rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Steven knows.

silvrbreez

Think the roof spoiler is on the chopping block. I showed my wife the comparison last night and she didn't care for it. She's the only woman I care about liking my ride, so I think it's getting nixed.

I'm actually pretty close to being where I want to be with this car. I really don't have much planned for the exterior, but I've got a couple things I might be testing out. The interior is nice enough as is, but I might snazzy it up a little bit. I'm leaving the performance alone, but the brakes will be upgraded when they meet the end of their life. Aside from those things, I may eventually take on another wheel restoration project, but we'll see.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

another we'll project? Wheel see, is right!

I also only care what my boo thinks of my mods...she gives me the thumps up or down and generally doesn't lead me astray. occasionally i'll go rogue and pick something and she'll usually agree that it was nice

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

You might show her pictures on AcuraZine of other roof spoilers-it might help or even sway her opinion and input.

silvrbreez

No sense in convincing her if I'm not sold on it myself yet. There's other stuff I'd rather put that towards right now.

silvrbreez

No update but not good news.

I found a few tears in the perforated center front panel of my passenger side seat. I bought a 3M Leather & Vinyl Repair kit, and even though the rips are small (1/2" or less each) I'm sure its going to look like crap if I went ahead and gooped enough of the color-matched stuff on there to try and patch those rips.

A new OEM factory matched passenger side bottom seat cover can be had for about $350. It's "supposed" to match, but who knows how close it'd really be after this leather has aged and been worn for about 6 years. One option are to replace the center insert on just that one seat bottom, but we all know the leather won't match quite right and the perforation spacing will likely be off too. Another option is go all out and replace all the centers with new material, either perforated leather or synthetic suede, which is obviously much more costly but would open up the door for a bit of customization.

I'm pondering options now, but I'm leaning towards just picking up the OEM cover, hoping it's close and if not returning it. If it matches great. If it doesn't match, return it and save a little more dough to redo all the inserts in graphite/charcoal synthetic suede or alcantara.

Undying Dreams

iTrader: (3)

That sucks dude. Have you tried contacting an upholstery shop? Maybe they can fix something like that.

silvrbreez

I have and they are the ones that gave me the options. Repairing small tears in perforated leather and keeping the panels original is just difficult. Most shops won't even try to repair/patch it because it'll leave a "scar" look by covering up some of the perforations and it doesn't tend to last. Everyone is recommending replacing the leather at least partially (just that front panel) or totally (the entire center on the bottom cover).

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

definitely replace the leather by sections. I paid $250 to re-do the bottom section on my passenger seat. looks brand new!

paperboy42190

iTrader: (7)

After:

silvrbreez

I know it's hard to tell from the pic, but how well does the redone bottom match the back?

I know our centers are like this unique metallic pewter color sort of leather that no one can exactly match perfectly. Are you pleased with how well the new center matches the seat back?

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Sweet!

silvrbreez

Chewed up the outer tread on my front passenger tire today pulling into a parking lot at lunch. Time to decide whether I want to "trim the front tabs" or raise the front a hair to be at the same level as the rear. Might just raise it up a hair since I also to have scraped the J-pipe.

Anybody willing to share a picture that shows how much I should be trimming off of that tab? I know where to cut, just not how much I should cut.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Cut all of it...
LOL

Just take a dremel and make that lip flat so the fender transitions flat to the bumper.
You might raise it a tad and guess what...you'll STILL catch.

silvrbreez

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Yep...that's how mine looked first time too.

silvrbreez

Sorry I haven't been very active on the boards lately. Being super busy both inside and outside of work makes this stuff get shoved down the list of priorities. I did want to chime in with a brief updated though on a few things I've been working on with the car, or to say it better...dealing with.

We'll start with this...


So I ended up scraping the tire again and decided I needed to nudge up the front a bit to be happy. I started with the driver side and tweaked it up 1/4" to be at 25" ground-to-fender all around. Then I went to the passenger side only to find out that the spring on that side had no preload at all! I'm guessing whenever I dropped the front 1/4" after putting the wheels on, I must've turned the wrong adjustment nut on the ISC coils and ended up relieving the preload instead of adjusted the threaded shaft body. In any case, I needed to get that preload back and then get it back on the ground to see what I was working with before raising it back to 25". Come to find out, setting the preload back got it back to 25" ground-to-fender, so I'm convinced it was an error on my part. I'm guessing that preloading the springs causes them to not compress as easily when loaded while no preload at all will allow them to naturally compress 1/4" initially with more bounce whenver you drive...hence my scraping the tire while turning on dips or steep inclines. That's my theory anyway, but for now I'll stay at 25" all around.

After I got that square away and at 25" all around again, I went for a test drive only to start recognizing a slight "tink tink" coming from my wheels. I tried to pin point it but realized it was coming from all four corners. All assembly bolts on the wheels are cranked and good. The center caps were secured on tightly. No rocks or nails in the tire treads. I'm thinking it has to be that TPMS adapter I had on the inside at the valve stem has possibly loosened up causing the TPMS sensor to get unthreaded a bit and slide around when the wheels rotate. That's my best guess and I haven't had a chance to take them to a tire shop, dismount them, troubleshoot, and them remount. That'll have to wait until I've got a morning to devote to that.

For now I'm rolling on stockies and actually thoroughly enjoying it. I still look back at my car every time I park, so the love is still there, but I just feel like I can push it a bit harder now under normal driving without keeping an ear out for rubbing and what not. I think having the suspension adjusted back to 25" again will get me there with the Koenigs once I sort out the "tink tink", but for now the stock waffles are the flavor of the month.

96SC4

nothing wrong with waffles
love the stock look!

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Mmmmmm...waffles

Damn Brandon, live and learn! Yeah, even now after some experience with that sort of coilover on my S2000 (different design than the Tein on my TL) I have to think about which collar to loosen and which way to turn. The entire time I had Megans on my RSX with separate prelaod...I didn't know how they worked

Preload makes a HUGE difference in ride height and ride quality.

Also, using nothing but logic here, but before you go spend all this money on dismount/mount...if you're haring it from all 4 corners there's no friggin way ALL four had the TPMS slightly unscrew and start clanking. I doubt it's that...has to be something simple you're missing...def using the correct seating lugnuts?

silvrbreez

Yep, lugnuts are good and everything was torqued down to spec. I'm using the same lugs on the waffles with no issues.

After I thought back on it, I had started hearing a little something a few months back but thought it was just a rock in the tire. It wasn't until my wife drove the car that she started hearing it more. Swapped to waffles to make sure it was something coming from the wheels and not the suspension, but I've ruled that out since the sound is gone right now.

These TPMS adapters are pretty slick, but I can see where what I'm thinking could potentially happen. You're not able to get as many threads down on the OEM TPMS sensors as you could if you were screwing it to the wheel itself. I'm thinking they just didn't have enough bite and after enough bumps they loosened off slightly. I really want to double check it anyway before I get somewhere down the road, one completely comes off, and ruins the TPMS bouncing around inside the wheel/tire.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

No doubt...
PS, I want to say there's no way that the lug nuts you're using on the stock wheels is the same seat as what you're supposed to use on aftermarket wheels.

I made that mistake for many years too...one is taper/conical, one is acorn.

silvrbreez

I know. I was using aftermarket lugnuts on the Koenigs. I'm using them on the waffles to and the seat is conical...at least I recall double-checking before I threw them on.

Dangit...now you making me have to check again. Good news...wheels haven't fallen off over the last week of running these lugnuts.

Crap! The Type-S waffles are "ball seat". Cheers for a paranoid ride home!

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

LMAO, I drove with the wrong ones for years. you'll be fine, I just think over time they may damage the seat on the wheel.



I'm telling you, I always thought they were identical...then realized if it's good on aftermarket wheel, it's a no go for oem and vice versa!

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

OEM Type S wheel-hot!

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

meh...

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

He likes them....honest!

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

didnt read the whole post but are you running ISC coils by any chance?

silvrbreez

Very late reply, but yes I'm running ISC coils. The no preload issue was totally my fault and a newbie error in adjusting coils.

Brief update...
Still on waffles and hadn't checked the wheels out.
Hadn't fixed the seats yet.
Still super busy with life and work.
Still just enjoying the ride as it is, loving it a bit more everyday.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

You have the right attitude, man.
Carry on.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

I was running Gorilla lugs on my stock rims for over couple years without an issue...not recommending you doing the same but hoping it will take some paranoia off...

I have my ISC's preloaded to very stiff LOL...the springs are 180mm and I have them preloaded to 168-170mm...the ride is very stiff but hey, I love the handling characteristics...

I preloaded a friends ISC to 175 and he loves it....ride is comfortable but still planted...look check into that....


I was cutting tires at 24.25" FTG as well....hahaha, I finally gave up and raised her up by about 8mm (~.3")...love the feeling that am not scraping or gonna scrape everywhere LOL....


in for some updates shots dude

silvrbreez

Had to bring the camera to work yesterday for a company photo. Decided to take a shot of the car when I got to the office early.

_MG_6519 copy by Brandon Bergeron, on Flickr

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

now thats a great shot

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

and for the record, I wasn't trying to chicken little him about the lugs...just letting him know because I didn't realize it for quite some time. I'd guess the long term effect is you'll eventually round or warp the aftermarket conical seat and maybe deepen the oem hole?

Or nothing...

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

and hence I did mention, I dont recommend it LOL....I dont want something to happen to his car and he comes back to kill me with his shift knob

silvrbreez

I've been running the stock lugs ever since the point was made awhile back. It helps me sleep a little bit better...but I'm still itching to put the Koenigs back on. Maybe this weekend.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

do it...

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

Hmm....interesting shot.