maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

I finally started gathering all of my pictures and dating when I did car work/mods. So I think it's time to start my own progress thread. I'll come back later once I get my new computer setup and do day 1 till now.

But I'll start off with some pics from yesterday on the way up to Mid Ohio.

















And then it down poured on the Porsche Club of America...

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

And I think it's time to go a perch or two lower on dem Konis... What do you think?

Undying Dreams

iTrader: (3)

Yeah, needs moar low. Also...you came to the wrong neighborhood motha fka'! Makin' a progress thread? Wait till Tyler and J see this!!

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

I've done some work...and taken some photos...over the past ~4 years. Lol

I won't have near the fame they do. This thread will slip away if I don't personally keep resurrecting it. Lol

Undying Dreams

iTrader: (3)

It's gonna be another off topic rant thread with a little bit of your car

guitarplayer16

iTrader: (8)

Car looks great my friend =)

First shot looks like from a brochure - pro.

H23Accord

iTrader: (8)

Totally agree. Simple and clean. I LOVE rolling shots. Thanks for supplying me with fresh backgrounds for my computer!

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Thanks guys.

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

Those pictures are awesome! I really want some rolling shots of my car

Even though it's in your signature, could you list out your mods? When they were done and such? Future plans?

LTxArucAx60

iTrader: (9)

Nice!! Rolling shots FTW!!

CubanLynx84

iTrader: (2)

Nice shots there Mah, like Ty said though maybe list out your plans or at least keep updating it as much as you can with some pics

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

I will. Drunk now happy cinco de mayo! I got a new 27 iMac today so I gotta set everything up then I'll post pics and plans.

chaqui74

going lower is always good...lol

nice pix btw

rooster415

lookin good!

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Dude, very nice shots. Love the rolling shots. It reminds me I need to take some of mine too.

RU_JELLY

iTrader: (1)

you never got them brake calipers painted yet? car looks clean man

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Nope. The weekend I set aside to do that project it was humid and 40* outside. So I decided to put it on hold for better conditions. I did do a lot of other stuff that weekend though.

How did yours turn out?

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Ok here goes for a big 'progress thread' style update.

I bought my TL from Acura of Columbus in Dublin, OH in Fall of 2008. 38k miles, 6MT, NBP, grey interior. She was bone stock and in perfect working order when I picked her up. I wanted a navi but finding a navi, 6mt, and NBP with decent miles was damn near impossible in this area.

I believe I keep her stock for all of 3 months. First mod was the full aspec spoiler kit. I ordered from Tim, at then HondaAcuraWorld, for a great price! I installed it right in my apartments parking lot. I also ordered a spoilerstore trunk lip from eBay at this time... Been perfect since!

In spring of 2010 I picked up an AEM intake from the BM, some Umnitza CFL angel eyes, and some nicer 'sealed' angle eye ballasts. Baked the headlights, used engine enamel black for the housings, and installed the angel eyes. I ended up having to do this entire procedure twice in back to back weekends because I had used super glue the first time and it's fumes were sticking to finger prints on the inside of the lights. They turned out alright though. I honestly need to do it again to polish the inside of the headlights.





In summer 2010 I installed my suspension. I went with what was then all the rage, the Koni Superkit Cup Kit. It came with the multi-perch Koni SP3 yellow shocks and I went with the street springs from Neuspeed. I like the drop, like the ride, and can't complain one bit. I went with the middle perch all around and initially went with really stiff Koni settings. Very happy for what it cost. I think it was $750 total shipped to my door. I think I'm ready to go down a perch or two though.



Then in summer 2010 I picked up some 8.5 gunmetal a-specs. A lawyer from my building had a leased 1G TSX that he had bought TL a-specs for. They were is pretty rough shape but he sold them to me for like $300 with decent tires. I ended up painting them with silver Duplicolor wheel paint. They turned out well but they didn't hold up to chipping. And I knew once I had tires mounted they would get torn up. So I garaged them until I was ready to treat them nice.



That summer (2010) I also played around with dinoc a bit. I started with just the upper 'hood' portion of the front grille. I actually like this look a lot...



Then I did the whole grille and I think it turned out fantastic. However, the sun really does a number to the color of dinoc. I wanted a nice smooth shiny look and the matte dinoc just didn't cut it. So I planned to have the grille body matched.







Summer 2010 I also purchased a type-s gauge bezel and did some DIY modding. I ended up cutting the button holes myself. In the end I found it would have been better to cut both base and type-s bezels and mush them together. Oh well. I dinoced it and I think it turned out great. I have half a notion to make a few of these and sell them.







Christmas Eve 2010 my cousin was parked next to me at his parents house and on his way out swiped my front bumper pretty bad with his Chevy 2500HD. So on his dime in Spring 2011, once the weather was nice, I had my front bumper repainted and my grille body matched. They did a fantastic job.





Also in Spring of 2011 I had my a-specs powder coated and had some nice new Bridgestone 760s mounted on. I went with a "Lexus Hyper Silver" color.



It's not sparkle silver, not gunmetal, but it's kinda somewhere there in between. Pictures don't do the wheels justice. It's a really milky liquid metal look. And it wasn't cheap. Lol. I would have been better off buying new a-specs. As soon as I saw the color I had to have it. Damn the cost.





In early summer 2011 I got in on the "$67 Great Mod" thing and bought some tips.



I had them welded in by a local friend and we also did the mid-muffler delete while we were at it. So I think I'm Stage 1?



I think they turned out fantastic! Honestly, I don't like any cat-back tips as much as I like the look of these. So when the time comes for an exhaust it's going to be a tough call for me.







In late summer, early fall 2011 I made a pretty big order from Richie at Heeltoe. RacingBrake 1 piece "open slot" rotors all around, RacingBrake ET500 pads all around, Motul RBF600, stainless brake and clutch lines, Comptech short shifter, Hybrid shifter bushings, and a Maven Mark 1 knob. I also ordered an iSimple ISIM73.



So far I can't say anything but "wow" with this brake and drive train setup. The brakes never fade, they bite like mofos, and the shifting is short and crisp.

Really love the knob! If you don't have one, get one! It does get hot/cold though. I actually got some raw rubber materials to mold up a nice slip on style cover for it. I still need to do that...



At that time I also bought some oem accord fog lights from eBay. I think I paid $55 shipped for this entire kit. Those got shelved until just a few weekends ago.



I also got a little bored and had some dinoc left over so I said what the hell. So I tried to dinoc a key fob... I mean, mine were ugly why not? I should have left it uncleared though...







I've actually done a bit of work in 2012 so far.

I bought and installed the progress rear sway bar and new oem endlinks. I have this on the stiff setting.

Then two weeks later painted my engine cover Duplicolor Metalcast Blue...







And I've since painted the battery tie down and strut bar. Intake coming soon. I need to grab recent pics of my bay. She's cleaned up a little too.

I also took out my rear seats and rear deck, tuned my Koni settings, dynamatted everything, put all new oem clips in everything, and even put foam underneath and between all of the wires on the frame. Not only do I not rattle, the foam wire thing actually reduced that "frame" type noise. I'm very pleased.

Last week I had new compliance bushings pressed in and new end links put on. Wow what a difference!



And that's pretty much were she sits right now. I've been on a big detailing kick lately. I have bought pretty much the entire Griots Garage line and love the stuff. I bought a new Porter Cable and did a mild cut n buff. NBP is blingin!

I also bought some Brembo decals and was going to paint my calipers the Metalcast blue. But weather screwed me over so I had to push it off. I will probably do them sometime this month.

Future plans? Hmmm.

1. paint calipers Metalcast blue, new decals
2. replace clutch (not sure which yet)
3. sound deaden entire car with second skin
4. rv6 jpipe and hfpc's
5. supercharger / ecu / tune
6. mild UCM / mild TL Diet?

Honestly, I've had the cash THREE years in a row for a supercharger and life has gotten in the way each summer. Engagement ring one summer, wedding/honeymoon the next, and now this year we are buying a house.

I gotta do some power mods though as I've practically done none. So jpipe/hfpc is probably next on my list.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Last night I did the console armrest DIY. Mine was hard as a rock. And once I opened it up I could see why.

I used Scotch "3M" Super 77 and a 24"x12"x.5" sheet of high density foam from Joanne's.



You can see how the leather was all saggy because there was nothing behind it...



The "foam" that was underneath. It's almost like the foam and the adhesive became a goopy mess in there.



Same on the inside of the leather...



So I scraped all the junk off with a wood chizel, washed it down, dryed, sprayed 77 on both the foam and arm rest, let it get tacky for an entire minute, then pushed then together and clipped it in for 5 minutes.





I also scrapped the hell out of the leather. It was pretty clean when I put it back together.



Then I trimmed up the foam a bit. Not much though. Not as much as others in the DIY had claimed they were.



Because I didn't trim a lot off it was very difficult to get on and looking right. But, the outcome! Oh the outcome! It's crazy comfortable now!



I highly recommend this for anyone with an 06 or older. It was $15 and two hours.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Oh yea and in the summer of 2010 I had some tint put on. I went with Pinnacle F1 ceramic and moleskin. I *think* it's 30%. It could be 35 though.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

No love. I figured someone would at least respond to the arm rest. Lol

I'm going to start a discussion on clutches here in a bit...

Slpr04UA6

Looks Great! I like what you have done! The armrest definitely makes a difference in feel/look.

RU_JELLY

iTrader: (1)

I might have to try that arm rest trick, mine isnt horrible but its not great. the best mod you did was drinking the yeungling IMO

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

^Thanks man.

So the console armrest project turned out so well it gave me an idea...





It appears that #32/40 come off easily once the door tray is off. And after feeling the redone console armrest I want to redo those too! Anyone ever done that on here yet?

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Thanks, I guess? Lol :/

Best mod I've done yet is the torque damper. And, coincidentally, is yet another mod I left off my list! I'll have to have mods edit my big post.

Undying Dreams

iTrader: (3)

You've made great progress man! I especially love the engine cover I need to do the arm rest mod too, mine's hard as shit.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Yea. Have you ever noticed how shiny the armrest is in a lot of interior photos? That's because since it's not plush it takes on that ultra flat shiny look. Now the armrest looks brand new.

You can do that mod in 90 minutes in front of the TV.

Biggi_e

iTrader: (1)

i may have to try this arm rest thing. looks good so far. great job

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

So my goal is 350WHP. Think that is achievable with HFPCs, jpipe, cat-back, comptech supercharger and the ecu/tune?

If say I reach that mark, 350-375, should I go with the stock clutch replacement or bump it up a stage or two? I know the stock clutch is good right up to that 350 mark.

What do you guys recommend? Clutchmasters, Spec, Exedy? I want to retain the stock feeling as much as possible. I'm no noobie to stronger clutches but I want to try and keep the ease that is the stock clutch. And I don't want to drop $1800 on the JnR clutch.

Undying Dreams

iTrader: (3)

Damn dude, torque steer like crazy

lol

I'd say all that will get over 350. I can't say anything on the clutch, I don't know anything about a manual.

BrownBuck

Damn dude...nice job on the car...i REALLY wanted the NBP but ended up with CBP.
I also got mine from Acura Columbus. It's still full stock lol. Complete noob when it comes to modding. I have no body to really show me the way here in columbus.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

noob :P

We have several members that live here in Columbus.

Undying Dreams

iTrader: (3)

Buck, with all the help on this forum it shouldn't be too hard with modding. Unless you're doing something that's actually complicated it should be easy, lots of DIY guides and helpful members here to assist you.

SharksBreath

iTrader: (33)

dat arm rest

good job!

UA6

Sick shots. And yes...go lower!

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

Dude you have no idea. I assume yours should still be pretty solid though...

Does anyone know if you have to completely disassemble the shock assembly just to move the perch points? Pretty sure yes but not 100%.

If yes then I'll wait until I order the type-s top hat bushings.

CubanLynx84

iTrader: (2)

Nice job on that arm rest. I may have to look into that.

BrownBuck

That is true, however, i'm not very mech inclined lol mod for me would be to change out the light bulb or put in LEDs lol the biggest thing i want to do is drop my car few inches. But that is something i def cant' do at home.

BrownBuck

You are the only one i have seen so far, then again i haven't really been on this board that long to know. Do you guys do meets in cbus? Do you do EVERYTHING your self? how do you lower your car? do you have a shop you go to?

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

I believe there are 4 or 5 members on here that actually live in Columbus. And maybe 20 or more that live in Ohio.

They do meet in Columbus. I've yet to actually meet any other AZ members in real life though. I'm still super tight with my old Prelude club and we hang out 3 times a week. So finding time is tough. I do need to meet up with AZ people though. Also another Columbus guy posted here in this thread, RU_JELLY.

As for work, yes, I do everything myself. I mean usually. Some things, like the compliance bushing/alignment, well you are best off to just go get it done. But most everything else I do myself. I've taken cars down to the chassis and painted them, pulled many motors, fixed many transmissions, etc. So if I have the tools and the time I try and do it myself.

As for lowering, you have tons of options. I would read the 3G Garage thread and get caught up. Coil-overs, shocks and springs, etc. I was not a fan of the first two sets of coil-overs that I had so I went shocks and springs this time. I can't complain one bit.

As for shops around here... SlowMo...IPS...Morespeed...I'm sure there are more.