SteveP66

Actually you could be on to something here.

I for one like the look of the honeycomb black mesh on the 07TLS but the lower grills are not a direct swap.

I wonder if we could still get the same look by using the same Acura materials - cutting and placing just the plastic grill into our 04-06 lower grills? (Keeping the 04-06 frame)

The 07TLS also uses a long strip of the same honeycomb material in the rear bumper.....depending on the size maybe the material could be cut out and placed into the 04-06 lower grills?

Ok go ahead laugh......

darksom1

I'm laughing cuz I think the mesh or whatever in the TL-S sucks! They could have stepped up bigger than that with this car!

darksom1

You know, I think that might be a good idea for the people who bought a TL-S. Swap out that fake ass plastic for some real aluminum mesh! I would definitely do the one in the back. Damn that's wack! It even moves around!

SteveP66

I kinda like that honeycomb.....but ok I'll keep that idea to myself when you are on.....LOL

Hopefully the black powdercoated mesh has a nice look to it - samples should be here soon

darksom1

No question the powdercoated one will look good!
Does that mean sometime this upcoming week or the following, you will have a grille on display in this thread and the other one? I think of that one as the gallery thread for the grilles, and this as the creative thread for the grilles!

SteveP66

Yup

Phase #1

My box from Buda (LOL) will be here Wednesday so first step is getting the chrome installed and hopefully the 07 TLS front grill modded to fit. (I know it's not your favorite LOL but I like it)

I found a pic of the TLS in ASM which is what I should come close to when my chrome is installed. I really do like how the TLS grill looks.......








Phase #2

Is going to be the lower grills - I haven't ordered any mesh yet - waiting to see the samples before I decide which type to use. Maybe something with a wider opening to kinda flow with the upper but still unsure on the size.

I also have some of the TLS dark chrome accent strips for the lower grills - one by itself is not long enough but I'm going to play with those and see if I can modify two strips into one without looking like it is 2 pieces......

darksom1

Are you doing those fogs too? The accent on the grilles sounds like it may come out to be cheesy, but if you do it right, maybe not.

SteveP66

I might - I have the Accord fogs and the TLS grills but I'm not sure if I can pull off the wiring........I can get them in but then I would have to get some help with the wires (I have no clue in that area and no one around that would know enough about it to wire them)

Plan B (I guess) is the mesh.


Not to worry about cheesy - I'm a bit of a perfectionist so if they don't look great then they will be sanded smooth and sent to Alex for chroming - if he can.

I don't like the door edge guard used in the lower fogs - after a while it looks like crap.

brettallica

SteveP66, have you started your TL-S chrome license plate trim installation yet? I've got my rear license plate assembly completely apart right now and am about to put on the TL-S chrome trim, but it's not fitting. I already Dremeled off the two middle tabs so that it would fit in there, but the trim piece itself is too long for the recessed area where the trim is supposed to sit. So, instead of just sitting in there flush, the center bows up big-time.

I'm thinking about filing each end down until it fits in there, but I wanted to see what you did (if you've done it yet) before going for it. Modifying the housing assembly itself is pretty much out of the question, so I guess I'm looking for affirmation more than anything else.

I also already PMed Kennedy since I know he bought one, but I thought I might give you a buzz, too.

darksom1

You're kidding right?

SteveP66

Oh shit.........who would have thought.

Mine hasn't shown up yet - I bought it a couple days ago so it should be here early next week.

But - I would do exactly what you are suggesting - taking off a little at a time until it fits. If it is recessed into the trim you won't see the sides where it was sanded/filed..........

How much are we talking about? An inch? Less?

darksom1

Yeah, show a pic of it Mr. Photoshop!

SteveP66

And why would he be kidding.......

brettallica

No, guys, I'm not kidding. I think Steve's rationale is reasonable: if it's recessed then it won't matter if I file it down. I think I'm going to just go for that since that seems most feasible. Plus, the piece was only $15 shipped, so not too much on the line here.

Here is a picture of the difference. I'm thinking it's about 1/8th of an inch. If I can file 1/16th of an inch off each side, it should be OK.

SteveP66

GD Acura..... don't they know we like to swap parts.

Are the end mounting points still going to line up? I say go for it.......if it doesn't work it's only $15.00

Not sure how deep the recessed gap is but this solution has got to work...........

SteveP66

I think he was poking fun at my mod time....not the suggestion to file it down......lol

darksom1

Yeah, that darksom guy was poking fun at that Steve guy because you thought he even so much as "looked" at his grille mod parts! LMAO!!

SteveP66

Oh I'll show you.......lol.

I have 7 days to do nothing but mods.............

brettallica

Admittedly, I did not do a very good job of Dremeling this thing to fit. I kind of overdid it by cutting away way too much. It looks "good enough" but if you know me, "good enough" just isn't good enough. I'm gonna give it another go with another piece. I'll create a DIY if necessary, although I have a feeling there aren't a lot of people who are going to be doing this one.

Once mounted, the thing looks pretty good; I just wish I would have been more careful with the cutting. In the pictures I took you can't see it, but for me it needs to be redone.

darksom1

The only mods I'll do that involve cutting are the door lock mod and the bumper cover! That's it! My baby will not be doing a whole lot of bleeding NBP!

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

CRAP!! Just bought my TL-S trim piece yesterday!! This is going to be another headache! Please do post a DIY, it would be highly appreciated!

Kennedy

iTrader: (2)

Brett...
Sow us how it came out. If it's "good enough" we may talk you into no bothering with another. Share brother.

Did you remove the 2 center mounting posts too? or drill new holes to use them?

What's securing them in the center?

brettallica

Sorry guys, I didn't log in yesterday (sacrilege!), so I didn't get to see this 'til now.

Let me do some 'splainin.

OK, so with the 2006 license plate trim piece, there are three screw mount brackets: two near the outside edge and one smack-dab in the center. On the 2007 chrome piece, there are four: two near the outside edge and two that are closer to the middle. In the 2006 license plate housing assembly, there are only three holes. Fortunately, the holes on the outermost of the 2007 chrome piece are in the same location as the ones from the 2006 piece, so those screw mounts can be saved.

What I had to do to get the 2007 chrome piece to fit properly was Dremel off the two innermost screw mounts so that the thing would set in the recessed area of the license plate frame assembly properly. Otherwise, the two innermost screw mounts would make it so the 2007 chrome trim piece wouldn't sit in there. To ensure a quality fit, now is the time that you want make sure that you cut the screw mounts off all the way, making sure to file off any remaining stumps.

So after I did that, I took the screw mounts that I had just cut off from the 2007 chrome piece, and got my good ol' plastic weld (which I had leftover from my side marker mod) and glued one to the center of the 2007 chrome piece so that there would be something for the license plate assembly to grab in the center and keep the chrome piece from bowing. I actually used some heavy duty kickass 3M double-sided foam tape in the center just for good measure, which ended up helping hold the middle down while I screwed it in.

As far as the trimming of the edges of the 2007 chrome piece, well, I should have just been more careful. I eyeballed the cutting without using any guides or anything. A big reason I did that was because it was getting late, and I had to get my car back together because the trunk lid was completely taken apart and the trunk was unable to close. I also had to use my car early the next morning for something pretty important (more on that later, in another thread perhaps). At that point in the night, it was kind of looking like the whole thing wasn't going to work, so I just said "what the heck" and just kind of went for it pretty cavalierly. My suggestion for the trimming, and what I'm going to do on my next piece, is to simply use the 2006 piece as a template/stencil, marking off proper cutting lines so that it's a perfect, stock looking end result. As it sits on my car now, you'd never know that it's an add-on DIY jobbie, but being the perfectionist that I am, I'm gonna redo it.

It was actually pretty straightforward, but that's how I did it. I should probably be posting this in its own DIY, which I might go ahead and do later. I do have some pics of the process, so that should probably help.

darksom1

We forgive you, but don't eva - eva, eva, eva, eva, eva...let it happen again!

Please post that DIY here, as well as the other thread, hopefully with the pics!

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

even if it dosen't look perfect, do u have pics?

sandiegodrive

I should have my lower grills modded tomorrow I hope! With some DRL/Fogs/Just look really cool leds haha. I know I haven't posted in a while, but I am alive!

brettallica

Here's an "after" pic that shows how it looks with pretty good shine to it:



and here's are a couple with it on my car itself (from Saturday afternoon, when my car was used as the getaway car in a wedding):




(by the way, I don't care if people know my license plate. My last name is Roby, which is also my nickname, in case you're wondering)

SteveP66

Looks really SHARP!!!!

Mine arrived today of course you know it will take me a couple days to get it installed

rockyfeller

iTrader: (6)

Thanks Brett...OK now you gave me confidence (good thing I'm good with fabrication) it looks worth modding to get it right. I was about to not bother and resell it but now I know I'll love it over the yuck silver.

darksom1

Damn! Looks good Brett! You beat Kennedy huh? You should've told him that you want a discount on the seat memo button as prize!

Kennedy

iTrader: (2)

Those are all gone, take pleasure in knowing you have a one off... But also know I'll hook up you guys if you need some help... but Btrett's handy with a solder iron, he don't need no help from me.

My damn trim hasn't shown up yet. What gives?

brettallica

Just to reiterate in case I wasn't clear: this mod is actually pretty easy; I just kind of made a big deal out of it because it wasn't plug-and-play like we all thought it would be.

The only true catch to this is that you need to make sure to create a nice line for when you trim the edges off. Well, I guess there is another, and that is attaching the center screw mount so the trim piece doesn't bow. It's all common sense really, and nothing that most of the guys on here couldn't figure out on their own. I'll get around to the DIY probably tomorrow morning...the last few days have been crazy for me with this whole wedding thing.

tehloxely

People thought I was nuts, when I asked about that mod. They said it would offset the brushed in the front ad the chromy rear :P

brettallica

I'm not sure I'm following what you're trying to say. I do know that I have chrome up front already, and that I definitely wouldn't put that chrome piece back there if I didn't.

Kennedy

iTrader: (2)

Yeah... he's refering to me. I told him it wouldn't match anything, and thus would look silly... not to mention, the part was "not available at the time".

Now we see it matches the TL-S tails, and we have a chromer that can pretty much match the front grill to it, it's a from me too.

I still wonder where our ebay source aquired these, considering they're still not available at the parts counter. Makes me wonder if the trivial size difference is WHY these are on the open market. I would venture a bet that these are rejects from a mold that was slightly too large.

tehloxely

Does all the front 07 parts fit on the 04-06?

brettallica

Have you received yours yet?

I have a feeling that these were acquired through a not-so-credible source. I get this gut feeling that they were ones that were stolen; maybe not be the seller himself, but by someone along the line. I think they are not available for purchase by themselves because they simply aren't sold independantly from the entire license plate assembly...as far as we all know anyway.

brettallica

NO.


Only the hood trim molding from the 2007 will fit. The rest of the grill components are different. Believe me, I've done tons of research on this. One guy on this board says the wing piece fits, but it is not a direct fit; it has to be modified significantly. The v-shaped bumper trim piece does not fit either.

That's why I sent my 2006 pieces out to be chromed.

SteveP66

Guess what ............ all my Buda chrome arrived today - within 1 hour I had it installed.

Pics coming - stay tuned !!!!

Buda

iTrader: (1)

Dang that was fast. Does that include the V trim as well? Did you get the Emblems on as well?

Can't wait to see that chrome on a Silver car. Btw, I just got the licence plate trim from Alex. He did get it darker. I just want to put it on for a couple pics on a black car tomorrow and then I'll get it sent out to you.