Thank you! I wanted the RSX for so long while I had my 94 Integra. Great car. I considered an RSX but ultimately decided on a newer car.

Thanks!! Can't wait to see your ilx. What color and trim? I may have been the first ILX owner but I got the idea from RSX, TSX, and Civic owners that had dont the dirty work first so props to them. I am glad it worked on our cars because we really need some front lip love. Now we've also go AeroFlow with now I think 3 designs for the ILX. You can check one out on SlammedILX's thread.

You should start your own thread!! I always see my friends that work on their cars be it small things or larger improvements, they always wish they had pictures or some sort of documentation after the fact. Having a place to go to to see the progress, even for yourself, is pretty cool.

Washed the car up on Sunday and new page so here's some pictures I took today in the harsh afternoon sun.

Where I park all day. I used to park next to the mountain where people cant park on either side but one day I watched a rock about half the size of my wheel roll down the side. That was sketch.


Where I used to park. Nice and shady but bird shit and sap sucks.


Rear shot because I never take them.

 

Beautiful ILX

 

Thaaaank you. Currently scrolling through your thread right now. Good lookin TL for sure!



Getting my front side tint removed Saturday per my second tint ticket. It was also for my front plate once again so that will be going back on. Ive been wanting to put it lower but I cant talk myself into it looking good while you can still see the holes where it SHOULD be. Oh well. back on with my Fuck Your Whip frame. Side note, I want to get a chrome plate from the dealership I purchased from.

Anyways, back to tint. Here is my plan.
Currently, I have about 15% tint all around with a sun strip in the front.

In the future I may re tint the front side with something like 60% tint as to not attract much of any attention. Then go a tad lighter on the rear side windows at 35ish% and leave the rear window at the 15% its at. This way I dont have a sudden change in tint, it will be more of a gradient that is already seen due to the windshields always being clear but it should reduce chances of a cop ticketing me for tint (though i understand any tint is ticketable).

 

No more front tint.

I have to say I like it. Looks cleaner honestly. I guess I wouldnt feel that way if the interior wasnt as sharp.

However when the window is down and you can see the edge it becomes grossly apparent that the window is 100% clear... so I am going to tint it at the lightest tint my shop advertises... which is 50% I believe.

I found out my windows were for sure 20% (I thought 15) so I figure Ill be 20% in the rear and 50% up front. The 30% different in tint it only about 8% heat reduction difference so Im okay with that.

Secondly... just so I have a place to find it. Another user found out that our stock 17in wheels are 25lbs... Yuuuuck.

RPF1s are looking so tempting at only about 18lbs for the 18x8... Hell even the 19x8.5 weighs less.

I wonder if any other ILXers have their aftermarket wheels weighed out. I guess the only one that may be worth it are Aarons.
Edit: ssr type f 18x9.5 are 18.8lbs.... siiiiick. Great buy aaron.
http://measurespeed.com/ssr-rims-wheel-weight.php

 

My 18x8 Enkei PF01's weight about 18.5lbs. They say the range is 18.2-19.2 depending on the offset.

 

Just one for now because no more plastidip. Very happy. Never again.

Also license plate back on because ticket. New chrome frames to ditch the boyracer ones.

 

Small teaser for now... this is before I sent them out for refurbishment.

 

Lookin' good as always! Where did you get the VIP roof spoiler?

 

Spoilerkings.net I believe was their site.
Last I checked they go for about 100$ shipped.
I have an extra one that may or may not be sold. Someone literally reminded me yesterday about it. I'll let you know if they buy. I was selling it for 70 plus shipping. In cali at least that'll save you 20$.

 

Super clean ILX, keep up the good work! I've doubted the ILX's aesthetic potential until seeing yours. That front end and its lines are very nice. I only wish my facelifted 2G TSX had a grille similar to the ILX's shield. I actually really like the look of the grille. This car is definitely growing on me.

 

Hey Jon I bought the 2006 STI lip, was wondering what all you did to it to get your front lip fitment. I thought you said you cut it somewhere? Also where did you choose to actually screw in the lip too? I also have the OEM front lip, so I'm going for a similar front end look. I already scraped the front lip underside too, not even low yet. STI lip or even a ghetto ezlip is a must for protection.... Congrats on the wheels - where'd you pick them up? I might eventually get some wheels at VR Wheels in Industry, CA. Refurbished, real JDM wheels.

 

Thank you! Means a lot. The front end was a work in progress. I still want to add the hybrid air dam pieces with the chrome accent then cut into them and make some ducting for the intake box.

Then I think Ill be happy with the front.

I ended up only needing to cut the edges off because they stick out into the wheel well. I literally just drilled it straight into the oem lip, then was able to use a couple oem mounting points for the plastic shield or whatever it is. In the middle I just screwed straight into the ILX itself.

I suggest reinforcing the middle piece or using a bolt with a nut on the other end to hold it secure. Mine popped out a few times.

And funny you mention VR. The guy I bought these from bought them from VR and suggested them if I wanted to get them refurbished. I ended up going with a guy through my buddies shop but yeah I hear good things about VR. They imported my wheels.

 

Was also gonna suggest to you that the the white TL guy with the VIP table hookup also has some curtains, but he's missing a couple pieces like the the curtain holders and the hooks they go on. Maybe you could just buy those off of him. You could use the rails and then make your own curtains and holders, and then just buy some fancy hooks from home depot or something. Worth a try.

 

I bought some no name curtains for the rails. I like the hook set up these use. The hooks seat inside the channel verse outside like the jp design. I feel this will slide easier. Less friction.

I'm going to install them as is for now to see if I'm happy with the size. Ordered 36 cm curtains which seem big. The tracks are 70 cm so they almost cover the whole window. I like that over the 50cm. Well see when I've got them on. Only ordered one pair to put in the front. If I like it I'll order another pair then send those curtains out to to use as a template for better quality curtains.

 

Alright. Got the wheels back.
Started here


Ended here

Work VS-MX 18x8 +38 5x114/4x100
Discontinued in 2001

Authentic drill pattern from Work Wheels Japan... and all the corrosion that comes with it.
3 piece overhead design. Never welded. Authentic center caps and valve stems. So so happy.

Only thing non authentic now would be the finish. Had the faces stripped. 5 coats of primer alone. Minty high gloss metallic gunmetal faces on newly polished lips with newly polished center caps as well. Rivets powder coated metallic gold for some contrast. Love the finish. Came out great.

Future holds new 2in lips.
Until then Ill be using my 20mm spacers that should fit with the 225/40 tire my buddy talked me into. And probably picking up some 15mm for the front since Im sure it'll fit great.

If all goes well, mounting tomorrow.

Now that I have my lug cover wheels down the hunt begins for my exposed lug set up. Im thinking I may just build a Work collection here.

 

I always thought you'd have wheels wayyy before me. Funny how we both got wheels around the same time, if you mount em tomorrow you'll have me beat by a few days!

Wheels look great love the finish!

 

Thank you sir!!! I am very pleased with the end results.

Yeah it took a lot longer than expected. I kept seeing wheels pop up on sale sites so I started saving. Got the money together and couldnt find anything I wanted.

I even lost interest and started spending money elsewhere then saw these so I jumped on them. I talked myself into being happy with the stock wheels since all the 9th gen guys loved them. I was in no hurry but couldnt pass this offer.

And once my buddy told me how much hed refinish them for I couldnt pass up that deal either. hahaha Im a sucker for good prices. Just glad I had money when I found them.

Tomorrow's my day off so I plan on getting them mounted tomorrow. Only thing that will set me back is if they dont have what I want but Im open to 215 and 225 so should be good.

 

Nice wheels man.. Can't wait to see it mounted.

 

What tire dimension u going with? Wheels look nice.

 

To be honest, i kinda cringed when I saw the gold faces at first, I was like "OH NOOOOOOOO! WHY?!" But then I saw the refinish and it looks great. I was looking at some very similar SSR wheels, I think these will look even better on your car, because the finish will match up very well.

 

Couple questions. So what are you talking about when you mention about exposed lug setup and stuff? Does that mean your centercap will be gone? Not sure what youre talking about/how that works. And then did you get these wheels drilled for the TPMS? They didn't come with it already right?

 

I know I know. Half my friends where thinking the same "ooooh nooooo". The other half though loved the gold. hahaha I was dead set on refinishing them the moment I saw them. I have had a Lexus IS on my wallpaper for over a year now. Jason Lau's IS.
http://www.canibeat.com/2013/07/this...n+Canibeat.com)

Wheels wise I needed something similar.

These wheels you dont see the lug nuts as youve noticed.
Other wheels, like Aaron's SSRs, you have exposed lug nuts where the color and type of lug nut changes the look of the wheel.

I want at least two wheels to go between, something with lug covers, like these. And something like Aarons where you can see the lug nuts and therefor want something nice in the field. As of now, Ill just buy some black forged lugs that no one will see but be lightweight and strong.

I did NOT drill them for TPMS. Once I told my buddy's shop manager that the barrels were all authentic, everything authentic, he felt where was was going when I said I didnt want to ruin the authentic barrels. He suggested just wrapping the tpms band around the inner barrel and attaching the tpms inside. I wont have access to it and itll be using my normal valve stem to fill up. The TPMS will just be hidden inside the tube.

Reading owns. Looking at 215 and 225 series. Id prefer to run 225 so its a bit wider than what I currently have. Either way probably a 40 side wall.
Ill be swinging by my buddies shop and we'll test fit some sizes and see what I like.

 

Went with 225/40 fits nicely even with 20mm spacers. Sadly though due to the duel bolt pattern. The cavities in the wheel for the one studs to sit in are not wide enough in two spots. So I can either grind down the studs a bit or take the spacers off. As they can't grind them down here I'll be running no spacers for now.
In the future I'll have them grinder down a tad on all 4 corners the. I'll run 15mm upfront and 20mm spacers in the rear.

 

 

Damn, sitting here cleaning up the house and some home fixing up, was waiting on these pics today. Im really anal about color match. Looks great. The wheel faces match the car, the lips match the chrome around the windows. Larger wheel size fills up the wheel wells. Spacers mounted?

 

From the pics you took, I would even be satisfied as is. No need for spacers (if not used in pic). Oh also I had a scratch on my door, I went to a great detail shop near me to get it polished out. The owner worked on my car, polished it out, painted in a tiny spot. He works on tons of BMW's and Lexus, high end stuff. He was like "Wow, Nice car! I mean i know its an Acura, but it looks more distinguished like a Lexus. And its got a nice growl and some balls!" Then I told him about the I/H/E setup, he was like "oh!" With those wheels, I'm pretty sure you're gonna get a lot more of those types of comments. Not bad for a car thats almost half the price of a lot of the comparisons we get.

 

Damn.. Dat shit is wet!! Pretty clean..

 

Thanks! I do sort of wish they were 19s. They fill the wheel well great for a functional look. I plan on relipping these in the future so I may just relip to 19.
I didnt even try to color match the faces. Just told the guy metallic gunmetal. They came back and surprisingly are very close.

I am satisfied for now. I will go wider in the rear with the spacers. Only issue is these wheels have 2 small stud cavities and 2 normal sized ones due to the dual bolt pattern. The existing OEM stud hits the back of the wheel on 20mm spacers. 25mm may just clear. The shop suggested I grind down the studs 6mm if I want. They said the lugs will turn enough still to be safe.

Not sure what I am going to do yet. Just running without spacers for now.
I need to get the car professionally detailed. May be the next thing I spend some money on. Inside and out. I also want to repolish these lips myself because I think I can get them to shine more.

Thank you sir!! I am happy to finally have wheels.. and at that. Wheels I have wanted for years. Time to add some luxuries now.

 

 

Saw your latest pics on Instagram and had to come here for the higher res.

Car looks top notch. Nicely done.

 

Looks great.

 

nice! can't wait to see the 2" lips

 

hahaha Awesome! Thank you. I hope my ILX one day gets as much respect as that Legend of yours did. Whens the last time you saw it??

Thank you my friend.

Same here!! I will have a big decision to make if I want to just replace the 4 lips with 2in lips or replace the entire barrels with step lips and go 19in. hmmmmm

 

awww I miss the white.


but congrats on picking up some VS'
She looks great!!

 

Very well done...not overly aggressive, clean...and fit the look of the car.
You know what you're doing...

 

I DO NOT. Plastidip never again
I contemplated going white with these wheels but in the end decided on a couple things.
One, the gunmetal will be MUCH easier to keep clean and take longer to appear dirty.
Two, more people tend to like the overall dark theme over light them. I love both honestly. Can't choose one over the other. Like wheels. I would have been open to so many different kinds its not even funny. In the end, this will me appreciated by more so I made that choice.


I did want to space out the rears a tad. Maybe 15mm. I went to try my 20mm spacers but because of the dual bolt pattern on the wheels, the cavities in the wheel for the oem studs to hide in while using spacers are half the size in 2 spots because of the extra holes for the 4x100 pattern. My oem studs hit the wheels. Id need top shave off about 5mm or run 25mm spacers to fit. 25mm seems like it would poke.

 

I think your car is effin PERFECT John...loving it !!!

 

Would you mind me asking how much it was for you to get them all refinished? I'm looking at a nice set of Rays G Games on the cheap, but they need some work.

Looking amazing!

 

Thanks mang!! Really appreciate it.

I don't mind. But I got a great price since the silicone alone without even taking the wheels apart wold run $65 a wheel. I got away with $110 a wheel for the silicone work plus completely stripping painting and polishing everything.

 

Just some B&W.