surround in matte titainum and left the Mdx portion in the original gun metal,i will install this weekend,here is a little preview of what it looks like


.

FYAH TL

Like the j-pipe. Once installed you'll fell the difference in performance.

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

Progress is coming a long way!!

Great job!

I gotta see it in person sometime haha

KarKraze

Looking foward to increased performance,jpipe and a few more to come.



Thanks,i would be happy to show it to you anytime in the summer.I smell a meet lol.

KarKraze

So i did the final install today and i am pleased with the way everything worked out,i choose this colour combo so that it matched with the headlamps and closely reflects the colour of the original grille.I think that it has just the right amount of chrome with the center bar,so here goes

I used the honeycomb from the original grille to cover the opening behind the center bar and a different perforated material and pattern to cover behind the Acura logo





Here is where the Mdx grille was intergrated with the Tl and the joint is seamless





The top was done this way to mimic the original lines






Side view











So there it is,i think that it looks really good on the car and i will see how it stands up to the elements over the summer months

24no7

iTrader: (2)

This were the pcitures i had been waiting for!!!! finally!!! Looks very clean

KarKraze

Patience lol,thanks,it does look quite clean and i could'nt ask for a better fit or finish .

potmilkz

looks good, but wouldnt you want air to go through your grill? i mean only ventilation you have is your lower grill openings..

overall, looks great, not too pleased with the big bump that is on the top..

LawnPro

Kudos to finishing your project KK! Looks like a job well done, and the fit and finish are excellent! I like how unique it is.

KarKraze

Thanks for you input,with regards to the ventilation the stock grille has an area of approximately 72 sq" compared to 68 sq" for the one that i made,a minimal difference that should not affect anything with the air flow.



Good to hear from you,it's been a while.Thank you for your kind words,i wanted to make something different and this certainly change the looks of the car in a positive way,all imho of course.

KarKraze

After much consideration i decided to purchase the Takeda Sri since other members have reported no loss in power when other exhaust mods are done such as those i am planning on doing,now i am just waiting on the Hfpc.I noticed that there was some welding slag on the inside of the aluminun tube so i ground and polished it down

KarKraze

So i decided to install the intake today,everything went smoothly and the most difficult part as most people encountered was removing the coolant line,other than that the rest is simple. To say that this thing sounds amazing is an understatement,i can't comment on the performance yet but time will tell







If i get some time next weekend i will put in the j pipe.

aspecallday

are u planning on installing this with ur stock exhaust?

KarKraze

Yes,,i am currently waiting on the Hfpc,but i have the j pipe and wanted to install them at the same time but i'll probably go ahead and just do the j pipe so i can hear the difference in sound,i don't want my car to get too loud so i don't mind doing the installation in stages.

hc28

Karkraze...question about your roof spoiler, does it cover the brake light at the top of rear windshield? I can't tell from your pics..

KarKraze

No the brake light shows clearly,i don't have any pics while stepping on the brake pedal but these may give you an idea,if not let me know and tomorrow i can take one for you.

aspecallday

im a when it comes to any mod's for my car thats why im constantly asking question bcuz i had no idea u can do that.i thought once u do j pipe u had to do full exhaust conversion because the diameter of the stock exhaust wouldnt line up with aftermarket parts..thnxs for the input

LawnPro

Hi KK nice pics of your roof spoiler. Good news im keeping my car, i love it too much to sell. Reading your thread always gives me good ideas for my TL, looking good!

HeartTLs

iTrader: (5)

are you getting the bike as well?

KarKraze

You would'nt belive how little i know as well,but thanks to this forum and members who are always willing to share their experience i have started to learn,so feel free to ask away.



Happy to hear the good news,you have done so much to your car that i am sure it would have saddened you to sell it.

LawnPro

Nope. The wife shot down that thought real fast,

russ0813

WoW car looks insane

KarKraze

Posting two very short video's of the sound with the Takeda Sri

KarKraze

I had some time this weekend so i decided to install the Rv6 j pipe,i had some difficulty removing the three bolts at the 3 cat,this would not have been a problem if i had the car on a lift but i used jack stands so my space underneath was somewhat limited,you definitely need a breaker bar since all the nuts are on very tight.The whole process took me a little over an hour to complete.
The fitment of this j pipe is excellent and i had no issues with any alignment (good job Richie),it does change the tone of the exhaust and there seems to be a low rumble at idle that was not there before,overall i am very satisfied with this mod and the sound is just amazing without being annoying.

Devineg

Wow your car looks great love the mdx grill! Would love to hear some sound clips or video of what your car sounds like with the new j pipe