Grigio4G

So the Acura/Benz dealership in my town has been seeing quite a bit of me n "ol' betsy" in the past couple days (ill miss her just a bit, she is like a comfortable pair of sneakers).



Some good progress happening. Butt got cut off lol




Out with the old



Almsot in with the new.



Frame has been adjusting with ease, just need a couple more touches before everything can get welded together. Here's my welder....my Dad.



He used to instruct welding classes back in Europe and i'm glad he knows what he's doing...

Got the new bumper in and 2012 tails. Few more days and car will be prepped for paint.

AntSauce

iTrader: (2)

Wow! Awesome! Thanks for the update!

Kenstlshawd

iTrader: (2)

Really cool that your dad is helping in your build .

losimus

your dad is HAWT...love the "safety" gloves...with no shirt.

nice choice on the tails too! can't wait to see how she turns out man.

BlueAc

iTrader: (2)

Nice project.... good luck!

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Thank God he's wearing safety gloves (but no shirt.....)

Grigio4G

lol dude is fearless.






So looks like I have everything I need to complete this restoration. Side curtain airbag is something I won’t worry about ‘til the body work is done.

I do need help with one thing...exhaust. As I mentioned before the exhaust was chopped off by someone so for me to spend $600+ on a factory one is absurd.

I did some research and watched just about every sound clip that’s available on this and I am still not sure whether I want to go with XLR8 or ATLP.

My wallet says to go with xlr8 since its $400 cheaper and if it’s too loud like some ppl claim it to be to weld in magnaflow resonators down the road. (Keeping stock J-pipe)

I don’t want the car to sound faster than it is, it has to be able to pull in to a business park and not sound louder than factory performance 4 door sedans (m5, s4 etc). I just want it be a complete package and sound refined not out of place. Hope that makes sense.

Any feedback on this would be appreciated since I have to make a purchase in the next couple days. Thank you.

Nexson

nice to see ya over here.

5 Acuras

iTrader: (1)

Nice work, looks like it's gonna be a beauty when you're done.

Packagingpro

What happens when you go to sell this with a Salvage Title? Is there a Factory Warranty after its been totaled? I am not sure if I understand why you would rebuild the vehicle. When it's finished, will you have more money invested than buying a clean used model?

Jackieee_TL

Where was the exhaust cut at? If it is after the J-pipe, I would just go the custom route and save some money and maybe every time considering shipping. If you want a mellow exhaust, I seen a few members going with Magnaflow or Borla. They sound nice especially for the price.

If I'm gonna change my exhaust later on. I'm going with Flo Pro Max mufflers. Dynomax is another great company. Check

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

....or just crazy.

Grigio4G

Nuh I wouldn't call my dad crazy, a bit unorthodox...maybe.

unkled20

It's awesome that your dad knows what he is doing and you two can work together on the car. Also, I wouldn't say he is crazy, but he certainly does have some big brass balls!

Grigio4G

Thanks Jackieee_TL for some good advice. Looks like I’ll be going custom for now with Magnaflow 12138 muffler's and 35124 tips. A lot cheaper than catback and still sounds good and looks great with quad tips. Comes spring ATLP is still on to do list but new mufflers will do for now. Will post pics as soon as they are on sometime after the paint and full rear assembly.

potmilkz

instead of droppping $$ on a expensive exhaust.. you can just go with custom magnaflows.. it seems its a popular thing now around the 4g side.. its about 300 for mufflers and tips..

Grigio4G

You probably didn't see my last post lol but yeah that's the plan.

potmilkz

woops lol.. good job anyways. keep up the good work. hope all the body lines are line up good. good flipper if you decide to flip

ArthurL

iTrader: (4)

Looking forward to more pics. I love threads like these!

zapco

Go ahead and flare the fenders about 6-8mm...so you stick some serious meats in the rear.

Im glued to this thread.

shurik74

Should be easy to fix... I had dozen cars from insurance that were rear ended!

Good luck and keep us posted Anton (Антон)

Шурик

Grigio4G

Quick mid day update.

Rear panel was welded in yesterday and all the welds were sealed.

Biggest challenge I had today was aligning the trunk lid back so all the gaps look flawless, coupe hours later it was achieved.

All ready for paint.

ArthurL

iTrader: (4)

Wow, that was quick!

Grigio4G

Dropped it off for paint this evening. Should be done by Friday. Then its just assembly and little things.

Trying out 2012 tails.



This is how a 3.7 idles without mufflers lol getting it on the trailer for transport.

<object width="420" height="315"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/F1r3CEcTaa4?hl=en_US&amp;version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/F1r3CEcTaa4?hl=en_US&amp;version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

See ya friday!

Grigio4G

Not sure why video didn't post. Here's a link.
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/F1r3CEcTaa4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Acura_Swag

Make that ass round again. We dont dig flat asses lol lookin good so far brotherman

Kenstlshawd

iTrader: (2)

Nice progress and the exhaust got a nice rumble to it w/o the mufflers.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Wow, it's really coming together.

Grigio4G

Still waiting for the car to be done with paint. Looks like the shop got backed up so wont be ready til Thursday.

I've been busy collecting misc things. Ordered side curtain airbag today for $290...not bad figuring i paid almost $200 for a rear fender liner couple days ago...ridiculous.

Magnaflow quad mufflers and 4in tips are ordered as well. Cant wait til those suckers are on and staggered.

AntSauce

iTrader: (2)

Cool! I bet you are very eagerly waiting..lol. Did you get the Maganflow 11225's? Which tips did you get or order from?

Grigio4G

11225's have only one out i wanted to keep the quad exhaust look of shawd so I ordered 12138 muffler's and 35124 tips from an eBay authorized magnaflow dealer.

jasonstuckey

Good Luck

Grigio4G

Tips are in. Look kinda big up close but once they are on the car and staggered should look pretty good.

AntSauce

iTrader: (2)

Cool! Can't wait to see how they look installed! I usually see people get the 11225's with the single inlet/dual outlet.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Very nice.....

Grigio4G

ATLP who? lol jk jk

Alright the mufflers are in and I cant wait to get it all welded on.

Picking up the car from paint today and putting the rear end together all day tomorrow.

AntSauce

iTrader: (2)

oH Nice!! Ordering all that now!! lol..jk. not yet...but soon!

Grigio4G

Picked up the car from paint everything is good just need to adjust a few more gaps thats it.







...but before I can play with the rear end I needed to take care of something first: side curtain airbag.

To pass inspection not only does the airbag has to be replaced but the SRS module needs to be reflashed so it doesn't throw airbag related codes.

Taking the SRS module wasn't hard unlike other cars I had to do. All was needed done is take the side carpeting off the middle console and there it is. In most cars you have to rip the center head unit out because it berried deep inside with no access from the side. So that was easy.





Now the fun part....NOT. The key was not to damage the roof liner so i took out the middle top console, rear lights and back stop light assembly off and started taking out the side airbag.








Now in most cars it's simple as folding the rear seats down......not on TL. Since the seats don't fold down (wtf) I had to figure out how to take the seats out completely to get to the air bag hook up. That was a pain in the ass if you ever have to take those out have a friend help you, once you unbolt everything under the bottom seat you have to lift the whole back piece of the "hinge" that it sits on in order to take it out completely. I was the only one doing the work so it was a pain. Eventually I got it.



New vs old



4 hours later.



It's all done. Roof liner spared. Just has a wrinkle in one spot that i gotta find someone to iron out and the whole liner needs cleaned from my dirty hands.

Now just gotta wait for the SRS module to come back from Atlanta reflashed (know a guy) and I'm ready to get it inspected.

Kenstlshawd

iTrader: (2)

Nice progress To late now but it would of been good to fill the 2 holes for the "A" on the trunk lid. The rear look so good w/o any emblems.

thewrangler99

can't wait to see the finished product! great progress bud