Hey Acurazine,

so recently i was on kijiji and found this guy selling an a-spec front lip and rear lip for 150$. Surprisingly i was instantly hooked on this deal, not realizing much that the body kit has different kinds of materials. So after i purchased it, i realized that this kit is made of poor quality fibre glass and both lips arent molded properly as the edges of the lips are not even and such. I put the kit on still and got it painted for cheap. Now i have an aspec front and back lip that doesn't fit properly sucks.
Anyone deal with this before? My mechanic told me the real a-spec kit from Acura would cost a fortune.
Paint job went well on the bright side, shop did a good job. But sucks that it doesnt fit properly, especially the back lip, .

 

entertain us

let see some pics fellow canadian

lip kit was probably from extremeparts or lip-kit.com

 

So you bought a fake "a spec" kit and it doesn't fit properly..?




I'm shocked

 

I shall

 

[QUOTE=ericcdong;15651748]I shall




Notice the rear lip hangs under the oem bumper line? You can also see the lip doesn't hook onto the car as tightly as it should. I've see a real a-spec kit and i felt the material too, much higher quality. Sad life boys.

Excuse the ugly scuffing on my oem bumper lol, have since repainted it and sanded it.

 

[QUOTE=ericcdong;15651749]
Another pic

 

It looks like you installed too low. Try moving it up so it covers the body lines. If its bottoming out then you might need to shave 2/3" off of the bottom section of the oem bumper so you can slide it up over the body lines.

There should be one clean line going across.

 

I definitely expected worse from the pics, but I agree with the above.. looks like the rear was not installed correctly.

 

[QUOTE=01acls;15651772]It looks like you installed too low. Try moving it up so it covers the body lines. If its bottoming out then you might need to shave 2/3" off of the bottom section of the oem bumper so you can slide it up over the body lines.

There should be one clean line going across.



Shaving the oem bumper? but the only isssue would be that if lets say my rear lip ever gets cracked and i have to remove it. then the oem bumper would look weird no? Is there a way i can sand down the actual lip itself?
my mechanic pushed the lip upwards as hard as he could and then drilled the holes. I felt the underside of the rear lip against my oem bumper, it doesnt touch lol. the plastic moulding must've been really crap. Like i said, can i simply as a shop to shave the lip for bettter fitment?

 

"Shaving the oem bumper? but the only isssue would be that if lets say my rear lip ever gets cracked and i have to remove it. then the oem bumper would look weird no? Is there a way i can sand down the actual lip itself?
my mechanic pushed the lip upwards as hard as he could and then drilled the holes. I felt the underside of the rear lip against my oem bumper, it doesnt touch lol. the plastic moulding must've been really crap. Like i said, can i simply as a shop to shave the lip for bettter fitment?"

^ Actually that makes perfect sense to me.

If the bumper is not bottoming out on the lip then in theory it can still slide up more. However, it can't bc it's not long enough to go over the bumper body line and go over the end of the bumper at the wheel weld.

The solution I think is to install the rear/top part of the lip over the rear bumper body line first and then pry it over and around the sides/ends at wheel weld.

It's going to fit like a glove (as it should). There's a good chance it might scratch the rear bumper.

If you are going to try this, I'll suggest that you debur the lip's top edge so it's not sharp or jaggitty and might lay down some masking tape to protect the paint.

To lessen the chance that the paint will pull off (especially if the bumper's been painted before) along with the masking tape when removing the tape you need to reduce the stickiness of the tape by first taping it to your clothes (pickup some lint).

 

Actually a sheet of thick clear plastic would work better to protect the paint. Like the kind used for covering up stuff when painting.

Easy to put on and get off. Just tape it above the body line (every 12" or so) and let it hang down.

Use three pieces... one for the rear and one on each sides with little to no over lap to each other (the 3 clear plastic pieces).

Then just install the lip over the clear plastic.

Rear first... over the body line then wrap the ends around the wheel welds.

 

[QUOTE=ericcdong;15652305]Did the mechanic remove the plastic pieces that go around the exhaust tips before installing the lip?

 

Let's clear up a lot of confusion in here.

Always stick to the OEM A-spec kit since it will 100% fit your TL. You're lucky to have WDP, since it's still available to buy the full kit. The OEM kit is already painted and has all the hardware to install.

Since this vehicle is pretty old now, you'd think there would be a TON of A-spec threads including some that providing a PDF of the installation.

Next comes your friend Google. You can google how these kits are suppose to look installed on the car and figure out yours, is not correct.


The solution,

Remove the rear a-spec lip and install it correctly. Apply new 3M double sided molding tape before reinstalling. Look at the back of the bumper, you will see where the holes need to be drilled for the A-spec kit. My honest opinion is removing that kit and getting the FULL OEM kit (It's about $800.00 give or take) and get it done correctly.

Use these photos as a guide, to show how the kit sits.







For future reference, if you have any questions about differences in kits
https://acurazine.com/forums/third-g...thread-853331/

You may also use these as a reference. Keep in mind they aren't for the 04-06 TL but it's close enough to the installation.

http://photos.imageevent.com/astrobo...07tlsfront.pdf
http://photos.imageevent.com/astrobo.../07tlsrear.pdf
https://acurazine.com/forums/third-g...-002-a-624436/

 

Hey guys, just an update. So I realized I didn't remove the exhaust plastic cut out thingy that's mounted on the rear oem bumper. That's for the links guys!

I'm visiting my mechanic tmrw and so should I tell him to remove the exhaust cut out and then trim it some more with a dremmel? Or should I shave the entire bottom half of the bumper?

 

What year is your car?

 

Did you miss everything I posted? Why in the world would you shave the entire bottom half of the bumper? Others, including myself told you the fix. I even posted pictures for you and did research on your behalf to fix an incredibly small mistake. For future reference, please stick to doing some research on your own and actually reading what others wrote.

 

I can sense your frustration....

WTF'G year is your car?!

 

Update #2:

Shop wants to charge me 80$ to install and cut for proper fitment. Does that price sound reasonable?

 

2004

 

for you, yes. very reasonable.

 

Here is the 04 Under Spoiler instructions. It's a little different than the 07. It really shouldn't matter since you got an aftermarket spoiler.

It might make a difference to remove the two Bumper Trims (#1). If it's not bottom out in the middle then it's probably bottom out at the Trim area.

Note: Cutting would be a last resort to make it fit. However, cutting is not going to help if it's not bottom out between the spoiler and the bumper.

 

Thanks to the help!
Yeah I showed him this diagram, and told him to first try removing the exhaust tip plastic, then try it out and see. If not I told him to make incisions to the bumper.
He's charging me 80$, if it does end up that removing the exhaust plastics solves the problem, should I ask to reduce the price?

What do you think? Is 80$ fair?

 

$80 is fair bc that's roughly a hour labor, give or take- depending on the labor rate.

However, he should of took that Trim off in the first place so depending how you want to look at it.

Now if that includes cutting if necessary, then yes.

3M double sided tape is very expensive too.

 

this thread gave me a headache...

01acls: i'm not sure if you skipped it but his pictures in post #4 clearly indicate that his car is an 04-06 with an 04-06 front and rear lip.

ericcdong: whoever installed your lip, have them remove the lip and then remove the exhaust port trim. This will allow the rear lip to sit properly. He will have to re-drill the holes higher on the bumper, but after that, it should be all good.

You should not be charged for this since he did not install it properly in the first place.

You should not need to shave off your bumper.

I've seen these aftermarket lip kits in person (hey, they're made in Ontario Canada after all) and they sit normal.

 

The problem is, OP isn't listening and would rather give the upper hand to the same body shop who failed to follow instructions in the 1st place. I'm still baffled over what cutting is there to be done? OP is more concern over $80 bucks on a $150 dollar lip. If we do the math, OP would have spent the same price for the OEM one and had one of the issues taken care of. Best of luck to you OP, with this dilemma.

 

Unfortunately, canucks don't get it too cheap.
Our exchange rate is brutal alone, plus the cost of shipping.

Hopefully I can break it down for others haha

$295 USD shipped for OEM painted rear lip
$295 USD shipped for OEM painted front lip
=$590 USD shipped within USA

Convert that over to CAD, it would cost $838.42 CAD.
Add shipping in (definitely not cheap) and we're looking well over $1000 CAD.
If he's close to the border, he can drive down to pick it up but then he'd get taxed 13% for it on the way up, in addition to gas money of course.
I can understand why Canadians shy away from buying OEM lips.

He spent $150 CAD ($105 USD) on the front and rear lip, I'm not sure how much he got it painted for and I'm not sure how much he got it installed for, but I'm sure its gotta be around the half price point of $1000

 

Thank you for understanding LOL.
Trust me guys, I didn't resort to this cheap lip for no reason.
I messaged endless rpm, Bruce. the front and rear would've been Over 1000$.
I got my front and rear painted for 350$ both together.
Besides, after I got the quote from Bruce, I started thinking not to even get it, too expensive for me as a Canadian.

But yeah, mechanics charging me less if there's no cuts needed.

Are you sure removing the exhaust brackets will fit it?

 

Guitar Hero,

"01acls: i'm not sure if you skipped it but his pictures in post #4 clearly indicate that his car is an 04-06 with an 04-06 front and rear lip."

LOL, it might be obvious to you bc you own one, to others not so much.

Eric,

With aftermarket parts all bets are off when it comes to fit and durability. Sometimes you get lucky but, most of the time you get, you get taken.

.02

 

Yes, removing the exhaust trim is essential.

I dont know which area of ontario you're in but I'd fix it for free

true, i assumed you owned a 3G TL