dfreder371

Probably a dozen of you have told me to drop the car. Fine, I am considering it. Now (and I did ask the question): what does it cost? How bad is the ride effected?

synth19

ride is barely affected by the drop IMO...actually it is affected in a good way, center of gravity lowered.....turns are much more fun. You can get Comptech springs for like $300 (If I remember correctly). Install shouldnt be more then $150.... But seriously, look at your ride, certainly you have to be sickened by the wheel gap.. Drop would be the first thing on my agenda

dfreder371

Anybody got before and after pics of a dropped car? I checked prices a few hours ago, and the total cost is within $30 of what synth said. And is Acura going to give me any warranty hassle over this? Do the tires have to be realligned? Whatever I decide, one mantra: the car gets paid off FIRST! But, that should be taken care of by 11/1/03.

synth19

No problems with the warrenty, Comptech is used extensively by Acura and some dealerships even have "comptech certified mechanics" (eg Continental acura). They wont hassle you at all. I would not recommend getting the insall done at a dealership though, I did.......and they charged me an arm and a leg. A bunch of CL members went to Garage Kwai (sp?) for the spring install (Crazy Sellout, JohnTypeS, and Spiro) Once dropping, you will need an alignment afterwards (I paid $40 at an alignment shop for this...acura will charge you like $75). Dont worry about Camber issues either, once you align, camber is so minimally affected your tires will be fine. I cant comment though on other types of drops such as eibach for ex. But I still think you should drop the car even BEFORE you pay off the car, it isnt that much, and the car will look 100x better.

synth19

here are before and after pics of BlueCLS6's CLS (NOTICE THE HUGE DIFFERENCE):

Before:


AFTER:

Rod

Very nice, the wheels looks great on the anthracite! And as everyone has mentioned, drop it! The ride is not affected much with Comptech springs and the stock wheel/tire combo. The ride will be a little stiffer, but not harsh at all.

Six Shifter

well ... I'm sorry, but the best analogy I can come up with is that it looks like somebody is wearing black socks with sneakers. if I was from Compton, I'd probably have no problems with the look.

dfreder371

All right you guys, you have me convinced about the drop, but it WILL be awhile. I'm commuting 800 miles (round trip) from basically O'hare to a little hole in the ground 50 miles east on Cincy, leave Monday a.m, return Friday a.m. With a laptop, printer, luggage and a device called a Datapaq (don't ask), so I need the car and cannot "lay it up". And, don't tell me to rent a car. I don't want some domestic POS, and the CL excells at long distance running.

What is THE BEST drop kit? And Nicky, I would have Kwai garage do it (P.S. Nicky: when you get your wheels, WAX THEM FIRST, and no, it doesn't have to be zaino).

Two more things: 1, part a: Opinions please. Would tinted windows be going over the top and make the car too monochromatic? Or would it add to the look? I would go VERY, Very light on the front windows, if I did.

Part b: If your front windows are tinted AT ALL, I wanna hear each and all cop horror stories. I would also appreciate if someone would explain "percent" tint to me. What does that mean?

#2: When Kwai has the car for the spring drop (here comes the good part), I will also have them pull all four calipers, take them home, sand then smooth with 320 and 400 grit wet or dry sandpaper. Then, it is UPS next day air there and back to Gary Goodrich who did my wheels so that my wheels and calipers would match. He quoted my either $30 or $50 per, can't remember which. This is when happens when you get past 50. You develope a case of C.R.S. (can't remember shit!)

I will also get the word "ACURA" scanned in at the pin stripe shop in the true acura font on pressure sensitive material, and apply those to the calipers. I do not think they will get hot enough to cause a problem, but if they do, what the hell, at least I tried. Or, maybe, just maybe, when I get the calipers back, I can heat the calipers to 200 degrees, make a stencil, and spray ACURA on in silver powder coating. 200 degrees because the powder melts on at about 140 f, then bump them up to 400 f to complete the cure. I'll have to think about that though and practice on some scrap castings. Powder is pretty much a one way proposition, and if there is a screw up there is really no way of correcting that.

After all, I gotta stay one step ahead of Nicky Pass! (Nick, I am actually flattered you chose the same coating.)

Nicky Pass

Dave...the whole rim gets black chromed...or just the front?

Nicky Pass

OH yeah...as for the drop...do Comptech....its subtle and it looks juuuuuuuuuuuuuust right.

dfreder371

Nicky: The WHOLE rim will be coated. If you go to the website, the opening screen shows a black wheel from the side, and that is what you will get. By the way, the blonde guy is patrick, and he does the coating, so, make friends with him. I know you will be dying to get them on the car, but when you get the wheels, wax them per Patrick. I waxed one of mine (I know which one), then got impatient, and got them mounted. That waxed wheel stays a lot cleaner than the other three.

Your wheels will be in their "most fragile" state when you get them, but do not worry about that. On a scale of zero to 100, 100 being really tough, your wheels will be a 95 when you get them, and a 100 30 days later.

You DID do the wheel center plates like I told you, correct, and sent them to goodrich? You just epoxy the plates to the plastic center caps.

Nicky, further clarification. Smitty posted some pics of my wheels just after coating, sitting on the ground. What you see is what you get.

Photo document this thing heavily. I am not pushing goodrich, but I am pushing powder coating. It is really good stuff, but you have to know what you are doing. I do. I have three patents in the field of powder coating. And when I do do the spring drop, the first thing that is gonna happen is that they are going to get powder coated high gloss black, or, as close as I can come to anthricite.

MAKE SURE that your rims and tires are heavily lubricated. And by the way, tire zone DID use an impact wrench when mine were installed. I didn't worry one wit about it, because I knew Gary knew his stuff, and I know how tough PC is if done right.

Nick: you need to see this car up close and personal. Monday through Wednesday I will be in Ohio, but Thursday through Sunday, I will be here. C'mon man, we are three miles apart, tops!

Prediction: You are gonna be one happy camper!

For the rest of you: I know, I know. PM

123456SPEED

I'd love to see the car in person, that wheel coating is hard to appreciate in a photo I'm sure. Most important is that you like it and enjoy creating your look for the car. That's the fun part of reading about and seeing your car.
I was dying for the anthracite color but gave up because of the cost to trade in my white 03 6 speed, but I'm liking the white more now esp in the 95+ temps we have most summer days here.

For me, I'd set off the anthracite with a more contasting rim color, not so similar in hues. A silver or polished wheel would set off the darker body color in a striking way and offset the dark grey of the body, for my preferences anyway.
Thanks for showing it off.

synth19

In the 3 years I had my CL, I had a 35% tint (all around, except front windshield). Got pulled over once for the tints, cop let me go though with a verbal warning. I was considering getting tints on my Z, but I may not..... it seems to already attract more attention from cops then my CL did....

dfreder371

123: In the world of color, black is considered formal, and white is considered ellegant. Of my seven Acuras, three were white. I have no problem with white.

Also, in the world of color, black, white, and combinations of each, various shades of gray, are NOT considered to be "colors". They are "bases". FYI.

John*K

I would love to see that car upclose. I live in B. Grove. Perhaps when there is a meet...? BTW - My opinion is that tint would make it too monochromatic. I wouldn't do it.

TranceFusion

nice color and wheels!

Nicky Pass

I would lower it first...then worry about tinting the windows.

dfreder371

Thanks John: We are pretty close. I work Just east of Glenbrook South High School. I mean DIRECTLY east, across the street. I travel a LOT these days, but I might be around early Mondays, late Fridays, and maybe some saturdays. 846.657.4574. Call me, I'd be happy to show you. Nicky Pass, and another engineer I work with are getting the same wheel coating I have, and I love the look on anthricite!

John*K

Hi Dave - I will definitely call, maybe this weekend. But I know that you'll be out of town. When would be a good time to call? To come by? It sure is a beautiful car.

John*K

Also, I PMed you Dave.

gsrblack

Nice...I would go with a light tint if you are afraid of cops pulling you over. I'm in AZ, so we can go somewhat dark without hassles. I'll try to post pics of my Anthracite w/ tint. Basically, the percentage means the amount of light that passes. So, if you have 32% tint, it's 32% light transmission. Will look clean on your whip.

I was wondering about pinstriping too on mine when I got it...I thought a silver stripe looked great on a black car (my old GSR), but for this car, I decided to leave it off. Is that a white stripe or a silver stripe?

Wheels do look nice though. Don't worry about the monochromatic look...you've got the pinstripe to offset it!

dfreder371

grsblack: I picked a pinstripe color that came closest to matching the satin silver on the old car, and it works pretty good on both anthricite or the original satin silver. So far, I am getting a lot of compliments.