Where to begin... where to begin. I guess I’ll start before the “befores” if you know what I mean. Beware... this post will probably have more words than pictures. I like to be thorough in my explanations, lol.



The Prologue:

My first car was a 1989 Toyota Celica.



My parents bought it for me from a family friend for dirt cheap just before my junior year in high school. It was 100% stock, had no a/c, power NOTHING, tacky blue interior... BUT, it was a 5spd so I was happy with that. Awesome car... but, of course being as old as it was, it started having problems. I felt that instead of spending money to fix the car, I should just put that money towards a new car.

So... the search began. I didn't look for a TL specifically. I was just browsing for any japanese-made midsize sedan that was automatic. I was almost gonna get a G35, but decided against it because my cousin has one. Then I was looking at an Altima SE-R, but the mileage was way too high. After about a week of searching, I came across a TL for sale for a decent price with low, low miles. The rest is history

A Blank Canvas

I brought the car home on August 29, 2009. Buying my car was probably the biggest accomplishment in my life at that point because I had no financial help from my parents. I'm proud of myself for that, lol.

Here it is the day I brought it home:




It was completely stock aside from those rims, which I disliked... a lot. They also caused a heck of a lot of vibration at 50-60mph. I talked to the previous owner to see if I could trade him for the stockies if he still had them. Luckily, he did... so byebye, ugly rims and hello, stockies!




Let the Modding Begin

I don't remember when I did my first mod, but it was debadging the rear and putting in those blueish LED license plate lights. The LED bulbs were so crappy! They burned out after a couple months.

December 2009

Next came some H&R Sport springs. They lowered the car approximately 1.5in. The pic was taken right after we did the install so the drop isn't very obvious at all...




Long break...

June 2010

Some lady apparently left her car in neutral and didn’t set the parking brake. The parking lot had a slight incline and I was parked downhill from her. Then... voila! Her car starts to roll out of her stall and POW! Right into my car. Luckily she stuck around and waited for us to come back to the car. We filed a police report. Insurance covered all the repairs.



Got a Ford Fusion as a loaner car while my car was being repaired. Not a bad car to be honest.




July 2010



Decided to do the Accord foglight mod. It was a BITCH to do... took a friend and I literally all day to complete JUST the mounting of the fogs into the bumper. The wiring had to be done on a different occasion because it was already getting dark by the time we put the bumper back on, plus it started to rain.



Yup... using trash cans as a workbench. So awesome.

The GEICO gecko was watching us work...



My friend and I couldn’t find the time to meet up to finish up the wiring for the foglights for quite some time... so in the meantime.... RIMS! They are EXE Tenfolds 19x9.5 +40 all around. Tires are 235/35-19... slight stretch.





Yes, I know the bumper is a different color. Blame SSM for being so damn hard to color-match. I don’t care though... it gives the car more character, lol.

Got the fogs wired up!



I wanted to go a different route and tried the “phantom grille” look. It actually came out really nice. The fogs are mounted behind the grilles instead of next to them.

October 2010

I wasn’t happy with the 1.5in drop anymore. The fender gap was still ridiculous.




So... I grabbed a set of those adjustable Koni/Neuspeed SP3 shocks. Don’t ask me what firmness setting it’s on because I have no clue. The guys at the shop just said that it’s in the middle. The height, however... lowest perch front and back.




Here’s a pic of the front drop. This was the same day of the installation, so it’s settled a little lower since then:



Next came color matched splash guards.



Anyone else have this problem?!



Got sick and tired of looking at a cracked dash, so checked with a buddy at Acura to see if he could do anything about it. Got it replaced pretty much for free, lol.

Got a Viper 5901 alarm system with remote start installed.




Purchased an ATLP quad exhaust system through a group buy. Quads, j-pipe, and high flow cat. To prepare the car for the exhaust install, I ordered a type-s rear lip and ’05 front lip and side skirts. They were sitting in my living room for over a month while I waited for my quads to arrive.

November 2010

My parents were bugging the crap out of me about all the big boxes I had lying around in the living room. So I figured, I could free up some space by installing my aspec side skirts. I was actually glad I did because I didn’t have to listen to those splash guards scraping on every single speed bump.

I got bored of the redness of the ’05 taillights, so I swapped them out for 07-08 base tails.



I got even more bored of the rear wheels not filling out the fender space nicely enough. The fronts were pretty flush....



... but the rears looked like they were hiding from the sunlight!



So... here came some 15mm Ichiba V2 spacers to push those rear wheels out so they could get a nice tan. Not SUPER aggressive, but much better! We tried rolling the fenders... but it still rubbed like crazy. So, we ended up cutting it and it was all good in the neighborhood.





I got my ATLP j-pipe and high flow cat delivered just before Thanksgiving. Quads were not shipped until about a week later. So in the meantime I installed the front aspec lip as well as the rear type-s lip. We all know what this looks like, so no need for pictures... I didn’t take any of the install anyway, haha.

December 2010

My quads were delivered on December 2 and I got them installed the very next day at my dad’s friend’s shop. They hooked it up! They had issues getting my car onto the lift because my car didn’t have enough ground clearance for the lift arms. After they got the car in the air, it only took them 45 minutes to take out the stock exhaust and install the ATLP. Good stuff! Sounds amazing!

Out with the old...



... in with the new!



And here's my car after I came home from the shop today:



The END!
For now, lol.

Oh... btw. Here's a few side view pics of my car... from stock til now:




Lol... the type s rear makes the paint mismatch even more obvious. Oh, well. I'll think about repainting... but it's not number one on my to-do list.

K, thanks bye!

 

damn sweeeett progress!

 

Awesome write up! I love how the the quads look.. the car looks dope, and the drop gives it that aggressive stance! A job well done..

 

^ +1 haha very nice progress. keep it up! hoping to get an alarm installed soon

 

Wow! Your TL came a long way from day 1 until now. Nice work!!

 

those rims look good man...nice progress so far

 

this thread is full of win! nice to see before and after.. u came a long way

 

nice progress, too bad i cant sit that low in indiana. damn snow

 

perfect

 

Looks good =)

 

Really nice progress, and what a great write up that was.
The rims actually grew on me a bit....they look great along with the Type S rear, color matched mud guards and drop.

 

Great write up. Those wheels that came with it were pretty disgusting. Your ride looks 10x times better.

 

 

Very enjoyable write up. Love the progress and the photos!

 

wow nice progress, love the wheels

 

Thanks for the compliments, guys! You're all too kind

 

Woah, that thing is real? Now that's awesome. Great "before and after" thread.

 

Wow what an awesome thread! I enjoyed reading through the whole thing. I give you HUGE props for doing this yourself and not relying on your parents.

The car has come a long way and I look forward to seeing what you have planned next

 

Are you sure your rear bumper is ssm and not asm? It looks sooo much darker. How much did you pay for the viper with remote start? I really want remote start! Nice progress though.

 

Yes! It is very real. It posed for me and then ran away right after I took the picture lol.

The bumper was repainted due to that little fender bender I had. The bumper didn't match since day one, but the repainting didn't help it at all. Apparently it's a common problem for ssm and wdp. Very hard to color match.

As for the viper alarm... I paid about $700 with the installation. I think that price includes the modules for the remote start and trunk opener, but I don't remember.

 

Beautiful car!! I have the same nagging bumper mismatch on my WDP, but it's not a big enough issue for me to put money aside to fix it. Very few people notice it anyway (even though it is completely obvious in some lighting situations).

Thanks for sharing!

 

Great progress you're making on your car!! I haven't had time to do mine yet but then again I don't have much yet worthy for one. But anyway your car is looking good keep it up.

 

Nice progress write-up.

 

Yup, paint mismatch is a bitch on SSM and WDP!

I'm victim, myself.

It depends on the lighting, also.

 

Im so proud of you *sniff*

 

I just curbed one of my wheels today. WHAT A SAD DAY! it's not SUPER bad, but i know it's there. it's not one of those long ones... just little dings here and there. i hate those sneaky curbs in dimly lit parking lots. they should put a reflective post on them or something so drivers know that they're there! oh well c'est la vie.

not gonna dish out money to repair it because it's just gonna happen again eventually especially with rims that stick out further than the tires. let's face it... no matter how careful we are, those curbs always manage to win somehow...

 

inspiration to the max. =D love what you did man keep up the good work, what's next on your list. I'm thinking about doing the exact same type-s rear bumper and and quad tips. how much did everything run you? not including rims

 

thanks, truong!

um... let's see. without rims i would say everything ran about $6k. would've been more but i got a hook up at acura who can get parts really cheap for me. i got the taillights and the lip kit for half price

let me know if you've got any questions!

 

Pshhhhh. I should post a pic of my right side wheels. Looked like mad max took my car out for a ride.

Anyway dont forget your poor ole buddy who is still waiting for his quads.

My girlfriend is banning me from my car she thinks its driving me crazy

 

great progress so far, car look nice. any plans for the headlights?

 

LOL... Rob, I think your girlfriend is right

You STILL haven't gotten your quads?! I think it's ironic that the two people (Nick and myself) living the farthest away from California have gotten their quads already, while you guys IN California haven't yet. Have they even shipped yet??

I'm still sad about my rims. I'll blame it on my mom's horrible driving skils.

 

It has nt shipped. But its ok. Because i am at peace with destiny. I have accepted the failures in life... See? Crazy.

Any wY why did you let your mom drive your tl? Oh i'll update you when they ship. By then you will forget who i am * cries *

 

My mom didn't drive my car... But I'll tell people that she was the one who curbed my wheels if they ask. Haha only to make myself look less dumb.

Don't cry rob. Just enjoy the last few moment of driving around in a quiet car! Haha

 

Outstanding transformation and excellent write-up. Are you a member of the Silver TL Social Group? If not, you can join here.

 

Nah, no plans for the headlights. I think they look fine the way they are.

Thanks! I will check it out

 

That geco is Amazing! I need to move to a place like that!
Anyway nice call with the rims you bought it with... YUCK!
And nice work so far, the new rims are awesome!

 

looks great.

needs custom headlights, and maybe a Sarona or ATLP roof wing

 

Thats awesome. Good job on all the hard work.

 

looking good man.. How do you like that Viper 5901?

 

That is an awesome transformation! The ride looks stunning.

Did your wait times for parts coincide with the fact that they have to flown/shipped halfway across the planet?

Lucky you for such a wonderful location