I have been lurking in the background for a little while and figured I would post something since I have used a lot of info from this forum.

I bought a 2004 TL about 3 months ago (my first Acura) and I absolutely love it. I used to have an 08 Mustang GT which I loved at the time but the TL has become my favorite. I instantly got the itch to start putting some personal touches into the car (like I always do) and that’s when it all started.

Right before I bought the car, the dealer had just replaced the leather on the front seats so that was a bonus. I also got them to replace the windshield and the driver side front marker. I am now working on trying toget new catalytic converters out of them. I have the rotten egg smell at wide open throttle. I have read a lot and some say it is normal while others say something is wrong. Either way, I figured it was worth a shot for new cats.

I have seen just about every square inch of the car (inside and out) and have had it torn apart more than any other car I have owned. Ishould also mention that the car has fought me every step of the way (nothing has been easy).

So here is a list of some of the things I have done so far and let me say, I couldn’t have done it without a lot of the great info on this site. (all work performed by me)

Painted (exterior)– wheels, grill, badges, side mirrors, emblems, exhaust tips, antenna. Iused black Plasti-dip and I am extremely happy with how it came out and it is holding up great.




Interior – Vinyl wrapped trim (all wood grain & most silver). Painted a few trim pieces and the reardeck-lid speaker covers. VTEC indicator light (I know it’s cheesy).






Performance - Installed a DC Sports CAI which does not fit very well. The bumper is slightly bulged.



Lighting (interior)– LED Dome, door, trunk lights. Foot-well LED ambient lights. I have had to replace a few dash (button bulbs) so now I am currently working on replacing all of them with LEDs. I ordered some plug & play Neo wedge LEDs but in themean time, I have been making my own using radioshack bulbs with resistors(horrible idea). They are much bigger bulbs so I have to take things all the way apart to run the wires through the circuit board.




Lighting (exterior)– New HIDs (5k)which ended up making me replace an igniter. LED Fogs to color match HIDs better. LED turn signals, license plate & reverse lights. ddmtuning.com has great prices on HIDs by the way.Maintenance –3x3 Trannyflush/oil change/spark plugs/cabin filter. I also used a paint restore kitwhich really made the color pop. It looks like a completely different shadenow.

Sound system –Installed amp & sub with high-low converter running together with stocksetup. Replaced Front door speakers & tweeters and installed bass blockers.Used XM wiring to install Auxiliary port which is hidden in one of the center(flip up) compartments.

I also installed a remote start which was a huge pain in the ass. It was a very old system so it was in no way plug & play. I also ended up replacing the combination switch (turn signal stalk) which I apparently fried during my remote start install.

Anyway, thanks for all the great info and I hope I can contribute something in the near future.

 

Welcome! looks like you have caught the bug!

 

Damn that Di-Noc center console looks so good!

Car looks great man, welcome to the family

 

welcome to the site.

 

Welcome

 

I demand to see this vtec indicator light in action. is it like the newer civics?

 

very nice. congrats on the purchase!!! I am envious of your new leather seat.

 

Nice DMM. Its a great color.

 

Welcome-nice work. I like the Carbon Fiber accents.

 

If you look at the 4th pic you can see a small led to the right of the clock. It is pretty straight forward, VTEC engages and the shiney green light comes on. I tried to put it somewhere that looked like it belonged while still being visible.

 

Thanks all for the welcomes and feedback. I am still struggling through the LED conversion. I got the steering wheel, button lights under the gauges and all the button lights in the driver "leg" area (trunk/VSA/etc) done. Using the radioshack LEDs with resistors has been interesting since the bulbs are much bigger. I got in some plug & play LEDs yesterday that are already in the bulb "socket" but even those bulbs are longer than stock so some areas are difficult (i.e. seat heater buttons). I am happy with the way it is turning out though.

 

Welcome! I love the black accents, very tastefully done! I too would love to see the vtec indicator light in action

 

I will try to take a video and get it posted either today or tomorrow.

 

-WTF am I doing in the 3G section?

 

Nice I see you caught the mod-bug.

Welcome to the forum btw.

 

Dam after reading the OP(bold type) I thought I had to put on Bi-focals reading next
post LOL. But congrats on the 04.

 

That DI-Noc wrap looks pretty damn good, I may have to get some of that. Nice work on the car man