Hello all,

I am fairly new to the site, but have a few Acura vehicles. This thread is about my latest 2007 RDX base that i bought to replace my winter beater 2003 TL-S that the transmission went at 320k.

Hope I don't offend anyone but this is going to be my winter only car and I am being as cheap as possible with it.



2003 TL-S

The Transmission in the 2003 TL-S on my way to work would not come out of 2nd gear, and by the time i got there (i live close) it was smoking. I knew this day would come.

So....

I bought probably the cheapest 2007 RDX and got scrap value plus tax savings for the TL-S, and was allowed to harvest parts from the TL.



This RDX has 338,000kms (i live in canada)

The day I bought it I ordered a K&N drop in filter and booked an appointment at the nearest Dyno Tuning shop to have the ECU flashed.

 

Since i got the important things out of the way it was time to have it safety inspected. The Tires on the Honda steel wheels are date stamped 2006 and need to be replaced. Also the LED light in the passenger side mirror was dead.

Ordered an LED unit from Acura for 138$ and found some used snow tires on kijiji (like craigslist for canada) for 300$

I started harvesting parts from the TL, the wheels will fit.

 

The leather on the armrest was all duct tape and ripped.

I found a replacement for 18$ cad and put it on. I did okay but wish the tips between the lock were longer. But it looks a lot better. I don't have a before pic.

 

After driving for a few days I decided to order an ETS Inter-cooler, and a cat-less down pipe from Russia.

 

A tech i know, in trade for the snow tires that were on my TL-S, installed the kijiji snows on my TL wheels.

 

Some more photos of the RDX

 

Nice, Keep us posted!

 

I just hit 250K miles in my RDX (402K km)....



Can't wait to see your build!

 

Wheels on



Before

After

 

Nice 👍🏻, old TL wheels..

 

From Russia with love

 

 

I sold the rusty steel wheels and 2006 snow tires for 100$ yesterday.

 

Thank you for sharing, those are some cool pictures.
I'm actually replacing my 2 donut gasket's n hardware. I contemplated on doing same but can bare the expense right now. Awesome to see u do get her done though.

 

No problem, its getting installed on tuesday next week. hopefully soon after that my tmic shows up.

 

Moderators moderating make me so hard.
Welcome to the farm (pron: forum).
Love what you're doing...
couldn't help but at your comment about keeping the build cheap
and then booking a tune and ordering appearance and go fast parts.
I don't blame you one bit...
I love buying cheap cars and giving them new life!
Curious, why didn't you wait for the charge cooler and exhaust before
the tune?

 

yeah i should have waited, but i thought i was going to just do the tune and that's it.


but once i felt the difference after the tune....

 

i bought one of those leather seat protectors for dogs in hope of keeping mud off the seat. It works good so far. I got one for my TL too.

20ish $ each




I also painted over the rust with exact match from Canadian tire. 18$ a can. ordered it from the website to pickup at the counter is way easier than looking for 30 minutes for the can on the shelf.

 

Nice, man...
I guess you felt the tune and were like, okay now imagine if this engine could BREATHE!

 

 

I like the dog 🐕 the best haha 😆

 

Nice save for the seats!



Love the pair of Acuras!

 

Tripod of Acuras?

 

dog is like, don't hate me cause I'm beautiful

 

yeah she's a diva

 

naw man, she knows...
she's a good girl.

 

progress

 

hollowing it?

 

installing my Russian downpipe

 

How much of a pain in the ass was it...?

Lol that cute puppy 🐶

 

driveshaft is stuck in the hub so the motor mount and subframe had to be unbolted and lowered. Ill be driving it later today.

 

Before

After

 

just took it for a drive, spooling from a stop it spun the tires on dry pavement.

pretty happy with the results.

do need a retune but my intercooler will be here in a few weeks.

 

 

 

 

My rear wiper stopped working last night.

im going to take the assembly apart tonight and see if i can repair the motor.

 

 

Opened the panel,

see the salt buildup around the plate light socket. no wonder the tailgate rusts in this area. came off in chunks.

wiper arm is seized on. will pick up a puller tonight or tomorrow.