my ride is SPOILED!!!!

I want to first thank Smitty for lending a huge helping hand.
The spoiler came pre-painted from spoilerdepot.com The quality of the paint is about 95% perfect. Smitty found a few blemishes, but they were easily buffed out w/ "brightener".

Approximate install time: 1.5 to 2 hours
Disclaimer: the author is not responsible for any damages done to your car for following these instructions. This was simply done as an aide.

1 make sure you have a soft, clean surface to work on. You will have your spoiler upside down for a bit to prep the bottom area. Notice the clear LED in the foreground. That was purchased from spoiler.com. The red LED in the back is what came w/ the spoiler.


2 Start threading the new LED wire through the spoiler. It's helpful to have a pair of tweezers to pull the wire out of the hole at the end of the spoiler. Leave about three feet of wire between the LED and the spoiler. We're going to insulate this section of the wire.


3 We were worried about any rattles from the sub I have in the trunk so we decided to wrap the wire with "prep cotton". Wrap the cotton around and secure with electrical tape.

 

4 Start threading the rest of the wire into the spoiler. Again, tweezers help in pushing the cotton into the little hole in the spoiler for the LED wire. Make sure you don't pull too hard and rip the cotton off. Once all the wire is pulled through, secure the LED to the spoiler.


5 BE VERY CAREFUL you don't screw the LED too tightly to the spoiler. The LED plastic has a tendency to crack if you put too much torque on it


6 The spoiler kit comes with these "set screws" used for finding the drilling points on your car. We found out that these spoilers were made identical to the OEM spoilers so they both used the same holes. Regardless we used them to double check.

 

7 If you look at the inside of your trunk lid you will see two dimples on each side near the edges. Those are the areas you need to drill. Again, use a visual check with the "set screws" to make sure that is the correct area. Use a small 1/8 inch drill bit to start the hole.


8 AHHHHH!!! I've got a hole in my trunk!!! Trust me, this is the most painful step. It hurt to see the drill bit come out the other end. After you use the 1/8 inch drill bit switch to the 1/4 drill bit. This will be the final size of your four holes.


9 Pick up your spoiler and double check to see which end of the spoiler has the LED wire coming out of it. Measure how far the third hole is from the two mounting holes. I basically went from one mounting hole to the other and measure perpendicular to where the third LED wire hole was. In this picture the rubber grommet is already in, but DO NOT put it in yet. There are still a few prep steps we need to do.

 

10 BE VERY CAREFUL in drilling this third LED wire hole. You will have to do it from the top of the trunk lid, and the top side is sloped enough that the drill may skip or slid. That could leave some nasty marks. This is what it should look like from the inside of the trunk lid



11 Make sure you use a file to smooth out the holes. It is especially important for the third LED wire hole because any sharp edges can easily slice through the wire.



12 Use touch up paint to seal up the metal to prevent rust.

 

13 Stick the supplied foam strip around the contact areas on the spoiler. Make sure the foam is about 1/8 to 1/4 inch from the edge.


14 Don't hesitate to be generous in your application of the foam. It's there, might as well use it all. You are now done prepping the spoiler.


15 On the inside of your trunk, remove six plastic plugs holding the cloth molding to your trunk lid. Be careful you don't break any of the plugs. We found wedging a pair of wire cutters around the edges and working it back and forth is the easiest way to pop them out. Then after you have a few off you can reach your hand behind the cloth molding and pop out the others.

 

16 Pull back the molding. I ran the LED wire in the existing black casing.


17 Slowly pull the LED wire through the third hole. Make sure the supplied rubber grommet sits in the hole correctly. We found a little WD-40 helped a lot. Also be careful of sharp edges on the trunk lid as they could easily slice through the LED wire.


18 If you tuck your head inside your trunk you will see the plug for the third brake lamp. This is where you will splice your LED wire.

 

19 Sorry about the blurry picture. We were testing to see which wire goes where. The black wire will be spliced w/ the black LED wire. The white wire will be spliced with the red LED wire.


20 Secure the spoiler to the trunk lid using the supplied screws. Smitty didn't like the screws in the kit, so he purchased a few stainless screws for me. DO NOT TORQUE the screws yet. Make sure all four screws can go in easily then slowly torque each screw one bit at a time. You will "feel" the screws start to get tight. That's when you should stop. DO NOT try to crank these screws or you might end up with striped threads or cracked fiberglass.


21 Pull the LED wire to the hole behind the cloth molding

 

22 Run the wire along the black wire casing into the trunk. Splice the LED wire into the third brake lamp and that's it.


23 We found the easiest way to clean up the metal shavings is to use a magnet.


AND Voila! I spoiled my car...

 

Some random pics:


The "prep cloth" used to clean the surrounding area and to insulate the LED wires. Contact Smitty or your local funeral home director for a sheet of this stuff. It's also great for stuffing dead people's orifices to prevent bugs from flying in and laying larva eggs.


I was joking w/ Smitty...asking him what he used this for. He told me that it might have some blood on it...I immediately dropped it.


This is what Smitty's rear end looks like. He likes to let people behind him know he's coming to a stop.

 

wow great instructions! It looks awesome.

 

you should unplug the rear tray mounted 3rd brakelight.


nice instructions

 

kickass

 

good job

 

bitch'n

 

It could be illegal to have more than 1 center brake light this is why you have to unplug it!

 

This should be put in the Extremely Useful Topics section or FAQed.

As someone without a spoiler I occasionally toy with the idea of getting one - these instructions will be invaluable.

 

Well first of all, K-dawgs car looks great with the 02 taillights and clear LED brake light...

On my car:
I like all 4 taillights, these Pittsburgh cops have no clue about the inspection laws in PA..... plus I got my PIAA bulbs in the other day and did not install them yet, so I am sure they will make a brighter difference along with the LED.. Just let someone rearend me now.. LOL... shit, I hope that never happens.. I will be doing jail time..

All in all, we had good time, it was really funny watching the expression on Chikai's face when I drilled through his trunk... I wanted to say Opps a few hundred times, but I figured he would forget to take pictures....

This should be a sticky for sure.... Mr. Admin. please archive...

Hope this helps some of you out.

P.S. Ask either one of us, but this was the #1 exterior upgrade in our books... It made a huge difference in the visual effects of the car.... We recommend it to anyone...

Smitty

 

Do you feel that you have to upgrade your trunk lifts after the upgrade. Does your trunk lid bump you in the head now?

 

Chikai is suppose to get to this problem... I have no problem with mine what-so-ever... but my car is so damn new, compared to K-dawgs... The spoiler is lightweight. and the trunk will stay up, but if you bounce the car or a strong wind comes your way.. you might get chopped in the back by the trunk... I dunno about the original OEM spoilers, I never felt the weight difference.

Smitty

 

I think I'm going to order the trunk springs pretty soon. Like Smitty says, the trunk lid stays up most of the time, but if a breeze blows through or I accidentally bump the car, the trunk comes down like a tomahawk.

Here are a few more pics I took today...

 

Did a little research regarding the trunk spring situation with the heavier trunk lid.

Here is the tool required:
http://www.ahmotor.com/product/ahmcat1mt.html#2D

Here is the instruction on how to do it:
http://www.acura-tl.com/tltorsion.htm

But the part I'm confused about is why does acuraautomotiveparts.net also offer a package for the spring replacement (look under accessories). Shouldn't adjusting the tension be enough?

 

A lot more complete instructions than those provided by spoilerdepot!

thanks

dogfight

 

Looks Good, I just installed mind this weekend also. I love the way it looks. It definitely finishes off the rear. My trunk lid stays open without a problem. The spoiler from spoilerdepot is allot lighter than the OEM. The quality of paint is a perfect match.

 

alright...I bought the tool, and used it. Completely amazing...made a world of difference. Well...I don't need it anymore. Anyone interested in buying it?

 

ktgumbo you need to clean out your PM box. I couldn't send this, but here you go:

damn man...they keep dropping the prices on those things. I bought them for $240 painted. Then I told them I saw it on eBay for $200 and they refunded me the difference.

It's pretty good so far. The spoiler survived a brutal winter here in pittsburgh. The only complaint i have is that it came with a weird smudge mark on it. I was too lazy to take it back but I'm sure they would've replaced it. The mark is hardly noticable unless you are viewing it at the correct angle.

Anyway, the instructions suck ass, so use the this one. Pretty straight forward. the drilling is the hardest part.

 

Excellent work.

 

nice job!

 

ssup Kai!
excellent write up~
you car looks great with a spoiler.

nice picts looking into oakland!

 

WOW!!! Dude, GREAT job with the instructions!!!!!!! FAQ THIS BITCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

chikai,
Just wanted to say thanks for the great write up!! I just installed a spoilerdepot.com spoiler on my TL and it was a piece of cake thanks to your insatructions!!

 

absolutely...anytime. I'm glad this is still helping folks out.

 

 

I could not have done it or had the confidence to do without chikai's write up. I did this last sping. Before after pics of my work.

After veiwing and reading the instructions, i knew I could do it and save big bucks! Thanks again chikai for the detailed instructions.

 

looks great... I could not install Chikai's nor mine without his help either..

Glad he just stood around and took pics the whole time.....

 

I think a spoiler is a must on the CL. Without it, I think it looks very plain. The back end is kind of roundy without a ton of character, so it needs something to make it look a little sporty. I think the stock style spoiler is a nice match.

BTW Smitty, you should unplug the rear shelf bulbs. To me thats a surefire sign someone got a ebay replica spoiler, and IMO it is just too many damn lights illuminated.

 

yeah, I unplugged it a couple months ago.

 

what the.. chikai lives in washington?!?

dude!! i like your instructions!! but.. me and nippon are thinking of getting spoilers for our cars.. it would be nice if we could meet u so u could help us! hehe..

its for the 1st gens though.. i dont wanna spend the big bucks to get it installed.. and when it comes to drilling metal.. im not that good at it.. heh

we need experienced people!

where in washington do u live?? u should've came to the meet a few months back

 

as smitty said, i was merely the camera man....he da man...but I can see what I can do.

I would love to come meet up w/ the local boys. I don't drive the CL-S anymore. I'm pimpin the S2k.

I live right next door to MSFT.

 

in bellevue?? i live really close to u then! lol.. small world.. ill try to arrange a meet, u have to come out!

btw.. your S2K looks tiite!! its kinda hard to use your convertible in the rain now adays huh?

 

Great instructions. Just put on my spoiler from good ole spoiler depot. Only problem was that the screw holes were significantly off (1-2 cm )from the factory screw holes. So if you try this make sure to line up the drill marks with the spoiler. I wasn't very comfortable drilling outside of the premarked factory holes, but I was pot committed after buying the spoiler!