Hey everyone! I have been wanting to start a progress thread for a while now, so here it is



This is how I bought the car. It had 110k miles on it and maintenance had been neglected so I started with that.

I only recently started lightly modding the car. I lightly fixed my wheels and dipped them black, did the interior LED conversion including license plate lights and added RDX caliper covers in the rear in order to hide the rusted stock calipers. I also had the car tinted. Legal limit here is pretty dull though.









This is how it sits right now. There are many things to come, some of them in the next 2-3 weeks. I want to keep the car looking somewhat stock, I don't plan on going crazy with it.

In the next few weeks I will do the LED DRLs conversion using the iJDMtoy harness and some cheap ebay LEDs. Inspire fogs are also coming in. I have a-spec front and rear lips waiting to be painted as well.

Before spring I want everything to be ready in order to throw in the a-spec suspension and type-s wheels. I already have the springs ready but I need to find what type on shocks I will pair them with. I also have type-s wheels that are in pretty bad shape and I want them back to normal condition somewhere this winter.

Special thanks to Guitarplayer16 for his precious help on many issues and for selling the springs and wheels at a more than reasonable price. A real stand up guy!

I will be updating this thread shortly

 

Nice start.

 

welcome to the money pit

 

Thanks Steven!!

Let's hope the pit isn't too deep! I try and buy used for most non essential things.

 

Looking forward to next season!

 

Welcome nice color

 

Yes indeed! I actually worked a little on it this morning. Did another 1x3 ATF change. Wanted to do the filter too but I have a stripeed bolt

It's very nice indeed! Some colors stand out more imo. It does hide imperfections pretty good though

 

Looks good ! Once you get the type s rims and a spec springs on take a trip to ottawa for a meet lol

 

Hey Eddie nice to see another montreal TL owner!

Are you legally tinted on both front and rear? I'll need to redo my tint since it's scratched and I've been contemplating whether I want front and back equal or if I want back darker.
Definitely not going legal in front, just how much I don't know. I'm thinking 40% tint. Problem is on a black car it looks so much darker than on silver or white.

 

Legal limit is no tint at all in the front windows.

People I know have been pulled over for tint just on Gatineau side.

Legal limit talk aside, match front and rear. It bugs my eyes to see different tint levels.

 

Legal limit is 70% light has to pass through in QC for front windows.
Tinted Windows | Road Safety | SAAQ

Thing is a lot of car windows already have a tinting so unless you're checking with a photometric tester you won't know. Good tint shops have one though (Dr. Tint in MTL comes to mind).

I dislike the disparity look between tints too but I like dark tint... If I could I'd have 5% all around.

 

70% limit is almost no tint at all considering TL factory windows are 75%.

You'll probably be fine in Montreal, there are a lot of tinted cars there.
Gatineau is different, they'll make easy money off us that visit/pass through from Ottawa.
Most cruisers in Gatineau carry a photometer I believe.

 

I entirely agree. I'm not in Montreal but close enough that it doesn't matter much to me. Fingers crossed anyway.

 

Eddie, I just want you to know that I speak fluent Canadien!

 

For sure! I don't think there's any meet near me so Ottawa would be cool. Plus it's really not that far.

I'm technically illegal. 50% in front. That's what dealerships do if I recall so the police doesn't go after that.

If I match front and rear thats when I'm gonna start having to worry about getting pulled over. I know it'd be better but idk, it doesn't bug me that much.

That's nice! I can manage to speak american!!

 

Received some goods today




Can anyone be kind enough to tell me what this is? My guess would be the relay, I'm probably wrong

 

I thought so, it looked too dark. What is it in the back? 40%?

That looks like a relay.

 

The window at the complete rear (back windshield?) is 20%, both rear windows are 35% and front is 50%.

Thanks for the info!

 

 

Hey guys!I finally installed my a-spec front lip this past week!!

The process was a little longer than expected since I ran into one or two complications.

I started with this lip, a couple cans of primer, paint and clear as well as some sandpaper. I also had bondo and double sided tape.




I ended up not wanting to go too deep into repairing the lip since it's just a piece of plastic that's gonna get trashed by road debris anyway, so I skipped the bondo and just tie-wrapped the huge crack/gap you can see in the picture (left in the picture).

I didn't have all the hardware that comes with the lip, I only had a single "bracket" that goes in the wheel wells. So I started by trying to fabricate one myself.



Left is OEM, right is homemade one.

But then lining up the hole for the push pin was a little complicated and the aluminum I used was too flimsy so it ended up bending really bad.

I ended up going to the hardware store and picking up these. I don't know what they are, my father (I work in his garage since I can't work from my appartment) recommended them and the store is 2 minutes away from his place.





So with this issue resolved I was (finally) ready to install it. I cleaned the bumper with rubbing alcohol and started applying the double sided tape on the lip. It didn't feel too good so I ended up scrapping that and went with red RTV that I had laying around from my RDX caliper covers. The RTV was much easier to manage and I felt more confident using that.


Once it was on I pulled it away from the bumper where I felt there was not enough RTV and added some more. I then strategically placed pieces of wood pushing on the lip while the RTV cured.



8 hours later it was done! I took my car and went back home! I couldn't help myself and took a quick picture of the car as well of the fitment. I'm satisfied with the results





How it fits on the bumper.





The day after. You can see I painted the drak grey area in black since it was scratched/scuffed pretty bad. I think I like it.




This is the first time I installed any body kit. I must say I'm impressed with how well it fits on the car, it practically holds just by itself. RTV seems to work great but I don't know if I would ever be able to remove the lip, I think it's permanent. At least it wont get stolen

 

Beautiful job, friend.

Paint match is GREAT, can't believe you did it yourself!

Your kit fits better than mine, mine is coming off on the sides (3m tape doesn't stick to bumper anymore), I just didn't both to fix it because it's not that bad.

Now you need the "Acura" indentations in black or carbon fiber vinyl!

When's the rear getting done?

 

Thanks GP!!

The paint match is actually all kinds of screwed. The lip perfectly matches the fenders and the hood (SSM with a slight blueish hue in the clear) but my bumper was repainted before I bought the car. It has a somewhat more beige/brownish color. It wasn't too noticeable before but now with the lip I see it clearly.

Yeah the fitment is great. RTV seems to be perfect for the job but I think it's permanent though so there's that.

I was actually looking at doing my Acura indentation in black. Not gonna go CF because I don't have any anywhere on the car. How do people go about doing that?

I wanted to do the rear right away but idk anymore. Working in the tiny ass garage gets old. I might do the LED DRLs and call it quits for the winter, wait for summer and do the rear and the inspire fogs then. Sucks though because the rear is so sexy, I don't know if I'll be able to wait xD

 

Well done Eddie! It looks terrific.

 

I received and installed my reverse LEDs as well as the replacements for my license plate LEDs. I got them off ebay on the cheap and they definitely work good enough for me.

They might look blueish on some pictures but they are 100% white. Even my interior ones (doors and dome) look blue on some of these pictures but they're all white.

























These are the license plate ones. I only used 2 so now I have 8 spare ones

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10X-White-T10-LED-12-SMD-Car-License-Plate-Light-Tail-Bulb-2825-192-194-168-W5W/361105867914?_trksid=p3693.c100102.m2452&_trkparms=ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140212121249%26meid%3D1b0872b99a9546dd924f32e4ea1aedfa%26pid%3D100102%26
I lost the link to my reverse lights sadly They were around 3-4$ for the pair though. They have 1 or 2 LEDs on the tip behind a lens and 10-12 side mounted ones. They are 15mm thick and I don't think anything bigger would've fit without having to use the dremel. I don't know how reliable they're gonna be but until now I only had good luck with cheap ebay stuff.

 

Looks good.

 

Clean, very nice

 

Finally got around to doing a little something!! I installed my inspire fogs yesterday and I really like the results. I also gave the car a thorough wash and a wax














I also wanted to know what you guys think about removing the plasti dip from the lug nuts. I did it on the front and I'm thinking about doing it also in the back.

 

Do it on the rear too.

Progress is coming along nicely.

 

Making me feel like a slacker, I got fogs as well waiting to install them in spring.. car is really coming along!

 

I'm jealous you have a garage!

Remove the dip from the lugs. I think it would be nice if you could also remove the edge of the rims too.

 

Thanks! I'm starting to think that's what I'll do.

Last week before school starts again so I wanted to make it count. I'm probably done until spring too.

I don't know if I can do that without screwing up the whole thing. I think I'm taking the dip off this summer since now I have summer wheels and those will be my winter wheels. The dip was fun at first but it got old, I think I'm gonna paint them or have them powdercoated. Plastidip doesn't resist the elements too well and the texture makes dust stick to it..

The garage is actually my father's. I live 15 minutes away from there so it's where I do my stuff because at my place I don't have any storage and my parking is gravel

 

Gravel parking is terrible for the back, let me tell you this much.

I don't know either, was simply a suggestion regarding the rim. I'm also using my stockies as winter wheels and looking at different models for summer ones. Difficult to decide... I want something that feels stock à la A-spec or Honeycomb but isn't stock.

I know someone with dipped wheels and it resists the elements pretty well. Trick is to apply it on perfectly clean wheels at room temperature instead of super cold and put 4-5 coats instead of 2-3. That way rocks and snow don't go through completely in a second. It helps to apply the glossy plastidip finish on top too so it doesn't attract dust as much.


Anyway, still jealous you get a tiny garage for some work, can't do anything on my TL until Spring and my car is so dirty right now.

 

Inspyres FTW......

 

Good job OP

 

I had my type-s wheels refinished recently and just put them on this past week!! Love the look but it makes me wanna put on the a-spec springs that much more in order to take care of the wheel gap.

I had them done a slightly darker color than stock since I thought it'd look nice on SSM. Here they are coming out of the shop. They took care of two bent wheels and a warped one. They also took care of some serious curb rash that started on the edge of the wheels and almost went all the way to the middle

 

nice they look sweet...I need to get mine done as well... how much it cost you for the 4? my place is quoting me 700 for all 4 to be powder coated

 

Hey man, that's great. Can't believe you found waffles here. They seem impossible to find. I'm thinking of going US side for some, although I'm still not sold on whether I want waffles or a custom look.

 

I sold him the waffles, for next to nothing lol

Every time I see pictures of them you're making me regret selling them haha

 

Waffles ftw

 

GP16 sold them to me for an incredible price. They were terribly damaged, almost beyond repair. The warped wheel was so bad the shop told me there was a 50/50 chance of being repairable or straight up splitting in half when they would try to fix them so I kinda got lucky.

I've never been a fan of most aftermarket wheels because they often look over the top (imo) although some simpler ones are often really sweet looking too.

It cost me 600$ but that's including straightening out 3 wheels. They don't actually powdercoat them. The primer is powdercoated on but then the color and clear are just sprayed over it, that's what they told me their process was. The finish is perfect so powdercoated or not I'm happy

Yeah thanks again for that. I needed another set of wheels urgently since I was paying 70$ twice a yerar to have the tires mounted and everything