hello all, my name is Spencer, I have joined this forum today as I just recently purchased an automatic 2004 Acura TL for a new project. It has 110k miles and runs like a beauty. I haven’t quite decided what route I want to go with this build, whether it be stance or a performance build. But there are a few things I’ll be going to be doing right off the bat. Which are:

1. Manual Transmission Swap. I know everyone is gonna say it’s so much work why didn’t you just buy a manual in the first place blah blah blah. Well I got this car at a steal of a price, and also I plan on making this a fun build with big projects and what’s bigger than converting from auto to manual. I have access to a shop and tools in which I will be doing everything to this car by myself. I’ve already started hunting for totaled TL’s with a 6MT on auction websites and have even made a couple bids, so this will be happening soon.

2. Custom Exhaust. This week I will be taking out the exhaust from the cat back and deleting the mufflers. This will include the mid muffler and both in rear. And I will be welding in straight pipe. I’m also going to convert to quad tips similar to the Type-s. Later down the line I will mostly likely purchase a Greddy Evo 2 exhaust system and install that on the car but I’m in no rush for that.

3. New front bumper / lip. It appears to me that this car was in a minor fender bender and had a non OEM front bumper painted and put on. I’m not a fan of how the front looks currently so I’ll be buying a bumper from a 2006 TL, one that has fog lights and the engraved Acura logo in the front.



those are the only things I plan on doing within the next month because as I said I’m not sure what route to go with this car yet. If I go stance route than I will be purchasing either coilovers or a bag system + buying nice wheels. And if I go performance route than I will be building the transmission, engine, and front end to hold a decent amount of power from a power adder. (Turbo or supercharger).

I look forward to starting this project and working on it frequently. Let me know what route you think I should go with the build or any other mods / parts I should look into! Thanks for reading

ps I’ve attached pics of the car


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