SHEILA's DEBUT (back from the dead...)
10-17-2010, 11:49 AM
#1
SHEILA's DEBUT (back from the dead...)
So as you all know, in my previous thread, my first car ever was crushed by a tree and the city refused to pay for the damage, so now I am left with parting it out to make back some money...
Because I bought an 03 SSM TL-S! It's got 96K miles on it and is in beautiful shape, even better than my first car, which is quite a rare find. That's probably because this car came from the middle of the country - it didn't go through the abuse other cars go through here in the mid-atlantic area.
So, when I got her home, I started working on her asap... 1st thing's first - the rims and brakes:
That's my Sheila in the garage - the new car is outside
THE OPERATION BEGINSSSS...
There's the new TL-S - I had swapped the rims the night before... nice 06 TL accessory rims...
This was probably the last phase of the operation... I had spent 3 days working morning to night swapping the rotors, brake pads, rims, side skirts, rear lip, engine manifold, engine covers, bolts on the engine (for the authenticity
)...
And by swap I mean I had to take it off the NEW car, then take it off the OLD car, then put it on the NEW car, and then put it back on the OLD car - cuz when the insurance guy comes, the car had to be in the state it was at the accident... unfortunately, he never came...
Well, after 3 days and scratching up the hell out of my hands, the transfer of the exterior mods was almost complete.
So with no further ado, I present to the Acurazine family, SHEILA!!! Back from the dead!!!
And the next day I took my grandparents to PA, where my grandfather was being promoted to Lieutenant General! Here she is sitting in the parking lot. Notice the vets in uniform...
(and that corolla gave my rear door a minor scratch, but he's a war vet, so I should be honored)
Because I bought an 03 SSM TL-S! It's got 96K miles on it and is in beautiful shape, even better than my first car, which is quite a rare find. That's probably because this car came from the middle of the country - it didn't go through the abuse other cars go through here in the mid-atlantic area.
So, when I got her home, I started working on her asap... 1st thing's first - the rims and brakes:
That's my Sheila in the garage - the new car is outside
THE OPERATION BEGINSSSS...
There's the new TL-S - I had swapped the rims the night before... nice 06 TL accessory rims...
This was probably the last phase of the operation... I had spent 3 days working morning to night swapping the rotors, brake pads, rims, side skirts, rear lip, engine manifold, engine covers, bolts on the engine (for the authenticity
)... And by swap I mean I had to take it off the NEW car, then take it off the OLD car, then put it on the NEW car, and then put it back on the OLD car - cuz when the insurance guy comes, the car had to be in the state it was at the accident... unfortunately, he never came...
Well, after 3 days and scratching up the hell out of my hands, the transfer of the exterior mods was almost complete.
So with no further ado, I present to the Acurazine family, SHEILA!!! Back from the dead!!!
And the next day I took my grandparents to PA, where my grandfather was being promoted to Lieutenant General! Here she is sitting in the parking lot. Notice the vets in uniform...
(and that corolla gave my rear door a minor scratch, but he's a war vet, so I should be honored)
I don't understand why city wouldn't cover something like this, unless it was a tree on private property. And did you not have insurance to cover it either? Just curious is all.
10-17-2010, 10:00 PM
#5
-Arsenic-
Hopefully you plan to paint the lip? Good to see it back (well, kind of back lol)
and war vet or not, he would be paying for that if it were my car..
and war vet or not, he would be paying for that if it were my car..
10-18-2010, 09:02 AM
#6
I actually like how the black lips look on the car... I painted them black with a pearl medium before the clear coat, I'll be leaving it on for a while.
Here are some more pics (taken on Nokia Nuron) for a preview:
What do you think of the muffler tip and the small mod to the taillights?
I'll be adding more mods come this spring - gotta make some money from the part out and all...
Thinking about the Mugen Grille and CF Spoiler (from HeelToe) to finish it off. If you got a CF mugen rep lying around and wanna sell it, let me know!
Here are some more pics (taken on Nokia Nuron) for a preview:
What do you think of the muffler tip and the small mod to the taillights?
I'll be adding more mods come this spring - gotta make some money from the part out and all...
Thinking about the Mugen Grille and CF Spoiler (from HeelToe) to finish it off. If you got a CF mugen rep lying around and wanna sell it, let me know!
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10-18-2010, 03:49 PM
#10
Instructor
nice! what was the original color of the lip kit? i really think you should color match. it'll look 100 times better. also, in desperate need of drop! and perhaps de-badge the rear? just a few suggestions to make your tl flawless~ but everything else looks good! 
10-18-2010, 04:10 PM
#11
Thanks, all!
Yes, a drop will come soon, just after the winter - the roads here are terrible and I've spent so much money replacing tires with bubbles that a drop isn't practical at the moment.
The front lip was blue, rear was green, and sides were charcoal --> yes, as some may cringe at the idea, I had the chance to paint them and went with Black (w/pearl medium). I don't think it looks bad at all at the moment, though a drop will definitely bring it together.
@kp4lyfx : I actually had debadged the previous car (completely) but felt it was a bit empty. Since I don't have a spoiler or anything now, I think leaving the badges there fills up the empty space. When I get that CF replica spoiler, I'll debadge it completely, tint the taillights (maybe), and put on the TYPE-S badge (black) from the newer models.
I'm just trying to enjoy the car at the moment. It was pretty sad to get my car taken from me so suddenly (and not even getting reimbursed for the damages!!!); I'm just happy to have this car that brings back some memories for me.
Yes, a drop will come soon, just after the winter - the roads here are terrible and I've spent so much money replacing tires with bubbles that a drop isn't practical at the moment.
The front lip was blue, rear was green, and sides were charcoal --> yes, as some may cringe at the idea, I had the chance to paint them and went with Black (w/pearl medium). I don't think it looks bad at all at the moment, though a drop will definitely bring it together.
@kp4lyfx : I actually had debadged the previous car (completely) but felt it was a bit empty. Since I don't have a spoiler or anything now, I think leaving the badges there fills up the empty space. When I get that CF replica spoiler, I'll debadge it completely, tint the taillights (maybe), and put on the TYPE-S badge (black) from the newer models.
I'm just trying to enjoy the car at the moment. It was pretty sad to get my car taken from me so suddenly (and not even getting reimbursed for the damages!!!); I'm just happy to have this car that brings back some memories for me.
10-19-2010, 03:59 AM
#16
Thanks, all! I've still got a long way to with modding (drop, mugen grille and spoiler, etc). I was really inspired by some of the rides on here, still am - just glad to show everyone what I've been up to, since I'm usually a lurker on here.
Yes! That's exactly what I'm trying to do. I'll try to get those rims powdercoated in the future. They're super rare, but the layer of aluminum is starting to peel on some spokes, so I'll go with a flat black or "dark charcoal". I'm not too crazy about black rims because over time, I tend to forget how the rims actually look like...
Thanks, they are 6000K from HIDeXtra.com, a very reputable vender. They often give discount to Acuraziners.
Yeah, I'm just happy to not have been in the car when it happened. Now I gotta cut it up in order to get inside and part out the interior... 
Thanks! It took be 4 years to finally pull the trigger on getting the lip kit.
nguyen25: hey what's the HID temp. of your TL in post #6?
6000k?
...looks great!
6000k?
...looks great!
klectic: Nice to see your dedication to our cars.. good to see it brining back from the dead lol
I remember seeing pics of it w/ the tree and was like..daammnn
I remember seeing pics of it w/ the tree and was like..daammnn
DarkSithCL: your dedication and hard work have paid off...a sweet look!
10-19-2010, 08:44 AM
#17
Whats this mugen grill u speak of? Never seen it for our 02-03 cars
and u need to paint other parts black on your car as well to make it flow right cause a black lipkit on our cars doesnt really look right, unless u take off the side skirts, and give it an offical dropp.....
that sideskirt is definitely messin with your black lipkit flow though.......if u remove it, and slamm that bitch it would look much better......It would have the sporty front and rear, with a touch of luxary without the sideskirts.....I thought of every possible thing to do to our TL's even the S2K rear diffusers!
and u need to paint other parts black on your car as well to make it flow right cause a black lipkit on our cars doesnt really look right, unless u take off the side skirts, and give it an offical dropp.....
that sideskirt is definitely messin with your black lipkit flow though.......if u remove it, and slamm that bitch it would look much better......It would have the sporty front and rear, with a touch of luxary without the sideskirts.....I thought of every possible thing to do to our TL's even the S2K rear diffusers!
Last edited by JDM Inspired; 10-19-2010 at 08:50 AM.
congrats!!
10-19-2010, 08:11 PM
#20
Whats this mugen grill u speak of? Never seen it for our 02-03 cars
and u need to paint other parts black on your car as well to make it flow right cause a black lipkit on our cars doesnt really look right, unless u take off the side skirts, and give it an offical dropp.....
that sideskirt is definitely messin with your black lipkit flow though.......if u remove it, and slamm that bitch it would look much better......It would have the sporty front and rear, with a touch of luxary without the sideskirts.....I thought of every possible thing to do to our TL's even the S2K rear diffusers!
and u need to paint other parts black on your car as well to make it flow right cause a black lipkit on our cars doesnt really look right, unless u take off the side skirts, and give it an offical dropp.....
that sideskirt is definitely messin with your black lipkit flow though.......if u remove it, and slamm that bitch it would look much better......It would have the sporty front and rear, with a touch of luxary without the sideskirts.....I thought of every possible thing to do to our TL's even the S2K rear diffusers!
I'm not sure what you mean by removing the side skirt, you mean put back the silver oem sideskirt? I don't think I'd like how that looks, everything will look a bit too fragmented and distracting. I'd rather have them all black or all silver.
Yeah, I know what you mean about having more things black on the car, my previous one had the grille black as well as all the chrome trim. It looked pretty nice. I'm gonna leave it like this for a while until I get the CF mugen spoiler and grille - then maybe I'll black out everything (chrome trim).
There's definitely a lot I gotta do to "complete" the look (if that's ever possible), but for now I'm happy with how she looks. I gotta put the modding on hold for now- been through a lot with this car business.
I just wanted to show everyone what I've been working on - since I was a bit too afraid of criticism (esp for the black lip kit) to put it up before. Like someone else said on here, when we get too critical (or "mean" for a lack of a better word) we all miss out.
Maybe I'll get back to seriously modding her after this last year of college, when I (hopefully) get into a good grad school
Last edited by tri2tun; 10-19-2010 at 08:14 PM.
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