Lip Kit DIY
 

This is a DIY for the TL lip kit. First off I want to say that this project takes time, patience and attention to detail. If you don’t have all of that, don’t start this project. Ideally you’ll want the car off the road for a while because you’ll have to remove bumpers. This is the way I did the kit. Some have taken slightly different approaches, but the end results are the same. I had no experience prior to this project and i'm not claiming to be an expert at body work. Again this is just how I did the project and others before me have done it. Hopefully this is helpful for people trying to do a similar project.

Materials I used: 3M 8115 epoxy to hold the lip on - you'll need a lot of it…(8tubes). Ebay had the best deals I found for multiple tubes. Then I used Polyflex (flexible bondo) to fill any gaps (one jug with hardener). Whatever you use it needs to have some flex to it. Always wear the proper masks when using these products, as some are toxic. Gloves may also be necessary.

FRONT:

• You need to make sure you follow the body lines of the front and rear bumpers. (the body line below the headlights). I made a cardboard template that looked like the letter "C" so I could transfer the body line evenly to where the top of the lip will stay. I made little dashes with a pen where the top of the lip should be. I can’t put enough emphasis on this part…it will make or break it. See Evan’s front lip thread below to see how to remove the front bumper.
• Then I masked off the area above where the lip will be. When you epoxy the lip on, you may get some overflow, so painters tape will help protect the rest of the bumper. I suggest using gloves with the epoxy…it gets all over your hands no matter how careful you are.
• I cut my front lip into 3 pieces (two cuts), just after the vents/fog lights. You may also find that making some “v” cuts on the underside of the lip where the lip tends to bulge out will help you be able to force it onto your bumper.
• Scuff your bumper with sand paper where any epoxy will sit. It helps it bond better to your bumper. I also etched the bumper with a screwdriver.
  
  http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/4968/lipdiy001.jpg
  
• Start with the ends of the front lip, use clamps and duct tape to keep the lip on the bumper. Have the bumper upside down so the epoxy won’t drip on the floor. You also want to make sure the ends of the lip near the wheel well are “flared” – meaning the bottom part of the lip is pulled out a bit. Make sure the flare is even on both sides. Put a space heater near by to speed up the drying.
  http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/1770/img2479w.jpg
  
• The middle of the lip is straight forward. A “v” cut right in the middle of the underside will help it bend a bit. Make sure it lines up well with the two sides.
• Fill the gaps with Polyflex. It may take several layers plus sanding to get it right. I also feathered some in along the top of the lip. *this stuff smells, so do it outside*
  
  http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/4540/img2487.jpg
  

SIDES:

• The sides will be epoxied right onto the CL skirts. To remove the skirts, take off the screws on the end and the plugs on the underneath. Push the skirt towards the front of the car with force, and it will fall right off. To put it back on, take the white clips off the car by turning them ¼ rotation and pulling them out. Clip them onto the skirt and then push the skirts onto the car. This is much easier than trying to slide the skirt back onto the car. You’ll need a ton of clamps for the sides.
  
  http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/8823/lipdiy005.jpg
  
• I suggest cutting the sides right in the middle like cltypeSLOW did. You’ll have to take out about one inch. You also have to trim off a bit of the ends of the TL skirts (where the wheel well is). Cutting the ends allows you to line up the ends of the TL skirts evenly with the original CL skirts. It also allows you to flare the ends of the TL skirts.
  http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/4894/lipdiy002.jpg
  http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/3484/lipdiy003.jpg
  
• Remember to scuff where any epoxy will lie. Place the 1” piece you cut out of the middle (or a chunk of it) in between the two halves of the sides. The TL skirts are much more square and there will be an area between the two halves at the bottom where you’ll want to epoxy a chunk so that the Polyflex has something to hold onto. Check out cltypeSLOW’s thread for a pic of this.
• Fill the gap in the middle and on the ends.

REAR:

• Once again, make a stencil and transfer the body line on the rear bumper to where the top of the rear lip will be. Again, mask off the area above the lip. You’ll want the lip to just cover the exhaust cut-out of the CL bumper. See Evan’s rear lip thread below to see how to remove the rear bumper.
• Cut the rear into 3 pieces. I cut mine just after the exhaust cut-outs (towards the middle).
  http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/1946/lipdiy009.jpg
  
• You also have to cut a few inches off the ends of the lip. You have to do this so that the exhaust cut-outs on the TL lip somewhat line up with the CL exhaust tips. Figure out how much by holding the lip onto the bumper and move the lip a few inches past the wheel well. Doing this will create a gap where you cut the lip into 3.
• Save the end pieces you cut off. Now cut off just the butt end so that you can epoxy that back onto the end of the lip.
• You’ll have to trim a bit off the underneath of the lip where the exhaust cut-out is on the TL lip. If you don’t, the underneath of the lip will hit the CL exhaust tips once it’s on the car.
• Once again remember to scuff where the epoxy will sit and epoxy the lip onto the bumper. Fill the gaps.

NOTES:

Take your time and triple check your measurements before cutting and before epoxying the lips on.
Use a small drywall spreader to spread the Polyflex. It’s similar to doing drywall mudding. Fill the gap and spread it over an area a few inches past the gap.

cltypeSLOW (& Distored) Summer project
https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-cl-frequently-asked-questions-52/full-molded-tl-lip-kit-cltypeslow-summer-project-488555/

evan03CL rear lip
https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-cl-photograph-gallery-53/acura-tl-rear-lip-project-bumper-removal-diy-711869/

evan03CL front lip
https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-cl-photograph-gallery-53/evans-tl-kit-thread-diy-summer-project-494154/

nice write up. i see alot of tl kits coming soon.

wheres the pic of the end result?

Only two decent shots i have so far:

http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/4231/lip5006.jpg
http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/9791/lip5002.jpg

Thankyou sir :thumbsup:

damn so nice

you are the man Andrew!

good writeup!

lookin hella nice, im jealous of u guys having the better lookin kit lol

Very well done!

Thank you for taking the time to write this up :thumbsup:

nice write up. thanks.

time to get to work.

what do you think about the rear wingswest lip? Its a little bit thicker how close is the tl lip to your mufflers?

i'm using the Wings West front lip. I just cut off the part on the sides. I believe pdiddy is using the WW rear. You'll most likely have to trim off part of the underside, but you can't see that once it's on the car. I'm going to weld on some circular tips soon because the CL tips don't match right and are tucked back too much now.

wonder if the 2nd gen TL comptech exhaust fits since it sticks out a little further you might not have to modify the piping. Looks great gnuts, i was planning on running the wings west front and rear and go with the oem sideskirts

nah i got the oem rear. i knew i was going to have the issue of my exhaust sitting too far back with the rear lip on so i went to a muffler shop and got my exhaust extended out to be flush with my lip.

oh i thought you had the WW rear diddy. What size are the tips on your HKS? I was thinking of getting some 3.25" circular rolled tips.

The WW rear would work too, it's just a little bulkier than the OEM TL lip.

well i did state a while back that i had the WW rear but it was the oem i just forgot cause i hadnt look at it in a while.:tomato:

i think their 4 inch tips id have to check.

Do the HKS' sit further in compared to the stock mufflers? I wonder if my CTs will need to be modded to...

Honestly I could even tell you. I changed them out so long ago I don't remember. I got an idea though. Go to brianlins thread and check out his pics. He has comptech exhaust so you'll be able to see what it will look like with the kit.

at a quick glance it almost looked like cltypeslow

^lol it does.

i know, he had C2's and i have C4's....and he had custom grey paint i think too. His ride was inspiration for sure.

Fr the exhaust tips i would say something between 3.5 to 4 inches is ideal. The ct mufflers are 3.5 and look a little too small where as the hks is 4 and looks too big, so maybe a 3.75 would be perfect. Wonder how it would look with the ww front lip with ronjon sides and rear, or do you think you need the flow of the tl skirts to make it look right. On a side note does anyone know if the ct mufflers have always had 3.5" tips or did they use to be 3". just seems like older versions look smaller to me.

i think the full kit would look before instead of mismatching kits.

fixed.

Kyle7777 has the 03 TL front and versus sides and rear and i think it looks nice.

Are comptech tips really 3.5"??? They look way smaller than that. I agree i need something bigger then the comptech tips.

you know what i thought about that after i posted. his does look good. i guess i just dont like any parts on the ronjon kit.

^ lol

Ill verify that the CTs are 3.5".

i just got a quick ? as well sorry if it jacks the thread but would a tsx front lip anywhere fit a cl? i kno itll be custom fit as well as the tl lip into the cl.

can i ask you somthing, how much epoxy tubes did you use (just for front lip and rear)

God damn I love those lip kits! Way at the bottom of the wish list right now, haha. Great work man, looks insane!

I see people asking all the time now if this lip or that lip will fit. No one has done a TSX lip on a CL, so if you want to experiment, you're sort of on your own.

The tubes are pretty small, they look like two mini caulking tubes attached to one another. I think i used 8 tubes total and i know i used one tube on each side. So i probably used 3 tubes for the front lip alone and another 3 for the rear.

oh ok, ill try to be the first i guinea pig i guess lol. and thinking of flat blacking the whole car as well.

god damm.. each tube is like 45 dollars

Thanks for the contribution. Much appreciated. :thumbsup:

go to ebay. They were much much cheaper when you buy like 6 tubes.

nice writeup

Looks like a future mod :biggrin: