MRG061

Long story short, I owned a 2006 Acura TL, WDP, ebony, 6 speed nav, purchased brand new.
Sold it to fund my first home purchase.

I always regretted it.

So ive spent the last few years tracking down the right one. With no luck. I got close and found a HELL of a deal and pulled the trigger.
I really wanted a TL type s, but they are fetching too much in a manual, and as the saying goes, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

1 owner, all original, no accident, carfax certified, 2006 WDP 6 SPEED NON NAV
with all maint done. 15k,30k,45k,60k,75k,90k,105k belts / plugs / etc.
New suspension, new tires, cupholder cover worked, hood struts worked, new battery, not bad.

it has one downfall, tan interior.. ...we will take care of that

and it needs some TLC.


THE DAY I TOOK IT HOME









basic plans
tint (20% ceramic)
aspec wheels
aspec lip
tein coils
3 stage paint correction
new clutch, bushings, bearings, seals
gm synchromesh exchange
slave cyl delete
new windshield (scratched)
bumper respray, front and rear (small scratches) (before lip kit)
subwoofer
dynamat
full stereo and speaker replacement
rear view camera
spacers front and rear
camber kits
full interior swap, yes, a full interior swap to black.
replace seat covers
dash topper
new brakes all the way around, including new front rotors, oem only
and much more, but lets get to the meat and potatoes.

what a frustrating start I had though. lol
nothing went as planned .... AT ALL

so first things first
a little clean up, touch up paint, and window tint





followed by debadge.
however the debadge was too old so the paint faded. add this to the list




next up was wheels

I had aspecs, but they were wrong offset (they are for sale btw)

so the search for aspecs began.

found a ROUGH set in houston, picked em up.

had to remove the F#&@*(# plastidip. My god what a test of patience.

then I sent them off to powder coat, because they just needed too much work.... so much for the budget haha






next up was subwoofer





1 wasnt enough, So I ordered another... again, bye bye budget.


however, the amp I ordered was bad. It worked, just worked like sh#t, I unfortunately thought it was my doing and spent a whole weekend swapping parts and wiring.... FML, bad amp kept clipping with any volume.
so I got that replaced, waste of a day or 2....





next comes the rattles, omg the rattles, rattles everywhereeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

using youtube frequencies i tracked down 90% of them



again, more rattle detection
this was at the sunroof wind deflector -- see the foam in the middle not visible unless you look down with it open from the outside.






next was an interior clean and start the interior swap removal. pillars deck etc.





next was an engine bay de-grease, clean and wipe down, not completely done, but a good start, more will be done when I do the final detail











wheels at powdercoat for now.... or maybe they are back and on the car.....

clutch and brakes are up next, stay tuned...

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

MAGA! great title, great re-hab process, I'm staying tuned.

thoiboi

Moved to Photo Gallery

MyGuti

I'm wondering for the amount of money you plan on spending on this build, you probably could have found a 6mt type-s.

So far so good though

MRG061

Well I really thought about that, but the problem lies is that I would want to do the same things to the type s... wheels, drop, stereo, . so it would have been way over budget.
but at the same time, this one was a unicorn in my eyes as it was almost a twin of the one I let go. If I could have the performance of the type s, with the looks of the aspec 06, it will be a win win..

thank you!

MRG061

GOT THE FRONT AND REAR BUMPERS RESPRAYED, FOR SOME SMALL SCRATCHES.







GOT THE WHEELS BACK, DISREGARD THE 4X4 STATUS. ITS DRIVING ME CRAZY!
4 FRESH POWDERCOATED WHEELS WITH 4 NEW TPMS SENSORS (SINCE I HAD THEM OFF)





And a brand new windshield..... no pics, cause, well its the same, just less the scratches and pitting.

DesertMistTL

iTrader: (2)

good progress!

MRG061

Next up was the mechanical stuff.


brakes were shuddering when braking as well as squeaking.
pads were okay, but the high speed vibration was driving me nuts
so new pads, front and rear
new rotors on the front





yes I will be painting the calipers, but ill do that later.



the clutch felt unusual, and I didn't know if it was oem or what, so new clutch, flywheel, rear main seal, bearings


didnt get a change to snap pics of the new one...





next up, slave cylinder delete mod
what a pain in the a$$ to get the C- clip out of the cylinder lol, but I got it.





GOT THE OEM FLUID CHANGED AND INSTALLED GM SYNCHROMESH WITH FRICTION MODIFIER INSTALLED.



NOTICED A SMALL TEAR IN THE INTAKE TUBE FOR AIR FLOW
CHANGED THAT OUT




More to come, ill keep ya posted!

MyGuti

How's the new clutch feel with the slave cylinder mod?

GhostTL09

iTrader: (1)

Good job taking care of this TL. I'm in for more updates and pics

MRG061

So I did three things, all new clutch kit & flywheel, gm synchro-mesh, and the slave cylinder mod

completely different car.

the clutch has no delay to engage. very on / off feeling. in a good way

the first release i was like whoa!

but no more notchy-ness to any gear with new fluid

no more delayed engagement on the clutch release

have to kind of relearn how to release the clutch in a way. not terrible but very different than before.

will update after a few hundred miles and do some real rowing. roads are wet so i didn't want to row the gears just yet.

theCoffeeFiend

iTrader: (2)

I still need to do the slave cylinder mod. I'm scared of bleeding the clutch though after reading a few dozen people having clutch bleeding issues. I need to keep down time for the car to a minimum.
How was your experience bleeding the clutch? I have only bled brakes, never had to do a clutch. Is it any different?

MRG061

I only did the slave mod when the tech had it out, the tech that did my clutch bled it for me, but said it was business as usual, a few pumps and a bleeder and he got it out and back to normal.
I have not bled clutches either so I dont want to misguide you.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

I love this thread...
I had similar plans to revisit my old TL...
I jumped from a base 04 to a type s 07 and IMO, there wasn't a huge improvement in performance...
I mean, it was noticeable but at the end of the day I wouldn't say that type S is a must have over a base in the condition you found
with the money saved.

Either way, you know your way around these cars, clearly...maybe one day I'll do something similar although at this point I'm trying different brands.

J.

MRG061

You hit the nail dead on the head, that was exactly my thought process.

thanks for reiterating my thought process.

I figured if I didn't do it now, id never do it as the low mileage / value for the money, is probably at the tipping point.

If I had to chase another car, id probably look for the V6 tsx. what an underestimated car. The build quality far exceeds the TL, but its just not priced right yet.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

It's interesting to hear you say that...
is it because it's built in Japan and not Ohio?
No 6MT though, IIRC?

MRG061

yes the car is so dialed in from japan, no comparison on quality, no 6 speed though, that would be unreal.

I had a two tsx's, my girl currently still has one as well, after driving them both one right after another, what a difference the TSX has. just lacks the power of the TL

her whip



this was a few years back when she first got it, I actually put her on my 20" rotiforms, she LOVES her car. She gets followed everywhere and people ask who did the work.

Ill upload pics of hers sometime

MRG061

A little clean up, using some elbow grease, some hd cleaner, and some polish

Although Im probably going to replace them with exhaust, I could not stand it any longer


BEFORE



AFTER



BEFORE



AFTER




Not perfect, but good enough for 30 minutes and the plan to replace them in the future.

hardest part was having to hunch over while doing it lol

truonghthe

how much does it cost total for recondition your Aspec wheels?

gatrhumpy

iTrader: (1)

It cost me $400 to recondition mine.

Midnight Mystery

On my TL, they were black,,, I used steel wool to clean them, came out great...

In fact, they were so black, I started to think they were powder coated... LOL!!!

Slpr04UA6

MRG061

I paid right at 400.00 to have them blasted, trued, and powder coated.

had they not been plasticoated, I would have painted them myself.

but the plastidip was so bad, they had to be media blasted.

I tried everything to get them clean but gave up after 4 hours.

MRG061

could not stand the nasty ness of this shift knob

and only since i cant decide on a new one, i plastidipped the top for now
- 5 minute tape job with plastidip





I Also installed an I SIMPLE bluetooth device
no pics sorry


Also installed a dash topper
not sure if I want to keep it or not....





and a better pic of the exhaust, turned out better than I hoped


before

after, really pop in the sun.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

if you want to keep oem and have a nice weight the S2000 titanium one is my favorite...

MRG061

I've always like the look of those, I had one on similar on my RSX, but that sucker got so hot in the summer. I think ill probably end up with the leather wrapped version. Pricey little thing tho.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

really?
I haven't felt like mine gets hot and I'm in FL...
hmm...

MRG061

Maybe i'm remembering wrong or because it was a cheapo.

Im looking for something similar

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

that works!
I loved my tall mishimoto one...but it did get hot.