So I'm starting to get enough stuff that I think I need to start on of these. I bought my TL new in 2006 and its stayed mostly stock for all that time. I initially put on a progress RSB since it had made such a huge difference on previous cars. On a 6MT it was nice, but not ground breaking. Other than that, I upgraded the front speakers when I blew one in 2011. So 2012 had rolled around and its now twice as long as I've ever kept a car. Its paid off and nothing out there is really calling me as amazingly better than my current TL. However its time to shake the 'old car syndrome' and refresh my TL a little bit visually.

First up is some paint mods. I had actually bought the paint over a year ago and intended to do this then, but it got packed the move and I finally got around to it.

Plastidiped grill

Surprisingly you can take it off without taking off the bumper with a 7mm socket. I also lost a socket somewhere in the bumper.

Painted Caliper (VHT burnt copper engine paint)

After several tries with masking using stickers I just ended up clearing over stickers. Masking was nothing but a disaster.



Painted wheels


Of course I needed to do the center caps too.


Side shot


And detail of the caliper/brembo combo
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Looking good so far. Next up is the aspec lip. I'm not sure I'll finish the kit or not. The lip is by far the biggest bang for the buck appearance wise in the kit. I think I'll go for new exhaust tips in the rear if I want to change the lower look. Thing is a large box arrived at the house unannouced and the wife texts me asking if I've ordered a 'real doll' (google it NSFW if you don't know) I told her yes, and her name is Mandy. So I've been calling my aspec lip mandy ever since.

So here's Mandy with all the rest


Next up, I have a set of H&R sport springs that is sitting on my couch waiting to be installed. Hopefully I'll get to it this weekend.

 

Its very obvious you take good care of it. How many miles?

 

 

68k miles now. Pretty low mileage for such an old car.

 

GB, the calipers look excellent. And they bring out the amber in the headlights.

 

Looking good so far. Gotta like another nice TL in chicagoland!

Oh, and you can't reserve post #2 for future use. You can only edit a post for up to 15 minutes I think, then its permanent until a mod such as the honorable Steven Bell changes/removes it.

 

caliper and wheel color combo looks amazing

 

Thanks guys. Did my steering wheel lights tonight. They've been slowly going out, but trying for that new car feel again.

Here she is perfect shiny and new back in sept 2006. Right off the lot

 

One of my latest mods- My phone mount

 

The more and more I come on here the more I see TLs in the area.

Anyway looks clean man It looks very well kept.

 

That steering wheel looks so good. haha

 

It should. It was a day old at that point. So clean. Though the main thing that hasn't aged well it the silver trim near the shifter. Seat belt buckle knicks all over it.

 

Very nice!

I agree about the A-spec kit. IMO the sideskirts aren't REALLY worth it as they don't make much of a visual difference. But the front and rear change the look of the car completely. I would say get the rear to finish it off.

Overall, great work!

 

First time I've came in here and actually saw someone modding in the right direction in a while...keep it up, looks great.

 

GB, nice install with the phone mount. How do you guys like that? I'd hate to drill into the dash like that.

 

Its not actually drilled into anything. Its just the angle of the photo. There is a mounting plate that fits under the silver trim and uses one of the existing radio bolts. If you click the link above the photo there are some more details.

I really like having a good mount. If you don't have navi, its pretty much required IMHO. It takes using your phone as a mp3 jukebox, gps, etc from a dangerous eyes-leaving the road proposition to one that can outshine a stock navi experience. It makes dialing contacts not in your handsfree link a whole lot easier (shame it won't pass the mic). I've also setup some custom functions via tasker that will pull down the local traffic website and calculate my couple typical routes to/from work and then tell me which one I should take. This info isn't on google maps, etc. For some reason all the biggies ignore our express lanes.

 

Just ordered this



Its going to become a shift knob. I'll probably fill with clear resin, drill and epoxy a m10x1.5 nut in the base then clear coat the heck out of it. It's supposed to be 3" diameter so about perfect size.

 

that'll make an awesome knob

 

it needs a good large drop

 

This should be good.

 

Made a shift knob tonight.



Also installed my H&R springs this weekend, but no pics yet.

 

 

Nice knob!!

 

 

Shift knob looks good

 

Well, that's pretty darned awesome!

 

Thanks guys!

 

So here's the before and after for the H&R sport springs. I'm pretty happy with them, but I think once I get my konis I'll drop the front to the lower perch to maintain the rake a bit more. Also the stock shocks are a bit under-dampened for the rates. I get about an extra half cycle more bounce than I should. Instead of compress, up, down, rest it is compress up, down, up, rest.

Before


After


Eagle eyed folks will notice I mirrored the after photo to get them facing the same way.

 

Very nice, GB!

 

Nice . Is that gunmetal plasti dip you used on your stock wheels?

 

Nope, its the duplicolor wheel paint. A little more permanent.

 

looks nice!

Time for some tint

 

I'd love to, but not really practical in Chicago. I either can tint the rears which looks kinda lame IMHO, or tint the fronts and risk a $250 ticket (despite them being explicitly legal legal under IL motor code.) Fing Chicago.

 

Front tint is still illegal in chicago? I guess I just assumed they changed with the rest of the state. I know a guy in Chicago with a CTS-V who has probably 5% tint all around and 35% on the windshield, and has had it for about a year with no one bothering him yet.

 

Why is the city different from the state?

 

Nah, they pulled this crap pretty much the same time it became legal in the rest of the state. Well, that's when the ticket price went from nuisance to $250. There was heavy enforcement for awhile, but then they backed off as there was a legal question. Couple weeks ago the Chicago ordinance was upheld in court. I expect enforcement to start up again real soon now. Chicago doesn't mess around when there is a chance to ticket people. BTW 5% is illegal everywhere. (at least on the front sides)

UD- Illinois has something called home rule. Basically cities that invoke it can choose to over-ride state law that doesn't specifically say it may not be overridden. Chicago of course is a home rule city and has a whole lot of f-ed up laws. The legal issue was if the uniform motor vehicle code could be overridden by home rule, but this section wasn't specifically excepted, so they are allowed to. It means they need to amend the law if they want Chicago to allow it. Its more time and another battle for a relatively minor issue that probably won't get attention for a long time.

 

Didn't they change the state law a couple years ago tho? It was somethin like as long as the rear windows are 35 the fronts can b 35 too but anything darker than 35 on the rear must b 50 or lighter for the fronts?

 

Ricky, I think you are right on in terms of the IL law. Its why I stuck to 35% all around, even though I would probably just do 20% if I could do it again and just hope for the best. What I didn't realize was that the City of Chicago didn't abide by the new law. Sounds like it could go back to being ticketed too, no fun.

And yes, 5% is definitely illegal everywhere, as is anything on the windshield. He bought the car like that, and just left it as is and hasn't been bothered yet. He's gotten more trouble for his lack of front plate, but I think only while parked at Midway and O'Hare.

 

Yah, 35% all around, but no tint up front if you're darker in back. IIRC you can go opaque for the rear so long as you have both side mirrors. Chicago was the same until they started allowing front tint.