the bar fits the stud.. only thing is that you would have to trim the plastic covers if you wanted them to fit .. The other thing is as you know, the oem strut bar supports some other things.. ex.. wire harness.. not really an issue though.. it sits more forward as you can see in the pics.. it's nice and level.. i may just use the oem bar and cut it.. not sure..

[URL=http://img356.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cimg00903vg.jpg][IMG]http://img

 

the bar fits the stud.. only thing is that you would have to trim the plastic covers if you wanted them to fit .. The other thing is as you know, the oem strut bar supports some other things.. ex.. wire harness.. not really an issue though.. it sits more forward as you can see in the pics.. it's nice and level.. i may just use the oem bar and cut it.. not sure.. sorry about the quality.. didn't master the camera yet

 

Hell yeah!

Thats FANTASTIC!

Good job bkylnpanman. Thanks for the pictures.

I'm going to order one before I leave work today.

 

Is it me or did you not use the Accord top hats? From the pics it looks as though you are only using 1 of the mounting bolts.

 

it was just a quick test fit so i can take pictures for you guys

 

Gotcha!

 

no prob... let's just hope the accord top hats work..

 

I have some aluminum ones from my K-sports if anyone is interested just PM me.

 

Conclusion:

-The Greddy or GREX strut bar for the Honda Accord 03+ will fit on the TL.
-Part #: 14053017
-It is suggested to use an Accord top hat.
-Allows for EDFC motor clearance.

-The Neuspeed strut bar for the Honda Accord 03+ will fit on the TL.
-Part #: 35 20 58 or 35 20 58P
-No modification neccesary.

Credits go to JDM5lugHatch for his photo contribution and bklynpanman for being the first to give the Greddy Strut bar a test fit.

And a big thanks to the aftermarket vendors for supplying us TL owners with an adundance of products...or not.

 

Thank you for all the help guys!!! I have had a Neuspeed in the past and was wanting to do a polished or chrome one on my car. I was just going to strip the black off the factory one and polish it then clear it. But since these two will work I will have to see about ordering one. Thank you again for the posts. VERY HELPFUL!!!

Jason

 

I just said F*CK IT and hacked my factory bar today. I thinkit came out pretty good. I am sure that rigidity has suffered some but it wasn't that great of a design anyways with those elongated holes. So here are some pics.

 

Just to make sure I am seeing this right.. if I had the Tein SS setup, I would have to remove the stock bar in order to adjust from soft to stiff every time? And the Grex will eliminate this problem?

 

awesome job.. i like the touch up paint idea.. looks clean.. what did you use to cut it? i think i might go this route.. i doubt the rigidity suffered enough for you to notice.. NICE JOB!! love the k sport decal.. nice touch

 

Hahahaha....... Gotta love the Sharpie touch. Didn't feel like painting it and didn't really wanna buy some touchup paint so I just used a sharpie to color it in. I marked off the area I wanted to cut using blue painters tape. Then I just used the tape as a guide for my dremel. I think I used 1 cutoff wheel per side.... so not too bad. After that I hit everything with a file so there were no rough edges.

 

hah.. nice job.. thanks for posting those pics

 

hey JDM5, nice work. I think you just saved my azz a few hundred bucks. I also just picked up a dremel tool last month and I love that thing! Is there a particular cutting wheel you used to cut through steel? The cutting wheels that came with my dremel look pretty thin and seems like they break easy.

Thanks and once again, nice job!

 

Does any one have any plans on trying the Neuspeed bar?

 

Pick up some of the thick cut-off wheels. They kinda look like a waffle. You should only need 2 or 3 cut-off wheels to do this. I recommend taping around the outside and cutting inside using the tape as a guide. Pick up a set of files as well if you don't have any to get a clean look. The other dremel bits don't really work as well as file when doing the clean-up.

 

Thanks bro! Making the trip to walmart for the waffle wheels. Found my to-do project for the weekend! BTW, those coilovers look sick!

 

Thanks so far they are pretty damn nice. No problem. If you can't find them at Wally World I'm sure you can get them at Home Depot or Lowes. It's pretty easy just time consuming so be somewhat patient with it. Good luck!

 

JDM...You did a good job on that strut bar...looks like it came from the factory like that.

 

Mine should be here on the 10th....I ordered the Neuspeed one.

 

Sweet, keep me (and everyone else) posted on how it goes, and some pics if you can.

Jason

 

Consider this done! When it comes in on Friday I will pretty much immediately be putting it on.

 

I hope the Neuspeed bar works out.

It should work considering the Greddy bar was a good match.

My bar is shipping in today but unfortunately i'll be on the road to Florida for a honda/acura meet in Orlando.

 

Neuspeed bar is the same bolt pattern...but does not fit. It is too long across by about 1/4 inch. Holes line up exact on one side and overshoot the other side slightly....too much to torque into place. It appears that the accord shares part of the bolt pattern only...but not the same side to side measurements. I will continue to play around with it...but I dont see it happening.

 

Here is the overall view of what I found this morning when I attempted the pre-fit on the 05 TL Automatic (I am sure the manuals are the exact same too). Pictured below is the Neuspeed Strut Bar for the 03-05 Honda Accord Part #: 35 20 58 or 35 20 58P - this does not appear to work on the outset installed on the 04-06 Acura TL model. Check out the pics below and see what I am referring to. The bolt pattern is the exact same....meaning the top hats,ect are going to fit just fine with the extra hole drilled....but the strut bar might be a different story. On this type of install we are counting on two factors....one being like bolt patterns (positive here) and the other that they have the same run length across from post to post (this turns out to be a negative as you can see below). As I said...I might play around with it a bit....but about the only way to get this to fit properly is to have it cut down and rewelded (shortened)...which kind of defeates the purpose as the cost would go through the roof to have it repolished, ect. Check it out....see what you think>? I never did remove the OEM one as I wanted to do a quick test fit and this is what I am finding.....









Hey....we tried? Guess you cant have a winner 100% of the time or they wouldnt call it a gamble! I wonder if the Greddy/Grex bar will encounter the same thing or not? It seems to me that anything you do to "make" this fit is going to compromise the integrity of the bar itself. Damn....was nice looking anyway! Too bad it doesnt fit just right. Like I said...I will mess around with it a bit more but its not gonna happen, I can see that.

 

here is another option for some brave soul...DC Sports....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DC-Sp...spagenameZWDVW




It appears to have elongated holes...so maybe it would fit over the posts? Prob no better than the OEM or the modified OEM though...

 

HOLD UP...NOT SO FAST......I MIGHT BE ABLE TO GET THIS TO WORK AFTER ALL. I have been tweaking it a bit right in the middle to take up some of the extra slack and it is getting DAMN close to being right on (much to the dismay of Valerie as I have it in the kitchen across the counter to the breakfast bar and have been hanging on it to get it to "tweak" just slightly right at the center point) I figured...what the heck? Got it here...why not tweak it a bit and see if I can get it to work, and I think it just might work out! Woohoo!

 

Good luck with that, hopefully it works out. I like how the bar looks.

 

Well....got it in....almost. Now the bolts that hold it in are making it prohibative to tighten then down. The "tunnel holes" where you put the bolts in is a problem. You cannot fit a deepwell socket into the ports that is 17mm...which is what the size is. It appears that I can get a 15mm size in there...but when you get to 17mm...it is just too big to fit in the area. Not to mention....here is one of my concerns also...not a big one...but one nonetheless....there are about three points on the OEM bar where different things mount up to "hold it steady" so to speak....so most of em are no big deal to lose...but one of em holds a substantial amt of wiring harness steady just below the master cylinder area (or that general area anyway). I am just looking at the directions...and it mentions tools needed are a 14mm socket....which is what the other bolts are that hold the OEM bar in place....but are not the bolts that hold this Neuspeed bar in place. It uses the other larger 17mm ones in our case....which everything would work great...but you cannot tighten it up due to the bolt size being larger and you not being able to get a socket down the port. You cannot switch it out either....the other 14mm bolts sit on smaller studs so no switcheroo of the bolts to get the 14mm bolts on there where you need em (actually...sense would have told you that...but I tried anyway?) Any ideas anybody>do they make a 17mm thinwalled deepwell socket or something I dont have?

 

Finally gave up....no fit on the hold downs...cant get proper bolts in the holes. The ports are too small for our 17mm bolt size to get deepwell into.

 

OK...the Neuspeed Bar will work for those who have switched to the Accord top hat, I am sure...because I would think that the right size bolts would be in those positions then. (the 14mm ones instead of the 17mm ones) If anybody has the Accord top hats and wants this bar....PM me. $100 plus freight its yours. Cost $149+ originally on 105tuning.com. Otherwise...ebay here we come. It does in actuality fit side to side....it is just a very tight fit. I read on another post where somebody else said the same thing...it has to be torqued into place I guess.....so this being a smidge off is the way it is supposed to be I guess....then you spring it into place, so to speak.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...MESE%3AIT&rd=1

End of story. Done deal. PM me if you are interested at the AZ cost above in the previous post of $100. No ebay fees that way.

 

Guess I will have to take the time to stripe the paint and polish the factory one. Didn't want to go that route, but man would it look alot better under tge hood. All the plastic parts are painted the same color as the car, other than the one on the motor. The intake is polished and I need some more silver under there. Since there is not throttle cable, I can do braided line on that. Thank you for all the post Benz.

Jason

 

Great info!!!!!!!.. i may go this route considering i have the accord top hats.. hmmmm

 

perhaps some of you know a better thread for this, but how about an '03 TL. some predictament? and advice or direction pointing is appreciated.

 

MichaelBenz... I'm glad to know the bar will actually line up with the studs. Thanks for the pictures and review. So the hard part is finding a socket that will fit inside the tunnel tubes...hmm...

 

Yes...but if you are running Accord top hats....the bolts should already be the 14mm size instead of the larger 17mm size at those points, meaning you should be able to get the socket in there with no prob as a 14mm deepwell fits in there just fine. I just cant get a 17mm deepwell to go in there.

 

Had my Greddy bar put in.. It fits great with the Accord top hats utilizing both bolts!!!!!