teh CL's.... Aspec RL

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Old Apr 11, 2015 | 11:33 PM
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teh CL's.... Aspec RL

Hey guys,

Thought I'd share my recent acquisition, an 06' Aspec RL. Bought her with 208,000 km (129,000 miles) this past week for $9k. It's been a dream for quite some time to snag one of these, especially an Aspec & I was fortunate enough to jump on one that popped up locally for a good price. The real selling point was that the timing belt was done less than 10,000 km ago along with other routine maintenance so the car is good to go.

The RL is a change of scenery for me in a big way. Coming from a 3.5 6 speed CL-S & driving manuals my whole life to an auto awd luxury sedan is gonna take some time to get used to. I'll admit though that the RL is growing on me real fast, the fact that it's an Aspec definitely helps as well.

She has some minor exterior blemishes but unless your really looking for them they wouldn't catch your eye. Here are a couple quick pics to get this thread going. A full polish is in the works for this week & I need to grab a fresh set of summer tires for the Aspec rims since she's riding on the base wheels with winters still.

Enjoy.














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Old Apr 12, 2015 | 04:38 AM
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Nice.

More pics of that center console and shiftier please.
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Old Apr 16, 2015 | 11:22 AM
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Now go sand those headlights.
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Old Apr 23, 2015 | 04:48 PM
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Headlights are being done Saturday when I finally get to spend time polishing the car. Pics to come. Can't wait..

So far I've had the car for just about 3 weeks & I can't get enough of it, to say the least. I did have to replace the alternator a week in but I managed to get a great deal on a new one so all is well.

When the car was safetied though, the mechanic informed me that the lower ball joints needed to be replaced & that the whole control arm would have to be replaced for about $1300 (OEM) for both. I do my own work on my cars but I still wasn't coughing up that money dough. I managed to find a wrecked 05 RL at a local wreckers with the suspension still intact minus the upper arms. I was hoping to grab a few minor interior pieces aswell but unfortunately the interior was picked apart by the time I arrived. I did luck out though on both lower control arms in good condition for a whopping $50 lol. Couldn't believe I just saved $1250 but of course I wasn't complaining. There wasn't much else I could salvage from the car since it was pretty roughed up but with the money I saved I decided to grab the front strut assemblies aswell. Total was a whopping $120

Once I got home I cleaned up the shocks a bit & noticed that there was Japanese writing on them with Showa, Japan & Honda engraved aswell. Did some research on the part numbers & nothing came up so I looked up Showa & they manufacture struts for honda. So the struts are definitely OEM but I was trying to find out if they were stock or Aspec (Modulo in Japan) but of course no luck.

Gonna look further into it and see what I can find. Stay tuned.
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Old Apr 24, 2015 | 09:51 AM
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Nice find! Im surprised your found a wrecked RL here. I've never come across any. Take a pic of the shocks or the hight of your car. I'd bet that they are Aspec. Looks like you got everything else.
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Old Apr 26, 2015 | 09:44 PM
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Finally got around to wetsanding my headlights & giving the car a full polish...









































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Old Apr 26, 2015 | 11:09 PM
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Congrats! One of my fave Acuras is the RL (that generation).
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Old Apr 27, 2015 | 10:31 AM
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Nice work! It looks much cleaner now.
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Old Apr 27, 2015 | 10:48 AM
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Awesome! The car just went from heavily used to show room new!
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Old Apr 27, 2015 | 09:20 PM
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Looking good man! Good work on those headlights, that did wonders!!
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Old Apr 28, 2015 | 03:50 PM
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Great job. Car looks amazing.
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Old Apr 29, 2015 | 01:53 PM
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Love it!
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Old May 1, 2015 | 10:18 PM
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Looking good bro! especially those headlights man, i have to do the same but im planning on getting used JDM headlights but yeah car looks awesome
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Old May 3, 2015 | 09:27 PM
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So the Aspec's need fresh rubber & I was looking into purchasing another set of Michelin Pilot Sports which is what is on the Aspec's currently. Well that idea went out the window real fast, just picked up 5 brand new BF Goodrich G - Force Super Sports for a whopping..... $325

Gotta love kijiji snipes..




Can't wait to get them on..
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Old Jun 10, 2015 | 10:37 PM
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So I started hearing a slight squeal yesterday & assumed it was the serpentine belt going. Later in the day the noise went away.

Flash forward to late last night, turn on the car and hear a loud metal bang. Pop the hood and see that the crank pulley fell off.... BUT after more investigation the pulley actually came apart...





$80 later she's back on the road which is no big deal but how random is that?
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Old Jun 11, 2015 | 09:21 AM
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We've seen a few pulleys' inside rubber deteriorate. Not sure if it's the same one as yours, but looks similar.
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Old Jun 18, 2015 | 04:53 PM
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Been wanting to debadge the trunk for some time & I finally got around to doing it. At first it was suppose to all come off but I liked the solo Aspec badge so I left it. Let me know what ya think









Sanded the lid with 600/2000, came out










More to come...
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Old Jun 19, 2015 | 07:15 AM
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I vote remove the aspec badge as well.
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Old Jun 19, 2015 | 08:47 AM
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Originally Posted by MSW 6SP
I vote remove the aspec badge as well.
x3
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Old Jun 19, 2015 | 09:49 AM
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Originally Posted by MSW 6SP
I vote remove the aspec badge as well.
Same here
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Old Jun 19, 2015 | 11:23 AM
  #21  
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It's definitely different, some days I love it & some days it's meh lol..
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Old Jun 20, 2015 | 03:58 PM
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I always liked a complete debadge on any trunk. I decided to keep my ACURA and RL only because of the way it looks with my mugen spoiler.
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Old Jun 20, 2015 | 07:05 PM
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Nice work with wetsanding the trunk too!

My car decided to debadge itself a while ago, glad to know there's a way to remove the holograms. RL is looking super clean.
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Old Jun 21, 2015 | 06:40 PM
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Looking good!

I'm excited to see what you're going to do
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Old Jun 22, 2015 | 09:10 AM
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Nice score man. I looked all over ottawa and toronto for a aspec silver and could not find one. I picked up my 05 RL in toronto last year for a killer price.
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Old Jun 22, 2015 | 09:36 AM
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There's a silver Aspec for sale in Vancouver with low KM. For some reason the Silver Aspec IMO is the best looking colour in Aspec. Just something about it..
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Old Jun 22, 2015 | 09:58 AM
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Started a project this weekend that I've been wanting to do for some time. Getting rid of chrome, love the RL and how she looks but I've just never been a big fan of chrome...






Painted the upper/lower grille pieces body colour (courtesy 03 CLS) and the center all black..



Of course the upper portion wouldn't come off due to seized bolts so it had to get painted on the car..












Up next was the trunk/window trim..


















Plan to also paint the Aspec badge black to keep the theme going... & of course..


More to come..
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Old Jun 22, 2015 | 12:24 PM
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Cars looking good, your only 2 hours from belleville. There is another silver RL in toronto with the apsec on here also.

Check your pm
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Old Jun 22, 2015 | 01:40 PM
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Thanks...

An RL mini meet is definetly in order
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Old Jun 27, 2015 | 08:50 PM
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Nice, I'm liking the black accents you added
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Old Jul 20, 2015 | 05:54 PM
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Old Jul 20, 2015 | 08:59 PM
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How much where the D2 ?
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Old Jul 20, 2015 | 11:27 PM
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I paid $1150 US (1400ish CDN) shipped to Niagara Falls, NY where I have PMB Box.

I think they're gonna retail for $1500ish US though. When I placed the order I was told $1550 US but had previous emails saying the price was $1100 plus $50 for the spring rate change (went 16k in the rear) so that's what I paid. They said $1100 was the group buy price but I have no idea where the group buy is from..

They also convert the rear setup to a full coilover. Should be fun...
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Old Jul 21, 2015 | 08:47 PM
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Car looks good. Interested to see how those coilovers workout. Post some pictures of the rear install if you could. Curious how they adjust...
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Old Jul 22, 2015 | 02:08 PM
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Originally Posted by teh CL



Finally someone got the D2 coilover in hand. I'm on the fence about this and I can't wait to see them on a RL. Especially being the rear is a one piece. I was told about something sensor for the rear for the AWD? I'm sure that that means.

Best of luck to you!
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Old Jul 22, 2015 | 02:30 PM
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I'd really be curious to see how that bolts in the rear.
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Old Jul 22, 2015 | 02:51 PM
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Originally Posted by charlesm23
Finally someone got the D2 coilover in hand. I'm on the fence about this and I can't wait to see them on a RL. Especially being the rear is a one piece. I was told about something sensor for the rear for the AWD? I'm sure that that means.

Best of luck to you!
There's the headlight leveling sensor linkage in the rear and it comes with a new bracket for it that attaches to the shock.

I'm curious about the rear as well but the install came to a standstill before it even got started. Both bolts on the front forks that pinch them shut snapped, so now I have to disassemble everything to get the whole shock out in one piece with the fork then drill out the bolts
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Old Jul 22, 2015 | 11:04 PM
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I'm in for updates as well on the suspension. I was debating between D2 and Tein Flex.
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Old Jul 24, 2015 | 09:57 PM
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For those that are interested

http://www.ebay.com/itm/D2-Racing-RS-Coilovers-05-12-Acura-RL-KB1-KB2-36-WAY-ADJUSTABLE-/261881033674?fits=Make%3AAcura%7CModel%3ARL&hash=item3cf95373ca&vxp=mtr
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Old Jul 26, 2015 | 01:24 PM
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Finally got the coils installed & noticed that my driver front wheel is sitting too far forward compared to the passenger side. Safe assumption that the lower control arm is bent causing the wheel to sit forward. Never noticed it when it was stock but it is what it is. Both front lower control arms are being replaced tomorrow and then an alignment finally.

Here are the initial pics of the coils maxed out, it was ridiculous lol. Had to raise it up a bit so that it would stop rubbing on the front of the fender & be semi driveable.

Enjoy the pics...




























Last edited by teh CL; Jul 26, 2015 at 01:28 PM.
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