Hi Acura fans!

I'm new here and I'm trying to modify my 99 TL. I'm open to suggestions....here's some of the things I want to do:

1) Tint or somehow modify my head lights AND tail lights. As you all know, the only option for tail lights are the clear tops, which, in my opinion, look kind of plain. How come there aren't more options like you'd find for other Acura/Honda models? I guess we're just out of luck, huh? Please send photos if you have any readily available.

2) Body kit - I've only found two main styles - the Spyder type with the huge rear spolier and the Wings West type - which I really like. Anyone out there know where I can get a good deal on one? See, my problem is I'm stuck in the middle of the ocean, here in Hawaii, so shipping is a pain!

3) Finding the right color. I currently have a dark emerald pearl but I'm looking for a change. I like silver and the white diamond pearl is nice, but as we all do, I want to give it a unique and different look. I'm thinking of going with some sort of blue or gray. Do you guys think the RSX metallic bluewould suit the TL? Some say no so I'm thinking a little darker blue, maybe a bluish-gray??? Opinions please!!!

4) I have a set of chrome 18's on the way and I'm wondering if there is a need to drop it a bit??? For those of you who have dropped it, what's a good height and what's the ride like???

5) Debadge/Rebadge? I'm thinking of debadging all of my emblems on the rear and possibly rebadge the sides with either the "3.2 TL" emblems or perhaps the "Inspire" emblems. Any suggestions???

As you can see, I have a lot of things on my mind. Please send me your thoughts!!! Thanks for looking!

 

This is how mine looks with rockblocker smoke tint headlights, taillights, and yellow foglight,and H&R Sport Spring with stock shock, Inspire badge:

 

First off, what year's your car?

Here are my opinions:
Get the red/clear tail lights and smoke 'em out to look like LacViet's rear.. It'll look nice depending on what color your car is. I have yet to see such a thing on heather mist, any other color's fine.

Either go OEM or West Wings... anything else sucks except one of those rare super expensive JDM kits (www.memoryfab.com).. now those.. are NICE.

Look up the '03 TL Type-S In Aegean Blue Pearl.. it's sweet. I've been wanting to do it on my car so badly when I first got the car, but I never came around to it.. its' beautiful in person. Here's pics of what it looks like on a CL... you try it out and see how it comes out for you car. lol. if it looks good, I'll definitly do it myself https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=181147

Post pics! Then we'll comment... other than that, a 1 inch drop all the way around is good, anything more than that's too much in my opinion. It'll be flush, or in other words, look right with the rims. Wait! More importantly, check the offset/dimensions of your wheels, make sure you won't rub and have clearance if you were to lower the car. If everything's okay, go with H&R springs or if you want your ride quality to still be the same as it is now with the stock springs, go for H-Teins. I have them

Check out my thread... see if you like what I did, I only took off the "Acura" and "3.2 TL" emblems. You can't take off the "A" though. https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...0&page=1&pp=25 Just scroll through the pages, you'll find alot of more ideas from the things I've done. Hopefully this helps

 

Welcome to the forum! here are my comments as well:

personally i am against tinting the headlights, but only because i'm half blind and need the light from the HIDs at night and don't want to be hassled by cops. i have to say though that LacViet's rockblocker pics look awesome. personally it's not my thing though.

i agree with joe80055, go with WW or OEM. if you can afford it go OEM. it looks good.

again i'm with joe here, Aegean Pearl Blue, all the way. there's a type-S with OEM kit and dropped around my area in APB, it looks amazing. i'm actually quite jealous of it......


considering you live on the island (i don't live that far away, just above westchester) and i'm sure they have shitty roads there too i also wouldn't drop more than 1"-1.5". whatever the drops on comptechs or H&Rs are is the most you might want to do. especially if you drive around in the snow. the ride on both those springs is quite nice with stock shocks. i paired my H&Rs with tokico blue shocks and it's a nice ride. not too harsh but stiff enough handling for moderate cornering and curves.


personally i'm not a fan of complete de-badging, but this is just me. i think something needs to be left on the trunk. when i bought my car the previous owner allready had the 3.2TL and Type-S emblems taken off. i left it that way with just the A C U R A. the 3.2 on the sides would be cool, but i would leave something on trunk. whether you do the inspire letters or acura. gotta have something to fill the dead space.


definitely post pics of the car and yourself. enjoy and feel free to ask away!

SSTS

 

Personally, I'm not a fan of tinting the lights. I prefer the cleared look, especially on ABP color.

The WW kit looks great.

My '03 TLS is ABP and it look incredible, I can't wait to get the WW kit on it. The only downside is if I remeber correctly about Hawaii is that 2 days after a wash, the car will have noticible red streaks down the side from all that red clay, especially after a good rain. Just to avoid having to constantly wash the car, why not go with a dark metallic red?
let me know how these turn out, pics are expected

This is a personal preference, I like to just have the "A" on the back.

 

Hey LacViet,

That's a SWEEEEET ride you got there. Was it pretty easy/difficult to tint the head/tail lights? I'm considering going with a red tint on my tails. Any suggestions???

 

 

Thanks for all the responses, links and photos! I really appreciate it!

Will someone confirm that I can't remove the "A" logo on the rear (as in, it's unremovable)? Are they drilled in the rear or something? I was thinking of replacing it with something else - just bought a silver Roxy emblem (sorry, some of you guys out there might think it's lame, but I'm a Roxy fan so what can I say?) The Roxy emblem is too big to fit on the front so I was thinking of either putting it on the back or find another option. I just hope it doesn't get ripped off!

Again, thanks to all who responded. I have lots to think about....

 

Dude, that's a SWEEEET ride you got there. How difficult was it to tint the head/tail lights??? Is it similar to tinting windows?

 

Thanks! it's not that hard to tint the head/tail lights at all. All you need is hair dryer to heat up the tint section at the curve of the lights and patient. It is very similar technique like tinting windows but with heat apply to mold the film to the curve of the lights.
Keep us update on your mods!

 

^^ Is the tint on the outside of the taillight or inside?? Sorry, don't know how that works.

 

I've never been a fan of tinting headlights or tailights always seemed like a domestic car thing to me I'd prefer black housing or if I had the money modifying it even more by retrofitting projectors in there

Wings west is nice although I prefer the oem kit side skirts, you're closer to japan than we are maybe u can get some jdm kits
I like that white-blueish pearl on the new Lexus GS

I am getting around to dropping it, can't quite bear the rough ride again... but I'm sure it handles better and looks a lot nicer
No badges that way the rear looks clean , I think putting badges on the side would look weird and ricey

 

It's on the outside. The film is probably couple milimeters thick which can be stretch a little with a force under high heat to mold it into curvy of our light.

If you budget is limited and short term lower the car while saving money for better susspension later then H&R Sport spring with stock shock is the way to go just like mine; however, I recommend to get Tein SS coilover from start. I just got a used set of Tein SS coilover and let me tell you, I love it and kind of regrets for not getting the Tein SS sooner. The ride is much closer or equal to stock quality without hash feeling of every bump on the road. With Tein SS, you can lower to whatever height you like (slam the car for shows or meeting and bring up for normal driving) and can adjust the damper setting to fine tune your comfort and driving performance in normal road and race situation.

 

check this pic out...this is where the idea of badges on the side or maybe on the side skirts might give it a flair...

http://www.cardomain.com/member_page...26_39_full.jpg