Hi as some of you know I've recently aquired a black TL-S.

What sorta bugs me is that the front grill is GOLD.

I was wondering if a DIY CHROME color would look good. For example do you think it would match or be as shiny the chrome color on the door handles etc. I would have to go get automtive chrome paint with finish but I'm afraid it might not turn out as nice.


Either that or I will paint the grill Black, and leave the center piece with the acura logo gold.

You guys got any tips on painting the grill? It would save me about $100 if I were to just buy the chrome grill off ebay hehe.

 

i would go with painting it black or just letting go of the dough for a chrome one off EBAY. the chrome paint may or may not come out looking good but i am gonna vote for MAY NOT.

 

Yeah I guess I'll just buy the grill off ebay.

It loses that classy look if I paint it black.

Do I have to remove the whole bumper to get the bottom grill off?

 

Personally i like black on black. Some call it the murdered out look. I think its the TITS. just do some searching and you will find plenty of folks on here that have painted things and it will give you kind of a guidline on ow to do it right. Just take your time and sand and sand and sand between each coat and use good paint and some adhesion promoter and oh yeah did i mention take your time

 

Crap....they don't have the OEM chrome grills for sale! I know the dealer is gonna be mad expensive.

I might have to go with blacked out grill then. The gold in the front really stands out and makes the car look "Granny'ish"

You don't have to remove the whole front bumper to get the bottom grill off do ya? That would be a pain.

 

If your going to paint it, Paint it body color.

 

Oh and depending on the year you have the front grill is 25-40 bucks new from the dealer.

Look under Front Grill

http://www.acuraautomotiveparts.org/...catdisplay.jsp

 

That's it?! Sounds good. I was thinking maybe around $120 bucks or so. Mine is a 2003 so it's the 2 piece grill.

 

Thats it. Go to that website and select the info it asks. select the parts needed and order.

 

Does removing the grill require removing the whole front bumper?

 

Well, I'm fed up with the gold..I saw my car from a distance and it looked horrible lol. I'm gonna paint the grill, ordered the NPB color paint already...

I looked and noticed I probably don't need to remove the whole bumper to get the grill off...seems like there's enough space to take it off after you remove the plastic panels under the hood.

But how do you get the top part connected to the hood off?

 

Let us see how it comes out, man i wana try my grill to paint it up into like ur Gold but still don no lol

 

Paint it ALL bodycolor. Emblem and all

 

I shoulda bought the black chrome kit. But anyways my paint should be in by tomorrow.

So anyone know how to take off the grill?

 

I was gonna suggest buying the black chrome kit but whatev let me know how it goes.

 

im loving my chrome look, but also wouldnt mind seeing the chrome in the body color like some CLs and some TLz......or even getting that aftermarket grill they sell.

 

I've saw a pic of black chrome emblems and it looked just like chrome...I shoulda got that...but shoot, already ordered the paint lol. On this car, I'd really rather have a chrome grill rather than body color.

 

Yup agree, ya should go with the chrome cuz if ya paint it to black then its kinda ewww. Lol ya feel me. Yeah so is there a chrome paint color ?

 

I'm sure there is...but I have a feeling it wouldn't turn out nice and smooth like a chrome plated grill lol.

But black is better than gold for now...I'll pick up the black chrome if I ever have the cash.

 

Yeah man lol. So you decidin to go with Black grill huh , i see cuz i see( this is my opinion man no offense anione alright lol) black grill making ur car look kinda dirty and shit man. If i was you ima stay with gold better then black man . Ok here is some tips befor you doing it. Take a pic of ur car infront including the front gril alright. Then go to Photoshop and paint it in black which is match with your body color. And see how it turns out, like it do it. If not lol like i said Gold is better then Black man.

 

If you need help taking off your bumper just come up to Vancouver :P

Derrick has a DIY on how to take out the grille without removing the bumper in the DIY forum, I think it's related to changing the emblems.

For me though, I had to take off the bumper as that was easier for me.

 

Chrome grill is more suitable because our cars have the chrome handles and windows....it adds to that eleganct luxury look lol.....

Black grill would look nicer for a sportier look like the A-Spec where everything is body color and the headlights are black housing.

But really dude...you just haven't seen the gold on this black car OMG! It's horrible! BTW, I'm leaving the "A" gold. Contemplating on whether I should leave the center line that connects to the "A" gold too.



I'm scared to take off the bumper because the plastic screws on the bottom are all "seized" and I have to break them off lol. I installed my Comptech Icebox without removing the Bumper LMAO!! It was pretty easy actually.

I think there's enough room to take the grill out without removing the front bumper...I just gotta reach down and feel where it's being held onto.....but the top part I have no idea how to remove it. I guess I'll just keep playing with it.

 

Lol doing it without removing the bumper is a good way too but let ur car cool off about 30 minutes cuz if you jus came back somewhere else and starting doing the project lol , it will burn some skins lol.
Becarefull lol

And yeah where did you get the Comptech Icebox ? is it working jus like those CAIs ? some different ?

 

what do u mean by top part? From my experience, if u want to remove the grille without taking off the bumper, u pop open the hood, remove the 10 plastic thingys that whole the plastic strip down, then remove the plastic strip itself, from there u can reach down and remove the 3 other plastic thingys that hold the grille to the bumper (and that is the hardest part IMO). Once those plastic thingys are off, u can take off the grille.

 

I got my icebox from excelerate I think. It was pretty expensive..like $200 something. The car is more responsive compared to the stock intake. I chose it over the other CAI because I heard it was quiet and it is as quiet as stock and looks stock which is perfect. It just makes a cool hiss sound as you shut off the car lol. It's also good for those that are scared of getting a CAI because of the rare risk of hydrolock.

I mean the top part is the little piece that is connected to the hood lol..how do you take that off?

 

Looks like it's held together by some type of bolt. 4 of them. I'll try to twist them off.

 

I hope this might help you:

http://www.uploading.com/files/LCWQX...Ins...pdf.html

 

Crap, as i was untwisting the bolts for the top piece by the edge of the hood, two of them broke off with the plastic from the grill and now I can't tighten it back on so there's a small gap there now....ruined my car lol...I sanded the gold parts down, primered, painted and clear coated.

Well, it's SUPER GHETTO and I hope the paint doesn't chip off or anything, but it looks better than GOLD.....It will do until I order a black chrome grill one day.

Before


After

 

I likey. Get a Black chrome Emblem now.

 

u know what you need? Black headlight housing that would fit perfectly with your black grille, oh, make sure you use flat black.

 

I was thinkin the same thing . Mine totally made my car. I love mine!

 

It looks like you already found a solution for your grill part.....about the paint job on my grill, they didn't sand the chrome off.....the paint just covers the chrome surface....

 

I see....Yeah I sorta just sanded mine to get rid of the gold, it actually turned silver lol.

As long as you stay back, my grill looks perfect LOL....the thing that sucks is as I was running my last layer of clear coating across the grill, I ran out and halfway across it started sputtering so it's uneven lol...I need a buff and polish.

But anyways the black grill makes the car look waaay sportier....I wanna see what the A-spec looks like in person now.

And yeah Blackura, i would have black housing headlights already if they made them for my car lol.....I don't trust myself to DIY my headlights.

 

lol I hear ya. I wanted black headlights but I wasn't about to do it myself.

 

lol, yea thats true, i did mine with 2 of my friends and it took us like 6 hrs. The hardest parts were to take the housings apart and putting them back together. And the most time consuming part is sanding the chrome away. I guess you can use primer instead if u don't want to sand the chrome off? I didn't put primer on after i sanded.

Anyways they were all good and I even washed my car a few times after and no fogging up. But..last week..went to work...parked my car outside.... it rained for like the whole day..and...damnit..water leaked in..and started fogging up..so I have to reseal again...but that wouldn't be too hard since the seal is not that strong.

come up to canada ...a-spec is awesome, I wish I bought a a-spec (but then they don't come in WDP!!).

 

Are there any laws concerning "importing" Canadian spec cars to the USA? I wonder if I could buy an Aspec and simply just drive it down here to the USA.

 

Man if you gettin the A chrome emblem lol , throw that gold A for me man lol . dont waste it lol

 

If I ever get it...I'll send it to ya lol...

 

i don't know man but i think it's a simple process? Just expect to pay more $$ though. A 3.2TL-S a-spec is about $18000 - $30000 CAD (yes i've seen $30000 one at this moment...)...

 

for so long i wanted to get a black housing of my headlight set....
either
1) DIY by yourself, 2) buy it from others as used, 3) let a auto-shop do it, or 4) order a A-spec headlight from Acura Dealer

which way you think you would pick?