Mandy

I have seen gutter guards on the front hood, they look awesome. But how about the gutter guards on the front air dam? Anybody tried it? How do you get the bumper off? I will get my clears one of these days.

Mandy

Found it!

LagunaTL thanks a bunch, i am headed to Lowe's this weekend, maybe even today!

redeye

you guys mind sharing what you found???

Mandy

I can now install a nice looking $1.59 gutter guard that will enhance my already beautiful 3.2TL.

It will go in the Air Dam on the bumper. As easy as taking out the baffle below the bumper, slide in the gutter guard (no cutting required) and kwala! Beautiful sight!

Then one of these days I will do my Front Grille!

redeye

oh yeah.. i might have to ask you for some tips to do the front air dam on the bumper

i actually tried doing the grille for the 3.2
either its really really really really hard to
or i'm totally inept

MaxxT

I know that there is a little difference between the 2.5 bumper and the 3.2. I tried to do the gutter guard for the bumper air dam as well but unsucessfull.

I noticed that you also from GA. May you be a little bit more specific on how you inserted the gutter onto your bumper?

Thanks in advance.

unx979

yeah it's pretty tough on the 2.5's i don't think anyone has finished this little project yet

Mandy

Went to Lowes last night, bought 2 types of gutter guard, 1 aluminum as LagunaTl recommended and i also bought the vinyl type which was black, comes on a 20' roll.

took out the plastic shroud on the top that covers the radiator, pretty simple snap in plastic dowels. wide space to drop down the 2 types of gutter guards.

the aluminum guard is sized perfect.

i am leaning towards the aluminum guard, the wife says it looks better. or maybe i can paint it black.....

the key would be how to attach it. the vinyl one can be glued in, the aluminum one should be wired into or screwed into something. but i think it is the least of my worries.

just be careful in sliding in the gutter guard, do not mess your headlights.

LagunaTL

i hope everything goes well for you. you can puncture small holes at strategic sites and tie the mesh to your bumper with copper wires. after the copper wires aged, they wont be noticeable. you can also use black screws. personally, i dont think painting it or not would make much difference. if you leave it unpainted, it will age and pick up enough road tar to make it look like black.

Mandy

So happy to see the results of my work. I will post a picture. A 20 minute job for an extraordinary result. Or maybe I am too crazy about my TL.

96TL

You could use a few wire ties to hold it in. I did it to mine a while back but I couldn't stand all the leaves that got stuck in it. I had to take it off, it gets annoying. It does look nice though.

jwt27106

Hey, I removed the top thing over the radiator, but how in the world do you get the black grille thing thats already there? I didnt see any bolts, or screws, so I guess theres some type of adhesive? Could you maybe melt it with a hairdryer? Thanks

Corby

the grill should just screw apart, there is another thread about this.

as for the bumper, i just carefully cut the gutterguard so it would fit in the 2 bumpers notches. once it looked alright, i took some solid core wire and twist tied it to the bumper, completely removable and looks great.

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/354321

the second last pic shows what I did, it looks a little warped but in person it looks alot nicer

HQuakers

I tried putting the gutter guard on the outside of my bumper, unsuccessfully. I put it on the inside how the other people said: unscrew a couple screws underneath of the bumper and slide in the mesh...it should fit pretty well; secure with zip ties. It looked pretty good for a while but I got tired of it.

Now, if any of you 2.5ers out there want some aluminum on the OUTSIDE of your lower opening, check out this link --->

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2455441676

I think I might buy it later and do a cheap 'powdercoat' style on it by painting it or something...not sure yet.

aznxkaiii

i dont know, but i really hate the "grille" look. with the aluminum and all. i dont know, looks a bit tacky. just my 5 cents... ;]

noTLegend

Hey that's my grill on the ebay site listed above by HQuakers. Da's cool! I don't like to come here and post to get sales, but someone else posted so I will comment. I custom fit aluminum with perforated holes to the opening. THe chrome trim around the grill holds the aluminum in place so no need for any mountings. I will say that I painted my upper grill black, thinking it would look aggressive. Since it is not mesh, it chips off when hit with bugs and stufff, so I have to make another one for myself. I may try to make a lower grill that goes behind the OEM grill, as I like the look, but didn't think to try it. If anyone does want one of these mention Acura-tl forum member and I will give a $5 discount. I make grills for alot of different cars. It started with Miatas for protection of the radiator.

noTLegend

My other baby.

http://www.freewebs.com/teamgrumpyra...ages/miata.jpg

HQuakers

noTLegend...do you have any other "patterns" than the small holes? Like, do you have anything that looks more like mesh?

noTLegend

No I Have a new thicker grill material with fewer holes, but of the smae size. The material is .050" thick. I haven't made a TL grill of the thick material yet, just chevy trucks and Miatas.

noTLegend

JWT27106, If you have a 2.5 it has screws from the back. 3.2 TL grill is different.

noTLegend

I have a couple of instruction pdf files posted at this site. YOu should right click and choose save target as. It will take a few minutes to download, but faster than just double clicking. These are PDF files so you need Acrobat reader. ENJOY!

noTLegend

MY website

Messed up the URL posting

noTLegend

JWT27106,

I am in NC too. Just down the road in Salisbury and I work in Lexington.

etxxz

Im modding the grill on the car, but im stuck when it comes to put it all together...

I cut meh good, separated grill into its 4 pieces, and then icant put together because the middle of the black plastic sticks out prohibiting me from putting the mesh wire infront of it...

i need some insight pliz...

noTLegend

Once you remove the black raised section (2 screws from the back) the grill should lay flat. If you have a 2nd Gen TL then the raised section does not come out and you must cut it off or cut a hole in the mesh. send me your email and I can send you some instructions that I send out when I sell a grille.

etxxz

Thanks noTLegend, my e-mail = Luisriera@aol.com

i posted my problem in this page:
www.geocities.com/luis_vocab/IMG_0202.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/luis_vocab/IMG_0202.jpg

if it doesnt show up, try copy pasting adress...geocities is messed up...

Thanks again... i have a 2nd gen TL...'99 TL just in case.

Mandy

Back from the archives....I will post a picture of my 1st DIY so cheap but so good. Slide in use some tie wires, kwala!

tmnhs81

What are we talking about here?? Any pics will be helpfull.

Mandy

Here ya go! Home Depot gutter guard, slide it in from the bottom, tie wrap and you're done.

TLin401

hmmm I might just add this. Thanks for the inspiration Mandy.

tmnhs81

So its that "mesh" kind of thing right.??

Your car looks nice, I still have to get those clear turn signals.

Mandy

Yup...so your air dam does not look nekkid, with guts easily seen...I want to either paint that silver or black...after some time the gutter guard fades and with dirt, it does not look as good brand new.

The gutter guard is $2 at Home Depot, maybe I will just get another one and replace the current-old one.

Someone here painted it glossy black, it looks nice!

tmnhs81

Any DIY??

TLin401

My guess would be just cut a piece long enough to go the length of the air dam and then find a place to tie it too. I think that removing the bumper lights would have to be involved as well.

desired_speeds

you know.. it doesn't look as bad as I thought it would look.

vas25tl

Looks nice!

Mandy

Guys..so easy...just jack it up, go under the bumper, you will see the space available for you to slide in the gutter guard. Then just be creative in finding places where you can tie wrap the gutter guard. I tied in in 4 locations. All you need is 1 piece, then cut to the right length, width is perfect.

The curvature of the gutter guard is such that you would think it was designed for it....

Try it, you'll be happy.

My recommendation is to paint your gutter guard. After some time, it fades, if not painted. One of the members here painte his, it was cool!

Mandy

Anybody tried this yet? Take pics an post!

TLin401

I'm def going to do this in the next few days or so. I want to try and do this before the snow because this maybe be my key to keeping snow out on the air dam.

Capricho

I did this to my 3.2 about 3 years ago. It looked great when it was first installed. After about 6 months the nice aluminum finish on the Gutter Guard will start to tarnish to a charcoal color. The tarnish doesn't scrub off. The grille also is a trap for leaves. If I'd do it again I probably wouldn't.