Well, I bought the car back on September 14th, 2009 and she was brought home as bone stock...She stayed this way for about a month, and then the modding began...Sorry for the mis-matched pic sizes...

~In chronological order, not sure of exact dates of the earlier mods.

Photo from the Used car lot.

First day photos

Time for family bonding, introduced 03-p to 02-s

Painted the grill.


Semi-Debadged

Breather filter installed

Blacked out the shiftgate and custom made the l.e.d. shifter


Trunk leds...96 in total...Looks like a club in there

3 day process of blacking out the headlight housing




Painted rims

Broke a few wheel locks along the way

Custom center caps


Removed intake resonator

LED Dash in the works

Hit in a parking lot ($1400 damage)



Back to normal

Re-did the grill, made a Lexan foglight and blacked them out

At the Palm Beach meet (before the crowd showed up)

On the second gen side

Clayed/waxed/polished

5% Dupont Solar Gard window tint
Pilot Motorsports 3.5 inch exhaust tips


How she is sitting currently



Soon to come:
-XS Power headers
-Drop...debating H&R Sports w/ Tokico Blues or finding a good deal on coils.


Either way, enjoy...And come back soon for updates.

 

Slow but good progress.

What does the breather filter do?

 

Thanks, basically instead of re-routing grimy, dirty air from the crankcase back into the intake it just filters it out into the engine bay....No performance advantage, I just think it will keep the upper portion of the motor a little cleaner, with no effects on anything...For $10 I figured I'd try it...

And yeah, a little slow...I started with all the free/cheap mods, But I recently got a steady job, so hopefully things will get going soon, headers are en route already.

 

good work so far man. it'll definitely look good with a drop

 

Thanks man, I just gotta decide what route I wanna go...Wait and find the right set of coilovers, or go springs/shocks....

And I forgot to add before, painted brake calipers....Black

 

Keepin it clean, good job. Is that a nascar sticker on the back window? lol if it is you just lost points

 

haha hey he might like the number 2. no big.

I think the next big thing would def be a drop, then a lip kit and thats really it...

 

I like it I also have a white TL & like what you did to the grille. I think I might just copy you hehe

 

Thanks man, and yeah it is.... Hopefully I'll get some points back soon.

Post pics afterwards

 

Headers came in on the 1st...Hopefully they will go in on Wednesday!

 

 

Car looks great, man. Love the painted wheels.

 

Thanks!

And Usman, thanks again buddy!

 

No problem. I expect some sound clips once installed.

 

Update....Headers got installed tonigght!

After the first round last week of the infamous rusted cat/downpipe bolts, I got the sawzall from work and cut the heads off, hammered out the studs and we were back on track.

From here, the install went fairly well....Sounds a little more raspy/growly and the acceleration has a noticeable gain. There no resonance in my 10 mile test drive, but there is a small sound when idling...

Out of nowhere, before lowering the front of the car back down, there was a small-ish ps fluid leak from the rack/pinion area by the back of fire wall....Any ideas as to why? We were thinking maybe its just because it was jacked up front only, maybe it was un-even and "overflowed"?



Pics and hopefully videos of headers to come tomorrow..

 

Nice! You do need a drop, though.

 

glad you got those headers installed, finally! i'm in for some vids

 

looks good !! how bout some tint and a drop ??

 

I'll try for some videos, how do I upoad them?

And I have tint, and a drop in the near future.

 

there are several ways.. you can upload them to youtube, photobucket, vimeo, tinypic, etc. and link us from there. but youtube would be your best shot.

 

Heres a few pics....

Also, I picked up a little something new today.


Heres a quick shot of the headers...


And this little beast, got it from a local member for 40 bucks. The filter has 30k on it, so I am probably gonna buy my friends AEM Dryflow off him, its relatively new.



Thats all for now, but I might be picking up a exhaust and coilovers sometime in the near future, so stay tuned!


Oh, and btw...For those of you that have a cai, does your tube rub up against the engine bay on the bottom and start to dig into the tube?
Mine is, so I cut a coolant hose and wrapped it up around between the cai tube and the edge of the engine bay and we will see how that works out. And dont worry, I capped the vac line after the pic was taken.

 

Looking good, but in dire need of some serious slammage. Drop is an absolute must! :thumbsupL

 

Yes, I couldnt agree more on the slammage...
I am eying some K-sport Coilovers that the same guy is selling, and if that does not work out I will probably settle for H&R Sport w. Tokico Blues.

 

Save the money on the filter.
Just grab a K&N Filter Recharge kit.
Injen uses the KN product in their kits and most of the filters are made by each other.
I recharged mine.
If its really dirty wash it twice.
You only have to recharge it 50000km or so, the debris and dirt help with the filtration process.
Do not use compressed air on it!

 

How much are the re-charge kits, b/c I can get a like new Dryflow for 20 bucks from my friend...It came off his car before it was totaled

 

Go for the dryflow if it fits good,
I know those are complicated to clean though - I think expensive too as you need the right cleaner - there's a youtube video of it.

The recharge kit my guess is 5-10$ US.
You spray on the de-oiler, soak, wash it, then dry it well, then oil.
I can point you in the right direction if you want.
Mine came completely like new.
Its easiest to take it off with a ratchet reaching down into the engine bay.

I may just get one of those moisture shields for mine or a new filter time come - it rains non stop where I live.

 

What happens if you remove intake resonators?

 

nothing. you get a humming noise and a deeper growl when you're at WOT (you can hear when vtec kicks in at around 5500k rpm).

i don't believe there are any real gains when removing the intake resonator. currently running no intake resonator & k&n air filter.

 

Its gives a slight throatier sound under acceleration and a mild hum under idle

 

love what u did with the front end bro

 

Thanks, it took a while to get it right..A bit of trial and error until I finally fell in love with it.

 

Since the header install there has been a slightly odd sound at idle only...
It kinda sounds like a loose piece of metal vibrating, but everything is tight...Any ideas?

 

Guys its been a while, but I've got a hell of an update!

On monday I picked up a set of Eibach springs and OEM TL-P shocks off a member on here for hella cheap, a deal I couldn't pass up. Me and a buddy installed them last night and I LOVE them...I love the way it looks, drives, everything...We put the springs on my oem type-s shocks.

The pics for some reason look a little off....Better ones coming soon. But enjoy for now.



Also, my friend had a cb radio/pa system in his truck before he sold it....The pa speaker doesn't fit anywhere in his new car, so he gave it to me....This speaker is huge and badass...I had to shave it down to fit it behind the bumper next to the windshield washer fluid reservoir,and the radio/handset is mounted in the glovebox... Its a pretty fun toy to have....

 

Niceee. Drop is always good to see.

And PA system sounds so fun. I want one. Aren't they illegal for regular cars?

 

what did you use to paint your wheels? i was thinking of doing the same. I have a black type s and thought that would look slick.

 

I used Brite Touch Primer, Duplicolor Engine Enamel and a clear coat for the rims....

And technically, yes the pa system is illegal, but if you use it smartly and don't use it in front of cops, you shouldn't have any issues.

 

Ey man it looks clean. I like it. Where can i find a DIY on the dash section and the shiftgate???

 

Looks good


If you really want some coilovers, I can guide to the right place for a real good deal

 

I don't know if there are any DIY's for those...
And I'm pretty set with these Eibachs for now. l0l


Took some point and shoots tonight in a few different spots, maybe they will be up tomorrow.

 

Well guys, today was one year to the date that I put the down payment on my baby....Tomorrow is a year that I took her home.
Its been a year of ups and downs, and I've went through a lot with the car...Ive learned a lot about responsibility and also just normal life lessons with the car...Its amazing how much I have come to love it in only one year!

Anyways, I have no major disappointments with teh car, I only wish it had a little more power and a 6 speed tranny....No major repairs had to be made, only regular trans and oil changes, a brake switch, and I now need motor mounts, new brakes and possibly new end links, as well as tires.


Looking back on the first pics in this thread, when I first got my car, I noticed that it really has come a long way, both performance and aesthetics wise.

I'd like to thank all of you Ziner's who have helped me out in my time here, and hope to enjoy my stay for years to come.