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Long story made short, bought a used 02 tl-s back at the beginning of the year and just started using it as a daily since my wife and I both have other cars we build, was a great car till about August-September ish and then the water pump seized up on us forcing us to drive the race cars. lol. So now we've got everything needed to fix the body damage that occurred during the year and get a new motor ready.
Decided to go with a j35 from an odyssey that we got from a buddy of ours for cheap. And because the tl-s motor dropped several valves so it's not worth the time to fix atm. We have put the type s cams and assembly's in the j35 heads and are using the type s intake mani and injectors and whatever corresponding parts that will work from the tl-s motor on the j35 to get it to be close to the same power. Picking that up to drop in this weekend.
Car is getting full color change, coilovers, wheels, front lip, some interior changes. And prolly a few more minor upgrades to the motor in the future.
Now here are the cars
Mine is the hatch and my wife's is the rsx Here is the tl when we first got it And this was the damage. New hood bumper and fender are already acquired for repair.
All new upper and lower ball joints and front lca's and new outter tie rod ends, and new sway bar endlinks new hood fender and bumper. Basic spark plugs intake mani gaskets and all new belts including already done timing belt and water pump. waiting on front lip and coilovers on Friday.
i wouldnt mind repainting it the white to save on the work side of doing door jams but ill keep everyone guessing on the color choice for now, ill be picking up the paint monday tho so ill keep you guys posted. i will say this ive never seen another tl with this color yet so hopefully will stay that way for a while lol
It's pretty much stock with bolt ons. I also had my trans rebuilt and axles replaced, so I should be good for a while.
If you want to see my results, search for "2002 3.5tl" on youtube. I have a few videos of the car that might interest you.
Forgot to mention, I swapped over my new timing belt, water pump, accessory belts, etc. IDK if I am missing anything else, but the whole drivetrain is young, REALLY young.
Last edited by HairyMonkey019; 12-15-2016 at 01:50 PM.
i see youve done a good bit to you tl, if you dont mind me asking what is a good size wheel and tire combo to go with. dont know much about the tl specs and what fit good and so on. im about to order some 18x9.5 +22 wheels and go with a 215-40-18, but dont know how well that sit under the car. i dont want it to be flush with the car, i want it to poke out a small bit but no stupid camber stuff lol
The tire size you picked is perfect, but the wheel spec is too aggressive. The lip would stick out a lot without running a good amount of camber. If you go 9.5 I recommend test fitting a wheel with a 9.5" width +30 and see how you like it. From what I've experienced, aggressive s2k wheels are what work pretty well with our cars.
My 18x8 +35 are pretty flush, no camber kit 235/40 tire. Power is hard to put down so I'd suggest some 8.5-9" rims with high offset. You'll need the grip with the 3.5L.
Okay well the coilovers didn't come in yet they needed a signature for delivery today �� But still have some updates for the motor! Got it back from my buddy who was installing all the cams and other parts etc before it goes in the car. And my wife sourced and picked up some sweet ebc rotors today from O'Reillys as well. They are freaking sick looking!
Still have to swap out a few things for the motor but otherwise very excited
Last edited by MidoriTL; 12-17-2016 at 07:14 PM.
Reason: Wrong text
Perfect timing... I just picked up an 01 TL-S that is getting a motor swap as soon as I find a donor. Since this is my first acura I will be following along for sure.
Perfect timing... I just picked up an 01 TL-S that is getting a motor swap as soon as I find a donor. Since this is my first acura I will be following along for sure.
Jim
sweet man let me know if i can help in anyway and ill do my best with any info i can provide! good luck with the swap!
im not to sure on the exact spring rate but I know we got the ones for the heavier application cause it is a bigger sedan an all. And nah it's not to close man! Got plenty of room to work lol
Here are a few updates on the car, not much done with the motor but we got the car moved in the garage and got samding on a few sections and made some good progress at least until the thunder storms stopped us lol
prolly wont be painting this weekend like we planned too cause of the cold so ill be working on getting the car running hopefully and prolly put the suspension on as well
12-14-2016, 10:46 PM
My 02 tl-s here we go...
so ill be working on getting the car running hopefully and prolly put the suspension on as well