UA6

You're lucky only spending $6220. I'm already in the $13k range.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

I stopped counting when I started to cry.

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

you sound like my girlfriend to a T.

Aman

$6220? That car has you whipped, huh?

Spent about $400 on my car. $20 plate covers, $5 fuzzy dice, and tax.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Im saving up for the fuzzy dice. I needed the other supporting mods to get the full performance out of them.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Let's start a TL Fuzzy Dice Squad!


Tyler, don't tell her how much you've spent on the TL. She'll want her her engagement ring to be more than the mods to the car....

TWiSDiT

iTrader: (4)

this. my gf thinks the same lmaooo

CLassy02

Damn Tyler! That's a lot! lol. Totally worth it!

d-townhakuzo

LOL I know I didn't just read that.

I wouldn't say OG since he joined 08 and this site has been around much longer than that. He is highly respected though.

Damn, I just calculated mine (roughly) and got about $6800, excluding all of the stuff I once owned and bought but changed. Money pits

Oh and the NC trip is looking kinda likely, my dad wants to take his car, I want to take mine, that's the only problem.

HOCKEYMAN23

Tyler...that's actually not too bad of a total expense for your mods. I know you'll think I'm crazy, but if you look at that list, you got several of the major mods "used". My total is up to somewhere around $6800-7200, not including installs. Luckily my buddy does all my stuff for cash and VERY reasonable, so can't complain there. Now that I think about it, it's probably up to $7200 after the CF CSL style spoiler I ordered from KB1Spec. Took time with it though, and that's the point. Probably won't sell the car either, since I paid everything in cash. It's all good.

Very nice work my friend. One of the most well-put-together cars on this site.

veggiemonster

iTrader: (1)

$6220 ain't bad....but i would think it wasn't worth it as well. to be perfectly honest.

i like your car tho. it looks WAY lower than mine



also, why do you guys stress so much about the timing service? i'm @ 150k with all OE clutch/timing etc, and waiting till 165k to even THINK about setting up a time for the service.

Roger555

iTrader: (3)

6220! That's almost what I have left before mines paid off! I refuse to keep track of mod expensives, I just tell myself there are worse things to be addicted too. Don't forget about the drivetrain though! Whens the last time you swapped out that tranny fluid?

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

Wal-Mart here I come!

Nah I couldn't do that. I'll get her something nice but I can't afford it as of right now.

Well in my girlfriend's eyes everything I've done to my car "is a waste of money". I tell her spending thousands of dollars on a little shiny rock is too. She doesn't like that very much

And yeah I get the same thing about Acurazine. "You're always on there. Put the computer down and hang out with me".

"BITCH I LIKE ACURAZINE, OKAY?!?"

I don't really say that, but she can tell I don't like putting down the computer and watching Say Yes to the Dress all night

But then again the website doesn't make me sandwiches.

Fuck!

I don't cry but my bank account does.

Mitzi's influence has rubbed off on me. Ugh.

Yeah you could say that. It's better than spending $6k on drugs or something

$5 fuzzy nice huh? You paid too much. Do you do this everytime you get in the car?...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUhM4...eature=related



Just hang a Barbie doll from your rearview mirror, that will surely be a conversation starter with the ladies.

Steven you have to HAVE fuzzy dice to be in the group. I think Aman is the only one who truly has a set

She can WANT an expensive ring all she wants. Just for shits and giggles she and I went to a jewlery store and tried on some rings. Her favorite one was a 2.5 carat solitare that was $20,000

Females nowadays.

I know Tyler! Damn!

Yeah I'm not an OG but I AM a post whore

Yeah but you've got aftermarket wheels and coils. I don't have either!

And last minute change of plans ftl. Let me know what you decide to do.

Zach! How are you sir?

Yeah when it comes down to it, I've done a lot to my car. I guess it just doesn't seem like much when I drive it around because everything I've done is on the outside of the car

I would love a set of aftermarket wheels and some coils but I don't want to move back in with mommy and daddy once I'm done with school. I need to save my pennies!

Financially wise, it wasn't, BUT I probably wouldn't even be on Acurazine if it wasn't for modding. I had my TL for a few months before joining. I joined just to get ideas for my car.

What suspension are you on?

The 105k service is just so damn expensive. Yeah I know it only has to be done every 100k or so, but it's so hard to from $1000 on something that doesn't make the car look any different

I've heard of people going 200k on the original timing belt but it's not worth the risk.

Don't worry Roger, I did the tranny fluid about 2 months ago

Btw I found an awesome place off of Evans Rd for another photoshoot. Hopefully we can get together soon and knock that out.

veggiemonster

iTrader: (1)

tranny needs lubing here as well.

well my uncle is a honda mechanic, a honda mastertech. he says the 06+ 3L accords are going to 225k on the stock timing, and he said @ 165k we would start planning mine. it'll end up being about $380 in parts, labor is a bitch, but family get's special treatment!!! woot, not bragging or anything

if you don't get into vtaksauce constantly, it's not even something to worry about honestly. i have taken all my vehicles far past the recommended, and never had a problem. but i understand your gripes about the seemingly "wasted" money

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Damn Tyler-$20,000 ring-2-1/2 carats!

I knew she was a classy girl, but WOW!

Start saving now-come on back to Kansas City and I'll take you to my jeweler. They will make and design her a ring!

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

See I don't have hookups like that so I just do shit when it's recommended

I rarely get into VTAKYO, I'm all about getting good miles per gallon. If I average under 22mpg for the week, I'm pissed.

Yeah she has high taste. I do too so I guess it rubbed off on her

I may have to take you up on that offer! Mitzi couldn't know about it though

CubanLynx84

iTrader: (2)

What cause he doesn't have hot pink rims?! Are you serious, please refrain from making an ass of yourself it'll just hurt later on.

Tyler I have been in here for a bit but the whip looks good as always. WDP for life!! I missed that damn meet man I wanted to go so bad my daughter graduated hs though and they had the graduation on that weekend plus mom-in-law was here too. I put the '12 on the back burner I'm not gonna get it now. I wanna house and nothings stopping me from getting it. But I am going to finish up the whip a bit more then chill with it for a while. I just got rid of my accord for an 08 crv for the wife and daughter for winter time.

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

Thanks for having my back! Notice how he hasn't showed up in here since he posted that shit. What a vagina.

Anyways I don't blame you for putting the 2012 on the back burner. House > new car everytime. Congrats to your daughter for graduating high school! Where will she be attending college this fall?

d-townhakuzo

So what's next?

As you saw, my car is going to be in the shop starting Thursday, so I won't be able to make it up there next weekend either. This sucks

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

Yeah man that sucks, I'm sorry to see

Since you asked, here's a story about what happened at work yesterday...


So the car has been struggling to start recently. I know it's not the battery since it's less than 6 months old so I figured it's the starter. I crank it up in the garage and it sputters to life. I think to my self, "I should really take the G35 and leave the TL here", but I'm stubborn and decide to take the TL to work anyways.

I get to work, turn off the car, and let it sit there for a few minutes. I crank it again to see if it turns on and it cranks up with no problems whatsoever. About two hours later I turn it on again and it won't crank. It makes a terrible cracking noise repeatedly while turning the key.

Great, I'm stuck at work. I call mom and have her bring the G35 to me and she calls AAA. Why did I call AAA you ask? Well if the battery is just fine, and the starter is dead, using jumper cables won't do shit if the starter doesn't work. About 30 minutes later homeboy with a tow truck shows up and tries to jump it (lol). I was stuck inside of work during a dinner rush so I don't know exactly what he did but he got the car to start. He said there was a lot of corrosion around the battery terminals and that the ground was a bit loose as well, therefore blocking the electrical current. He was nice so I gave him $10 and mom drove the TL home and I kept the G at work.

Cliffs:
-TL struggles to fire up
-Car dies at work
-Mom brings G35 for me to drive
-Tow truck homeboy somehow starts the car
-Mom drives TL home

So on Monday I'm not only getting my 105k service done, now I may need a new starter and/or possibly a new battery. I swear this car has gone down the drain ever since hitting 100k. That's life I guess.

d-townhakuzo

He didn't do anything to make it start, it just happened. My starter went out, and after about 20 times it actually started, you just kinda get lucky lol. I changed mine on my own, it took about an hour to replace it, not very difficult at all.

cjTL

iTrader: (2)

Damn, sorry to hear Tyler. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to have a new starter put in, being stranded again somewhere would suck. I remember ggesq had to have a flatbed called when his went out.

HOCKEYMAN23

Damn Tyler...bad luck bro. Hope you don't need a new starter...but it's a good time to get it done if you do. I've been good man, car's holding up well too. Just waiting on that CF CSL spoiler...after that my exterior is pretty much done. Maybe some grille work in the future, don't know yet if I'll do that. I honestly don't think you need aftermarket wheels...those custom finished Aspecs are bad ass!

You planning on National Acura meet again next year? I am definitely planning to cruise out and would love to see that sweet WDP in person!

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

^^^ Dude, you better plan on making the National Meet now! I want to see both you AND Tyler next year....

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

Damn that's crazy. Turns out that I had a bad battery. Details below.

Yeah I agree. I instantly thought of ggseq when my shit wouldn't start. Unfortunately for him, he was stuck at a gas station. I was just in the parking lot at work so it somewhat worked in my favor.

It's all good Zach! Another lovely part of car ownership

I really can't wait to see the CSL spoiler on the car! I remember when he had that shit made and it's STILL hot.

Yeah I love my A-Specs too, it's just that I get bored easily

As long as I'm not taking summer classes, I'll most likely be at the national meet next year. The drive wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I hope to see you there!

I hope we can make that happen Steven! I hope there are twice the amount of cars that show up as well!



8/15/12-Timing Belt

So as you read above, my car recently took a shit on me and wouldn't start while leaving work. Somehow it miraculously started and I drove it home on Friday and parked it in the garage all weekend. After pushing it out of the garage and jump starting it this morning, I took it to my trusted mechanic and had it looked over.

Turns out that my battery, less than a year old btw, decided to die. The starter is fine but the battery and ground were replaced. On par (plus a bit more) with the 105k service, here's what was done today...

-New battery and ground wire
-New cabin air filter
-Timing belt
-Water pump
-New camshaft seal
-New forward/front crank seal
-Serpentine belt
-Coolant flush
-Replaced right motor mount
-Tire rotation and alignment

I trust my mechanic like no other, and so does my family, so I told him to check everything and replace what he thought needed to be replaced. I wasn't expecting the motor mount to be replaced, but after looking at it myself, I'm glad I went ahead and got that out of the way.

So in all I paid $1306.96. A good chunk of change but considering how much I had done to the car, I feel like it was a fair price.

The car feels much more responsive and not as laggy with all of the new goodies installed. Before I felt like I really had to get on the gas to get the car moving, but now it moves effortlessly. Plus the exhaust isn't as loud as it used to be. Don't get me wrong, it's non-resonated so it's relatively loud, but not as much as it used to be. Maybe one of those gaskets had a leak? No idea. Anyways, I was dreading this day for over a year but I'm glad it was done and done by people I trust.

Now it's time for a S2000

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

^^^ Buddy, now your TL got a new lease on life! You'll have another 100,000 miles on it now....

Text me-I'll tell you about my NEW mod-coming in on Wednesday!

CubanLynx84

iTrader: (2)

She's going to a community college first. Damn child can't make up her mind what she wants to do. All I know is that she better have a degree or a great paying job or the bags are packed and sitting on the step. I dont play that mooching crap for shit.

stop keeping secrets Steven!!

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

^^^^ Lynx, it's really no big deal, but it is a performance mod-not an aesthetic mod!

But someone REALLY needs to come over here and make me stop.....

CubanLynx84

iTrader: (2)

Ya know lately I feel like my car has power up till 4th gear then lags out in 5th. I need more POWER lol but seriously it's really turning me off about the car. I dunno what it is I know my flex pipe on the V3 has a hole in it from being low so I'm gonna swap those out for solid pipe soon. Maybe with some hfc's it might help but also now I feeling like making the car quiet again. I dunno. and you know what sucks is that I have a supercharger for a gsr and a worked head and cant get rid of it for the life of me. If I was to get rid of that stuff I could get a used supercharger for the S.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Dude, my monster 1000 Cranking Amps Bosch battery died on me 2 weeks ago after only 15 months...didn't think it was the battery either but it was. I actually noticed that since I torqued down the nickel plated terminals on the posts so hard it lifted them out a little. Just that allowed the acid to come out and one of my terminals actually welded itself onto the post.

Changed em out, retorqued everything, put some of those anti corrosion rings and a little dab of grease (stops the acid effect) and I was good to go. Give it a try...

plus, 6MT can jumpstart even if starter ain't working, no? Since you're using the tranny to turn the motor over anyway?

veggiemonster

iTrader: (1)

lol my facebook status on may 17th:
Sean Doherty
Thank god my car is manual. Push started it at leroy with the boy scouts staring as I flintstone'd it out of the parking spot lol.

BigPZ

Tyler and everyone else I can relate!!! On Monday morning I leave my house and drive to the gas station...I fill up....try to start my car again....DEAD Battery....WTF!!! Then this morning when leaving the gym and on my way to work, I hear a clicking at full lock as I'm pulling out of my parking spot. I stop the car only to find a screw deep inside the sidewall of my 3 month old front tire...at full lock it was scraping against the inside of the wheel well...FUCK!!!

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

Yes sir! It was a big hunk of change to have that stuff done but I don't have to worry about it for a while

And you've got a text coming your way right now!



Don't get on her too bad, I was the same way. I went to a community college for almost 4 years before deciding what I wanted to do. I got my associates degree and now I'll be attending school starting in the spring to get my bachelors.

Does she at least have a job?

Steven just send me all of your money, that will kill the mod bug dead in it's tracks

Damn, you've got all sorts of toys huh?

Damn Jeremy that's rough dude! I know the feeling though.

Yeah you can start a MT car but you can't do that with an automatic.

Nothing like pushing your car around to start it.

Sorry about your problems but DAMN I'm glad I'm not the only one having issues recently

The car has always been good to me but over the last 3-4 months, it's been a pain in the ass. One thing after another it seems like

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

Alright boys and girls, school is in session. So you want to know how to change the color of your centercaps without removing the emblem? Professsor Tyler is here to teach you.

As most of you know, I have a set of the Gunmetal A-Spec centercaps as well as a set of Type-S centercaps. I like how the Type-S caps had a black "A" but I liked how the gunmetal ones had the "A" raised and how they currently match my powdercoated wheels more. I wanted the original gunmetal centercaps to have a black A but I didn't want to remove the emblem OR use paint incase I decide to sell them. I wanted a totally reversible option. So that's where Plastidip steps in. Watch and learn fuckers.



So here's my set of Original 2004 Gunmetal centercaps. Notice how the A are raised from the base and how they are chrome in color. Not my forte.



Here's a set of the Type-S centercaps with the recessed A.



I wanted to point this out to everyone, I thought it was pretty cool. On the back of all the gunmetal centercaps, the build date is stamped. Some are dated as far back as 2003 and some are dated as 2004.











I actually have a total of 6 gunmetal centercaps but didn't get a picture of the last date. I figured you guys would get the point.

Notice how the Type-S ones don't have any dates/stamps on them whatsoever.



Anyways, back to the project. This is what we are aiming to get at.



So lets begin. Since I had that one previously done, I only needed to do 3 more. I layed them out and cleaned them.



I did a very light coat of Plastidip just to get something on the caps. Nothing crazy.



Then I did a thick coat. Make sure you circle around the centercaps so you can get all the angles.



I then put them in the sun to speed up the drying procedure.



Once they were dry, I moved them inside. Excuse the poor lighting. There's the complete one in the back and the three fully coated caps.



If you spray the caps outside, you'll more than likely get some sort of shit on the caps. Leaves, dirt, dust, etc. As long as the crap isn't physically on the emblem, you're just fine. See how the areas on this cap are fucked? It doesn't matter because those pieces are going to be removed.



Alright, now it's time for the fun stuff. You want to peel the unneeded coating but your fingers are most likely too chubby (nothing personal). I used a mechanical pencil with the lead NOT exposed. Make sure there is lead in the pencil though, I'll explain in a minute. Just take the tip of the pencil and pull at the coating.





Pull all the way around the cap and it should peel right up. No residue left.



Don't put your pencil down though, time for some more fun. Starting from the top, peel the coating down towards the bottom of the cap like so.



See! Easy as that.



Now it's time for the bottom center piece.



Do the same thing on the left, or undone, side of the cap. It's easy, trust me. At that time, you should have this left.



But you're not done with that cap yet! Notice the small piece still intact at the top of the emblem. This is when you click the pencil a few times to get some lead out. Use the lead and CAREFULLY push the coating down or up the emblem. Make sure you have enough lead out so the sides of the pencil don't rub against the emblem. Sorry no picture for that step.

Here's what you should have done after that.



So here are the two completed caps and the two non-completed caps.



So for comparison, the Type-S centercap is at the top. Second is the original gunmetal centercap, the full painted cap, and the finished cap with the black A.





Once again, top left is original gunmetal, top right is Type-S, and the bottom row is the original gunmetal with the painted As.



COMPLETE!

Make sure if you are using new centercaps, to transfer the metal rings that go inside of the caps. Those push out the clips so they properly fit into your wheels.



So there ya go, complete. Sure you can put clear coat over the caps, but I'm not guaranteeing the Plastidip will be as easy to remove. You're welcome.






Oh you want pictures of the centercaps installed? Well I've got a few more little things up my sleeves and will be posting pics sometime between now and Monday. I'm attending a meet on Saturday and maybe a picture will leak out. Nothing crazy but it's different to say the least. Stay tuned

rptls08

iTrader: (1)

looks good man

cjTL

iTrader: (2)

Where can I sign up for your arts and crafts class?

LOVE them! Can't wait to see what they look like installed. I think they're going to finish off your A-Specs nicely.

jwr0ng626

iTrader: (1)

awesomeee wrk man

acura_dipset_tl

iTrader: (40)

Great job Tyler, now hurry up and slap those bad boy's on and take some pics.

kidduce

iTrader: (1)

Is this considered a teaser?

Love that look dude.

Infanity

Tyler,

Great work on your car. I've been up for almost 3 hours now just going through this thread ALONE! lol. Love the work and definitely got some inspirations, as to what to do once I get my TL.

I will be contacting you very soon.

Btw the TL im getting is 133K (money budget) 6 Spd. How is your car now that is over 100k? What are some of the things I should test out when I go to the dealer soon to test the car? Things to look out for?