My '03 CLS6 progress thread
08-13-2010, 04:06 PM
#1
My '03 CLS6 progress thread
I thought I would finally make a build thread for my car so all the info is together and I dont have to keep posting new threads.
My first car was a 2001 Acura Cl-p that I bought new in 2000 when it first came out. I had that car for 2 years before it was totaled. Then near the end of 2002(11-15) I picked up a new 03 CLS6 from same dealer, both cars were/are silver with black interior non-navi. 2nd gen CL is the only car i have ever owned. Before that i drove my parents 92 mazda mpv minivan. The CL-P was never modded.
11-15-2002 Purchased my 03CLS6 new from Libertyville Acura. Here are some pics when it was new.
Here is the trunk after applying some zaino
Here were my first set of wheels BBS 17x7.5 RX chrome wheels I had from 01 cl-p(only mod i did on the 01). I dont know what I was thinking with 17 inch or chrome. Just shows when your young you have bad taste. Well i had good taste in brand atleast.
I did some modding the first 2 summers I had the car. Installed Koni/neuspeed SP3 shocks, Neuspeed sport springs, and SPC camber front/rear.
Installed comptech icebox. Just recently had my shop paint it tho.
Installed hyperground kit.
Installed neuspeed short shift adapter.
Had car tinted 20% rear and 35% front but after getting pulled over twice in first week i removed front tint.
Passport 7500 hardwired from fuse box up behind the side pillar and then behind the headliner. It is clipped to the visor. No vion blocking here.
I installed the autovation pedals from the groupbuy we had in 03 or 04.
Installed a voodoo s2k aluminum shift knob.
Installed the clear brake light in the spoiler.
I did some stereo work. I installed a metra dash kit, JL 300/4 amp, and Boston 6.5 and 6x9 speakers. I went thru a few headunits till finally buying the alpine iva-d300 new in 2004.
In 2005 i believe my car was parked in a parking lot with my driver side next to a curb that was 1.5 feet tall so noone can park on that one side. Well some lady was driving thru the parking lot talking on her phone and hit the gas instead of the brakes, jumped the curb and smashed into my driver side right were the wheel is. Had to replace the wheel fender and door. I had the bodyshop on my Acura dealer do the work and after alot of hassle and fighting back and forth i walked away unsatisfied with work and this turned me off from my car and modding it. I basically just drove it as a daily driver doing regular maintenance but for the next 4 years i never even really drove car hard or anything.
Btw when Acura replaced my door, there is a sticker/piece of tape that covers that black strip on the top of the door/window. That is not paint it is a sticker. Acura discontinued making that sticker, so when i had the Acura bodyshop fix my car they just left it without the sticker so that whole strip rusted and turned orange.
Then in 2009 when i was driving I had someone speed up and passed me just so they could cut right in front of me right before the on ramp to the highway. Right after they cut in front of me they slammed on their brakes from 70 mph down to 20 mph and took ramp at 20mph. I honked my horn and flashed my lights once, then when the onramp turns to 2 lanes i went to pass them. The guy pulls behind me honks his horn probably 10 times and flashing his brights 20 times or more so i just try and ignore him. Next thing i know he pulls up beside me and I hear a loud noise like something was thrown at my car. before i even knew what happened the guy swerved behind me and took the first exit ramp that was right after he threw it. i was still in shock and didnt have enough time to make the off ramp so he got away. There was a big dent on the side of my car right behind the gas cap. Whatever they threw was big and heavy.
I then decided I wanted to finally try and remove my pinstripes from my car. i started to remove the pinstripe and noticed the pin stripe had eaten thru the clear coat.
Then I went to Acura to have them look at my clutch. They smashed up my front bumper during the test drive and denied accountability for it. They blamed me and said that I did it on the drive there and didn't notice. Then the other guy is trying to tell me that the scrape looks old.
In November I had the lower ball joints and upper control arms for both sides replaced. I bought a set of SSR 18x8.5 ssr wheels from tirerack on clearance for 46% off for 290 a wheel( i was looking recently for a replacement and the cheapest i could find new still is ober 500 each). i also bought a set of the hankook ventus rs2 on clearance for 350 shipped.
11-3-09 Installed option underdrive pulley and belts.
After all this i decided it was time to get the car fixed/painted. At first i was just gonna try to do as little as possible but that ended up going more and more extreme till the whole car was repainted besides the spoiler, side skirts, and mirrors.
Dropped car off 12-7-09 and got it back sometime in january.
I had them paint that strip above the door where the sticker is flat black on both sides. I had them paint the wing in the front grill, and the emblem is from the NSX with graphite background. The driver vent was damaged by Acura so I decided to take them out and cut the plastic backing out. Then I had the shop paint them. I bought the mesh from rcmasters and cut it and bent it around the back so it cups the vent to stay on better and glued it. I also had them paint my icebox cover and lower engine cover.
After I got the car back from the shop i noticed that the quarter panel windows were all scratched up with deep scratches and the chrome was scratched bad.
2-24-10 had both quarter panel windows replaced with new ones.
2-25-10 Installed NGK Iridium spark plugs
2-27-10 Installed brakes. Legend calipers, ebc ultimax rotors, ebc red pads, xlr8 brake lines.
2-27-10 installed rear progress sway bar and moog endlinks.
3-21-10 Installed comptech headers.
3-26-10 i had a shop install a 3m paint protection kit and retint my windows. For the paint protection kit i basically got my whole front bumper covered, the grill trim is covered, a big section of the hood, mirrors, and a section behind the rear wheels. Came out to 25 square feet of that expensive stuff. For the windows i had them remove the rear window tint that was 20% and redo whole car in 35% since that is what is legal now. I also got rid of that awful third brake light hole.
4-7-10 Installed RT cat. Used a universal 2.5" 3 bolt gasket for rear and just used sealant for front.
4-8-10 Installed my SSR type f 18x8.5 wheels, ssr center caps, project kics r26 neochrome lugs, hankook ventus tires and got an alignment.
4-9-10 Installed my morel tempo 6 front component speakers and my alpine dvd unit.
4-10-10 At 3am i met up with 2 other acurazine members and we drove 8-9 hours to Minnesota for the acura meet. I have never been so tired.
4-12-10 Installed my dc5 momo steering wheel and rsx airbag.
5-5-10 Installed CT mufflers.
Before i installed mufflers i cleaned up sanded, prepped, and painted the y-pipe with high temp flat black paint cause it looks nasty all rusted. The paint has held up well so far. You can also see the progress rear sway in this pic.
5-27-10 Had my Legend calipers, stock rear calipers and the 4 brackets powdercoated satin black and installed.
Installed comptech titanium strut bar.
I noticed the torsion bar bracket had broken off in the trunk so i removed it, drilled 2 holes where the spot welds were and sanded the bottom. Then I attached it with jb weld and attached 2 screws with nuts.
Here is how my trunk/back seat looks now gutted.
6-5-10 Drove down to KC, Missouri for the Anual Acura meet. Meet was next day 6-6. For some reason I am having trouble loading my newer pics on azine from my kodak pocketcam and iphone so these 2 are all i could get loaded.
I ended up winning the best detail award.
Then on the drive back from KC like 15 minutes from my house after 9 hours of driving straight no issues i enter a construction zone. I am in the center lane and a suv in the left lane next to me but ahead a bit runs over some huge chunk of metal, its shoots out sideways and hits my car and sounds like an explosion. Here is the damage.
It put a nice big hole and dent in my floorboard right where the driverside rear passenger puts their feet. It also took a nice little chunk out of my rear left wheel.
atleast it didnt hit the paint i guess. Was still a fun trip tho.
Here is a pic of when I wetsanded headlights.
7-3-10 Installed my zeal function-t coilovers and rolled fenders. I have pics of my car slammed on my iphone but they wont upload on here.
Here is a pic of coils before install.
7-8-10 Installed Ingalls rear camber kit.
other items i still need to install.
still need to install my ingalls stiffy mount, nrg torque dampers, few other goodies.
I have also been doing weight savings stuff. I removed the dampner in the front bumper, 18 lb wheels, lighter strut bar, removed hood and trunk lining, removed plastics under hood, rear seat and console, gutted trunk-spare, tools, jack, amp removed, removed rear seat belts and hardware, lighter lug nuts, etc. Still a work in progress.
My next mods will be either p2r plenums, plenum spacers, or the 09 tl im with a ported tb. CM stage 3 clutch, light weight odyssey or braille battery, motor mounts, mugen cooling mods(still need to do the coolest bypass mod this weekend), need to get custom brackets to fit my rsx seats.
Sometime in the future maybe do the 3.6 build or add a s/c. Still need to do timing belt and valve adjust sometime.
Wow this thread took me forever to post. My brain is so scrambled right now. Do i get an award for longest post ever?
My first car was a 2001 Acura Cl-p that I bought new in 2000 when it first came out. I had that car for 2 years before it was totaled. Then near the end of 2002(11-15) I picked up a new 03 CLS6 from same dealer, both cars were/are silver with black interior non-navi. 2nd gen CL is the only car i have ever owned. Before that i drove my parents 92 mazda mpv minivan. The CL-P was never modded.
11-15-2002 Purchased my 03CLS6 new from Libertyville Acura. Here are some pics when it was new.
Here is the trunk after applying some zaino
Here were my first set of wheels BBS 17x7.5 RX chrome wheels I had from 01 cl-p(only mod i did on the 01). I dont know what I was thinking with 17 inch or chrome. Just shows when your young you have bad taste. Well i had good taste in brand atleast.
I did some modding the first 2 summers I had the car. Installed Koni/neuspeed SP3 shocks, Neuspeed sport springs, and SPC camber front/rear.
Installed comptech icebox. Just recently had my shop paint it tho.
Installed hyperground kit.
Installed neuspeed short shift adapter.
Had car tinted 20% rear and 35% front but after getting pulled over twice in first week i removed front tint.
Passport 7500 hardwired from fuse box up behind the side pillar and then behind the headliner. It is clipped to the visor. No vion blocking here.
I installed the autovation pedals from the groupbuy we had in 03 or 04.
Installed a voodoo s2k aluminum shift knob.
Installed the clear brake light in the spoiler.
I did some stereo work. I installed a metra dash kit, JL 300/4 amp, and Boston 6.5 and 6x9 speakers. I went thru a few headunits till finally buying the alpine iva-d300 new in 2004.
In 2005 i believe my car was parked in a parking lot with my driver side next to a curb that was 1.5 feet tall so noone can park on that one side. Well some lady was driving thru the parking lot talking on her phone and hit the gas instead of the brakes, jumped the curb and smashed into my driver side right were the wheel is. Had to replace the wheel fender and door. I had the bodyshop on my Acura dealer do the work and after alot of hassle and fighting back and forth i walked away unsatisfied with work and this turned me off from my car and modding it. I basically just drove it as a daily driver doing regular maintenance but for the next 4 years i never even really drove car hard or anything.
Btw when Acura replaced my door, there is a sticker/piece of tape that covers that black strip on the top of the door/window. That is not paint it is a sticker. Acura discontinued making that sticker, so when i had the Acura bodyshop fix my car they just left it without the sticker so that whole strip rusted and turned orange.
Then in 2009 when i was driving I had someone speed up and passed me just so they could cut right in front of me right before the on ramp to the highway. Right after they cut in front of me they slammed on their brakes from 70 mph down to 20 mph and took ramp at 20mph. I honked my horn and flashed my lights once, then when the onramp turns to 2 lanes i went to pass them. The guy pulls behind me honks his horn probably 10 times and flashing his brights 20 times or more so i just try and ignore him. Next thing i know he pulls up beside me and I hear a loud noise like something was thrown at my car. before i even knew what happened the guy swerved behind me and took the first exit ramp that was right after he threw it. i was still in shock and didnt have enough time to make the off ramp so he got away. There was a big dent on the side of my car right behind the gas cap. Whatever they threw was big and heavy.
I then decided I wanted to finally try and remove my pinstripes from my car. i started to remove the pinstripe and noticed the pin stripe had eaten thru the clear coat.
Then I went to Acura to have them look at my clutch. They smashed up my front bumper during the test drive and denied accountability for it. They blamed me and said that I did it on the drive there and didn't notice. Then the other guy is trying to tell me that the scrape looks old.
In November I had the lower ball joints and upper control arms for both sides replaced. I bought a set of SSR 18x8.5 ssr wheels from tirerack on clearance for 46% off for 290 a wheel( i was looking recently for a replacement and the cheapest i could find new still is ober 500 each). i also bought a set of the hankook ventus rs2 on clearance for 350 shipped.
11-3-09 Installed option underdrive pulley and belts.
After all this i decided it was time to get the car fixed/painted. At first i was just gonna try to do as little as possible but that ended up going more and more extreme till the whole car was repainted besides the spoiler, side skirts, and mirrors.
Dropped car off 12-7-09 and got it back sometime in january.
I had them paint that strip above the door where the sticker is flat black on both sides. I had them paint the wing in the front grill, and the emblem is from the NSX with graphite background. The driver vent was damaged by Acura so I decided to take them out and cut the plastic backing out. Then I had the shop paint them. I bought the mesh from rcmasters and cut it and bent it around the back so it cups the vent to stay on better and glued it. I also had them paint my icebox cover and lower engine cover.
After I got the car back from the shop i noticed that the quarter panel windows were all scratched up with deep scratches and the chrome was scratched bad.
2-24-10 had both quarter panel windows replaced with new ones.
2-25-10 Installed NGK Iridium spark plugs
2-27-10 Installed brakes. Legend calipers, ebc ultimax rotors, ebc red pads, xlr8 brake lines.
2-27-10 installed rear progress sway bar and moog endlinks.
3-21-10 Installed comptech headers.
3-26-10 i had a shop install a 3m paint protection kit and retint my windows. For the paint protection kit i basically got my whole front bumper covered, the grill trim is covered, a big section of the hood, mirrors, and a section behind the rear wheels. Came out to 25 square feet of that expensive stuff. For the windows i had them remove the rear window tint that was 20% and redo whole car in 35% since that is what is legal now. I also got rid of that awful third brake light hole.
4-7-10 Installed RT cat. Used a universal 2.5" 3 bolt gasket for rear and just used sealant for front.
4-8-10 Installed my SSR type f 18x8.5 wheels, ssr center caps, project kics r26 neochrome lugs, hankook ventus tires and got an alignment.
4-9-10 Installed my morel tempo 6 front component speakers and my alpine dvd unit.
4-10-10 At 3am i met up with 2 other acurazine members and we drove 8-9 hours to Minnesota for the acura meet. I have never been so tired.
4-12-10 Installed my dc5 momo steering wheel and rsx airbag.
5-5-10 Installed CT mufflers.
Before i installed mufflers i cleaned up sanded, prepped, and painted the y-pipe with high temp flat black paint cause it looks nasty all rusted. The paint has held up well so far. You can also see the progress rear sway in this pic.
5-27-10 Had my Legend calipers, stock rear calipers and the 4 brackets powdercoated satin black and installed.
Installed comptech titanium strut bar.
I noticed the torsion bar bracket had broken off in the trunk so i removed it, drilled 2 holes where the spot welds were and sanded the bottom. Then I attached it with jb weld and attached 2 screws with nuts.
Here is how my trunk/back seat looks now gutted.
6-5-10 Drove down to KC, Missouri for the Anual Acura meet. Meet was next day 6-6. For some reason I am having trouble loading my newer pics on azine from my kodak pocketcam and iphone so these 2 are all i could get loaded.
I ended up winning the best detail award.
Then on the drive back from KC like 15 minutes from my house after 9 hours of driving straight no issues i enter a construction zone. I am in the center lane and a suv in the left lane next to me but ahead a bit runs over some huge chunk of metal, its shoots out sideways and hits my car and sounds like an explosion. Here is the damage.
It put a nice big hole and dent in my floorboard right where the driverside rear passenger puts their feet. It also took a nice little chunk out of my rear left wheel.
atleast it didnt hit the paint i guess. Was still a fun trip tho.Here is a pic of when I wetsanded headlights.
7-3-10 Installed my zeal function-t coilovers and rolled fenders. I have pics of my car slammed on my iphone but they wont upload on here.
Here is a pic of coils before install.7-8-10 Installed Ingalls rear camber kit.
other items i still need to install.
still need to install my ingalls stiffy mount, nrg torque dampers, few other goodies.
I have also been doing weight savings stuff. I removed the dampner in the front bumper, 18 lb wheels, lighter strut bar, removed hood and trunk lining, removed plastics under hood, rear seat and console, gutted trunk-spare, tools, jack, amp removed, removed rear seat belts and hardware, lighter lug nuts, etc. Still a work in progress.
My next mods will be either p2r plenums, plenum spacers, or the 09 tl im with a ported tb. CM stage 3 clutch, light weight odyssey or braille battery, motor mounts, mugen cooling mods(still need to do the coolest bypass mod this weekend), need to get custom brackets to fit my rsx seats.
Sometime in the future maybe do the 3.6 build or add a s/c. Still need to do timing belt and valve adjust sometime.
Wow this thread took me forever to post. My brain is so scrambled right now. Do i get an award for longest post ever?
08-13-2010, 05:50 PM
#4
Whats up with RDX owners?
iTrader: (9)
In for progress on the seats. Looks good so far. You're one of the few that bought the car new and haven't gone to the 3G yet.
Where abouts in IL are you?
08-13-2010, 09:37 PM
#9
I will try to get around to seats sooner than later but i have other projects i need to finish first. I am just wondering if i will use the Cl brackets, rsx brackets or make a custom set. Bad part of being a guinea pig. I can go without a passenger seat for a week so i will take that out and start testing/measuring things.
08-13-2010, 11:16 PM
#12
Regional Coordinator (Texas)
iTrader: (38)
great progress so far man. impressive work done. and very very clean ride. I wish i could get the cleanliness of my car to this level.
lol wut. u need to find an experienced and knowledgeable mechanic.
lol wut. u need to find an experienced and knowledgeable mechanic.
08-13-2010, 11:18 PM
#13
Regional Coordinator (Texas)
iTrader: (38)
I will try to get around to seats sooner than later but i have other projects i need to finish first. I am just wondering if i will use the Cl brackets, rsx brackets or make a custom set. Bad part of being a guinea pig. I can go without a passenger seat for a week so i will take that out and start testing/measuring things.
mine are ready to be measured and welded, just need to find the time to do it. also in the middle of lots of other projects. hopefully i'll beat you to the rsx seats mod
08-14-2010, 06:49 AM
#15
Suzuka Master
iTrader: (1)
Hey, did you ever get to try the Legend caliper rebuild kits on the thread below?
Post #11.
https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-cl-2001-2003-50/where-get-caliper-rebuild-kit-782143/
Post #11.
https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-cl-2001-2003-50/where-get-caliper-rebuild-kit-782143/
We will most likely go about it different ways but will have to wait and see.
08-14-2010, 08:44 AM
#18
Hey, did you ever get to try the Legend caliper rebuild kits on the thread below?
Post #11.
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=782143
Post #11.
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=782143
08-15-2010, 08:32 AM
#25
If i cant sell my TL IM soon i am thinking about doing dyno of the 09 tl im versus p2r plenums so we can get some real results and differences from the same dyno and same car.
Then i will bore out my tb, stock intake, and lower runners and dyno both setups again. This would be a pain but I think it would be helpful to ppl here and i wouldn't mind doing something to help forum that helped me with all my mods.
Basically I am just curious as to what is better stock manifold ported out with p2r plenums and ported tb or the 09 tl IM with ported tb. The 09 TL IM will be cheaper but I would prefer what gives better gains over money.
I am more concerned about adding torque than hp right now.
Then i will bore out my tb, stock intake, and lower runners and dyno both setups again. This would be a pain but I think it would be helpful to ppl here and i wouldn't mind doing something to help forum that helped me with all my mods.
Basically I am just curious as to what is better stock manifold ported out with p2r plenums and ported tb or the 09 tl IM with ported tb. The 09 TL IM will be cheaper but I would prefer what gives better gains over money.
I am more concerned about adding torque than hp right now.
08-16-2010, 01:53 PM
#28
Whats up with RDX owners?
iTrader: (9)
Double check the seal on the low beam cover and around the ballast. Dont forget the large seal around the highbeam bulb.
08-16-2010, 06:45 PM
#31
3.5 psi
iTrader: (1)
have you looked at doing a 3.5 (as opposed to the 3.6) build? My plans are to get a used 3.5 block, then all you need are RL pistons. You can just use the 3.5 block and sell your complete 3.2 block for some $ back.
08-16-2010, 08:04 PM
#32
I just weighed the seats and with the rails and brackets the driver seat is 52 lbs. That is a little more than i was expecting. From a weight loss stand point i dont think this is worth it. What could that be at most 20-25 lb loss?
Now i am questioning whether to go thru with this.
Now i am questioning whether to go thru with this.
08-16-2010, 09:29 PM
#34
Whats up with RDX owners?
iTrader: (9)
I just weighed the seats and with the rails and brackets the driver seat is 52 lbs. That is a little more than i was expecting. From a weight loss stand point i dont think this is worth it. What could that be at most 20-25 lb loss?
Now i am questioning whether to go thru with this.
Now i am questioning whether to go thru with this.
But you do end up losing heated seats and the memory function
As for the lights, I wouldnt color match them. Its way too much silver IMO.
08-16-2010, 09:51 PM
#35
Yea they look better and give bigger ppl more shoulder room. You lose the heated seats, power seats, and the seat moving forward when tilting. I thought all those motors etc would weigh alot more. I was just hoping for more weight reduction. I am trying to get my car down to 3000 lbs. I probably should have just bought recaros oh well. Anyone know the official Cl seat weight I havnt removed mine yet?
08-16-2010, 09:57 PM
#36
Whats up with RDX owners?
iTrader: (9)
I dont know what the weight is, but if you want to strip out about 400lbs, pull out the rear interior, spare tire, jack, bumper bars, stereo, replace the sunroof glass with lexan or a sheet of CF, and even then you probably will only be down to about 3100-3200lbs.
BTW, unsprung weight will be the biggest difference maker. Lightweight wheels, brake calipers, lug nuts, tires, and coilovers (which yours are probably aluminum anyway).
BTW, unsprung weight will be the biggest difference maker. Lightweight wheels, brake calipers, lug nuts, tires, and coilovers (which yours are probably aluminum anyway).
08-16-2010, 10:11 PM
#37
I dont know what the weight is, but if you want to strip out about 400lbs, pull out the rear interior, spare tire, jack, bumper bars, stereo, replace the sunroof glass with lexan or a sheet of CF, and even then you probably will only be down to about 3100-3200lbs.
BTW, unsprung weight will be the biggest difference maker. Lightweight wheels, brake calipers, lug nuts, tires, and coilovers (which yours are probably aluminum anyway).
BTW, unsprung weight will be the biggest difference maker. Lightweight wheels, brake calipers, lug nuts, tires, and coilovers (which yours are probably aluminum anyway).
I need to find more stuff to remove. i was thinking maybe cruise control and the windshield fluid tank etc. Does the 6 speed have a dampner on the engine like the auto's do. Is the dampner on the front bumper the only one I can remove?
Last edited by brian6speed; 08-16-2010 at 10:14 PM.
08-16-2010, 10:15 PM
#38
Whats up with RDX owners?
iTrader: (9)
The RL calipers are Aluminum.
