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I just got a primrose 1997 3.0. I had one about 20 years ago and loved it. I've been shopping for another one on and off for a few years and finally found one in great shape, original owner, garage kept, 42k miles! I had to buy it. I will post a few pictures soon. This thing is in better shape than mine from 20 years ago, so I'm very excited about it.
I remember Acurazine was such a great place for info and inspiration back in the day. It looks like it's a lot quieter these days, as one would suspect as these cars become more... vintage! I also noticed a lot of threads sadly have dead links and missing photos after all these years. But there is still tons of great info here and I'm hoping my memories from working on the car will come back to me as needed.
As for plans, well that's the big question at this point. When I was younger, I had very little money but plenty of time. I did most of my own work all over the car, learning as I went. I had big dreams but no means. Now my time and money ratios have pretty much flipped, so now's the time to do what I wanted back in the day! Funny enough, now that I found a car in such great shape and all original, it seems much harder in my mind to change anything about it. But the reason I wanted one again at all was to modify as I always wanted to, so I'm fairly certain I will.
For example, I thought a very quick and minor job to start might be putting in a touchscreen in place of the original radio. But now I'm leaning towards just hooking up an adapter in the back of the radio to connect to my phone and calling that a day to leave the original look inside.
I retrofitted a few sets of projector headlights back in the day with great success. My current headlights look as good as new, but that was one mod that I really enjoyed doing and the significantly improved the car, so I'm pretty sure I will make another set for this car.
Now the big, big plan. The suspension! I'm very much thinking about putting together an air suspension setup. I changed out every piece of the suspension many times in the past, but I never had the money for an air setup, and it was my only car. So I never seriously considered air back then, but I always wanted it. I only remember one guy here way back in the day that had an air setup (blue car from I think Orlando, don't remember his name), so I think this will be relatively unique, at least on this forum. Anyway, I need to conquer the evil wheel gap one way or another. There are a few things making me consider just slapping on some coilovers. This will not be a car I drive often or very far, so while airing out will be immensely satisfying and a dream come true, the height adjustability aspect is pretty unnecessary. But it's not really about necessity anyway! Air also seems like a really fun project to take on, though finding time to do it will probably be the biggest challenge, and coilovers should be pretty easy and quick to swap in. So with coilovers I could enjoy the car lowered sooner. Anyway, haven't made up my mind yet, but leaning towards the air project.
There's also some small things I might do, not really worth listing all of them out. For example it has some tint on it already, but it's probably been there since 97, as it's getting a touch blue, so I will probably get that redone at some point. The wife thinks the wheels make the car look old, so might change those after the drop. Then maybe a few other small things as I go. I think I will put in another auxiliary fuse block before doing the headlights and air setup, which could also be useful for other projects down the line.
Well this has been a long intro post, so I guess I'll leave it at that for now! I'll post some pictures of this silver fox soon...
Welcome! Were you a member on here back then? I just hit 20 years of ownership with my CL and I am in a similar situation where I now have the funds to actually finish some of the things I set out to do years and years ago. I have several updates for my car coming that I've actively been working on, but would love to get some more updates life back in this forum. I still have my retrofit after almost 20 years still going strong. I look forward to seeing what mods you get into and welcome again!
Hey BlackAck! I remember you for sure, probably one of only a few I could pick out by name. I remember you took great care of your car and had a nice clean theme going. What sort of new things are you working on? Very curious what could be next.
Here are a few pictures of my new car.
As for my updated plans...
I hooked up the bluetooth adaptor for the stock headunit. Check!
I did looking into getting the tint redone as I mentioned, and prices are reasonable so just trying to find a day to take it in. Not very exciting, but soon to be another check off the list.
Also not very exciting but something I am almost done with, I have replaced most of the exterior lights with nice bright LEDs.
Related, I got everything I need to retrofit, in theory. However, I'm having a problem with the bi-LED projectors, where the high beam shutter stays open regardless of whether I have the high beams switched on. I have sent TRS a few emails but they have not responded... so I'm not sure where that is going.
I got a new WW front lip.. I was surprised I could still order one! My hope is to have it molded on, and while that is being done, I have a few ideas I will keep to myself for now (not 100% sure I will pursue them, at least yet).
As for what I absolutely cannot find: clear bumper lights! Can you believe that? They are impossible to buy. I have placed an order with every single online shop that sells them. Each one has refunded my money saying they do not have any stocked and cannot get any because they're discontinued. So that is a huge bummer. If you or anyone else on here wants to sell a pair, let me know!
As for the air suspension, that has been shelved for now. It turns out you need to "trim" some of the suspension components to give the bags enough clearance without the risk of puncturing the bags. Not something I have any experience in and not something I want to learn on. I reached out to local shops who do air suspension installs, and long story short I'm not excited to move forward with anyone. Also, as fun as that project would be, I think I'm growing a little more realistic as to what kind of free time I have to work on the car, which is essentially none So, I ordered some Tein coilovers and will slap those suckers in myself. I can always revisit the air idea at a later date if things change.
Next on the list is some wheels. I'm also having a hard time locating a set I like and that is not ridiculously expensive. Also looking into what sizes and offsets are what I'm looking for. Might narrow down my search ones the Teins are on. The noob guide and some other posts have been helpful, but it is a shame that so many photos are now dead (seems like photobucket is to blame for a lot of that).
Clean looking 3.0, excited to see what you do with her. TRS's customer service is absolutely awful so not surprised to hear you haven't received a response. That's a bummer. I swapped all my corner lights and turn signals to newer LED bulbs a few years back, definitely a huge improvement over the old school LED bulbs I had forever. I recently swapped my D2S projectors from HID ballasts and bulbs to LED as well. I'm shocked to hear that you can't source any clear turn signal lenses, did you try eBay Motors? They used to be everywhere on there. Don't blame you for scrapping the airbag idea given the amount of trimming and fender work that would be needed, but curious to see where you go with the car. I have been plugging away on small updates as I have time, hoping to post an update in the next week or 2.
I know, crazy they're not available anymore. None on eBay motors. The stock bumper lights are easy to find, even some smoked clears, but no clears. Guess I'm stuck with the stock ones. Wonder if there's anyone on here anymore that is willing to part with a set.
What LEDs did you swap to for your headlights? I was thinking of returning the bi-LEDs and looking for low beams only. Not feeling great that you said TRS notoriously has bad customer service. I was hoping my emails were getting stuck in a spam folder or something. Now I'm thinking they're probably just trying to wait me out of the return window..
Well I'm eager to see what your update will be. Scissor doors???? Ha!
Well in some good but also probably ultimately bad news, I spoke to TRS for quite a while on the phone today and they're sending out a new set of projectors to see if those work. Unfortunately they said this is the first time anyone has reported this problem and they think it's very unlikely both projectors I got are not only defective but defective in the exact same way. They said based on the problem, it sounds like everything about the projectors is functional, it's just not functioning with this car for some reason. To be continued...
That is crazy about the clear corner lights, I remember when they were literally EVERYWHERE. I did find these that say they're in stock, don't know anything about the seller but worth a shot
I know, never thought they would be hard to find. There's got to be a stockpile of them somewhere.. I did try ordering from umnitza, they were actually very good about keeping me updated and looking into it, but they said they did not have them and can't get them anymore. Guess they just do not have the site updated. I appreciate you looking though.
The Integra ones are everywhere for sure, that's partly why looking for the CL ones is a pain, because all the Integra ones show up. Do they actually fit?
02-18-2024, 09:31 AM
So, I ordered some Tein coilovers and will slap those suckers in myself. I can always revisit the air idea at a later date if things change.
