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Proud new owner of 3rd Gen TL and so far, I'm loving it! I've owned Civics in the past and didn't realize how much of a step-up it was to own a TL. I mainly got it as a daily driver and for daddy duties (Only car I could find that can comfortably fit two baby seats in the back that is NOT a mini-van or a SUV). Even though its supposed to be daily, the "mod-bug" has already bitten me. This thread is gonna be my blog of the work I'm doing to the TL (maintenance and otherwise). I will update as I do more stuff to the car. Any comments/suggestions are welcome! Thanks for stopping by.
The day I picked her up. Its got the famous "Cancer" of the clear coat.
First thing, I picked up Tennabe Medallion full cat-back for a good price!
Really like the way it sounds. Not too loud and has a deep rumble when I step on it.
Next, changed out the Intake and Cabin Air Filters! That thing was nasty!
My stock speakers were blown!
Upgraded to the Pioneer speakers.
Next up were the Mounts! They were done. I went with Innovative Solid Mounts. The vibrations weren't bad at all! I'm used to having solid mounts on my EK/EG Civics so they were almost like stock to me.
Did the Foglights with Yellow LED. They were 7th Gen Accord 4Dr Fogs that were custom fitted.
Next up were brakes. Did rotors and pads all around.
Got Tein Street Basis Coilovers and dropped her a tad. Also painted the wheels Gold just to make it a little different. Probably will until Spring to get her new shoes.
Got to do something about this paint!
To the Earl Schieb she goes! I went to a couple of shops and they each quoted me $3500-4000 to respray the whole car. That's way more than what I paid for the car itself!
She came back a few days later. Not bad at all for a $1100 paint job! They did the bodywork and did two-stage paint (paint and clear). Went with original paint. You can actually see the "Pearl" in the paint. I will try to get a better shot of it later on.
Decided to CF wrap the grill. First time doing it. It wasn't the best job but it'd do.
I think it looks so much better! What do you guys think?
That's all I got for now. I'm planning on doing some Maintenance stuff later on (TB/WP and Seals). Will keep you guys update...
Holy crap man you have busy with this car in a short time! Car looks like a totally different car now, Hows the interior? BTW that is an awesome price on the paint job, pics are deceiving but either way it is a lot better than it was before-Great work
Holy crap man you have busy with this car in a short time! Car looks like a totally different car now, Hows the interior? BTW that is an awesome price on the paint job, pics are deceiving but either way it is a lot better than it was before-Great work
The interior is mint too. No rips in the leather. The steering wheel was falling apart. It was an easy fix. Swapped it out with a better one I got from Ebay. Will post pics later when I got a chance.
Haha...I guess "Good Condition" then? Coming from old beat up 90's Civics that I've had as project cars, this to me, is mint.
Lookin' GOOD, Dad!
I'm sure it's going to be "near-mint" in no time at the rate you're going...
Gold on the wheels works (I've done it) but I'm sure it'll have fancy shoes by Spring.
Ordered the Base Aspec Rear Lip prepainted from the dealer and the door handle cover for driver's side door because its missing. Got good deals on them .They did the online price matching. Parts will be here next week . Will post up pics after the install.
Ask how many coats of clear they put on that car. A lot of that orange peel can be flattened out with wetsanding and buffing, but for $1,100 I wouldn't complain
Ask how many coats of clear they put on that car. A lot of that orange peel can be flattened out with wetsanding and buffing, but for $1,100 I wouldn't complain
Yea. I noticed there are orange peels. I'm gonna wait for the paint to cure and will get it wetsanded and buffed.
Yea. I noticed there are orange peels. I'm gonna wait for the paint to cure and will get it wetsanded and buffed.
And don't worry I am not bashing that job at all, I just remember when my notch got painted, how much a wet sand and buff helped it out. Great progress man
Are you from arizona?
nice progress. That’s a lot for your first update lol
Nah, I'm from New York City. Brooklyn. Thanks.
Originally Posted by 90foxnotch
And don't worry I am not bashing that job at all, I just remember when my notch got painted, how much a wet sand and buff helped it out. Great progress man
Oh yea. I knew exactly what I was getting with the $1100 paint job. I will try to take care of it best I can but I live in the city. Don't have a garage to keep her and I park on the street where she's exposed to all the elements and people we can't drive/park. So I will get dings/scratches sooner or later.
I forgot I had these laying around. I bought them for my Mazda CX3 a few years back. They are 15mm spacers. Will throw them on when I got the chance to see how they fit. The car is sitting nice and tucked on Tein Coilovers now. Just need a little poke to make these wheels fit better. Stay tuned...
So it turns out I couldn't put on the spacers because even though they are 5x114.3, the Hub Centerbore isn't the same and the rims would not fit. So no go with that.
However, I did get my OEM Base Aspec from the dealer today. And had it put on. I'm really digging the way it looks. Brings a subtle change to the car overall and matches the front lip well. Here are some pics.
Very nice. Like the progress so far. Any mechanical issues pop up since you had it?
Nothing so far. The car's been running great. Just some maintenance and known issues that I've got to tackle. There's leak coming from somewhere. Maybe power steering pump or Crankshaft seal. I'm planning to do the easy stuff first to see if the issues gets resolved. First, I will replace the two O-rings on the power steering pump in/out-lets. Then will do the TB/WP/O-rings/Thermostat/Serpentine Belt service in a month or so.
^ What year is this car? How did you do the fog light switch mod?
Its a 04. I bought 7th Gen Accord 4dr Folights and made them fit in the TL's grill. They came with wiring harness and switch. Just wired them to the battery and run the switch the spot by VSA module.
wow you moved fast. paint shop really brought it back to life.
how hard was it to to do the front motor mount?
Thanks! Well, I actually got a local mechanic shop to do the mounts for me. They weren't bad at all. It took them about an hr and a half to do all three. Charged me $300.
If anyone's considering getting new mounts, I'd recommend looking into these Innovative Solid Mounts with 75A bushings. A lot of people complaint about the vibration but they aren't bad at all. Yes, you could feel a bit more vibration inside the cabin but that's only when you are at idle. Once you start moving, you don't notice it at all. The car felt 10000% more solid and more planted. I'm lugging around a 2 year old and a 7 months pregnant wife in the back and I have zero complaints.
What's up guys? Another update, I guess? Haha. I just thought I'd share a neat little monitoring tool that we can all get for pretty cheap from Amazon. Its a OBDII Reader that's paired with a Torque App for Android that can monitor various perimeters on our car (or any OBDII cars for that matter). Check it out.
I plan on using a tablet and the torque pro app for my other project. How do you like it? I was only worried about it updating too slow
Yea. There is about a second delay between what's actually happening on the car vs the display. For example, the Tech Reading or Speed (anything with instant read out). So I wouldn't trust it for anything you need an instant feedback on. But for monitoring other stuff like Temp, Engine Load and Throttle Position, etc. it works fine.
12-12-2018, 12:02 PM
Another NBP Build
You should be proud of your progress
