brotatertot's 09' (Steel Mustache) TSX

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Old Dec 6, 2017 | 01:19 PM
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brotatertot's 09' (Steel Mustache) TSX

The grille looks like a mustache to me. Picked it up with 72k on the clock, it had bad piston rings, so the dealer swapped them out under a TSB. So I was off to a super decent start..



Had the windows tinted & picked up some f&f coilovers




Put a K&N intake & a Spirior grille on, switched out all the other badges too.


Then I found a Modulo bumper that needed to be fixed, so I had a buddy fix & paint it.


Picked up trashed evo 8 wheels (favorite factory wheel) & refinished them & had new decals made.







Found a beat up VIS carbon trunk I repaired, then had a buddy re-clear it.


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Old Dec 6, 2017 | 01:38 PM
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Great start!
wheels are a little sunken in....would love to see a better fitting wheel there!
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Old Dec 6, 2017 | 01:57 PM
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Originally Posted by justnspace
Great start!
wheels are a little sunken in....would love to see a better fitting wheel there!
Thanks! It might be because of the rear not having any camber adjustment yet,(need to fix that soon) this car also sees a bit more spirited driving than most daily drivers, so I wouldn't want the wheels to ever come in contact with the body with as much as I throw it into corners. They did once in front, then I lifted it a bit, the newer front bumper doesn't help on steep inclines either lol.
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Old Dec 6, 2017 | 05:24 PM
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car looks great! planning on getting the CF hood to "match"?
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Old Dec 7, 2017 | 09:54 AM
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Originally Posted by xtcnrice
car looks great! planning on getting the CF hood to "match"?
CF the whole car to match.
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Old Dec 7, 2017 | 12:28 PM
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That grill looks way better.
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Old Dec 7, 2017 | 12:31 PM
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Originally Posted by brotatertot
Thanks! It might be because of the rear not having any camber adjustment yet,(need to fix that soon) this car also sees a bit more spirited driving than most daily drivers, so I wouldn't want the wheels to ever come in contact with the body with as much as I throw it into corners. They did once in front, then I lifted it a bit, the newer front bumper doesn't help on steep inclines either lol.
you could always raise it up a bit! even 5mm up will prevent it from coming in contact.
What are the specs on the wheels?

Great progress, great projects, great work!!
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Old Dec 8, 2017 | 01:04 PM
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Originally Posted by xtcnrice
car looks great! planning on getting the CF hood to "match"?
I am, I came across this one stupid cheap, just needed to be fixed, it was pretty well thrashed.

Originally Posted by justnspace
you could always raise it up a bit! even 5mm up will prevent it from coming in contact.
What are the specs on the wheels?

Great progress, great projects, great work!!
Thanks! 17x8 +38
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Old Mar 14, 2018 | 10:34 AM
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I hit the 120k mile mark, so I figured I'd change the plugs & change the manual trans for the 2nd time.



Plugs were pretty much toast



One thing that has me confused, is more trans fluid came out than went back in. 2qt came out when I drained it, but it started spilling back out of the fill hole after 1.5qt. The last time I changed the fluid this didn't happen. Anyone else experience this before?
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Old Mar 14, 2018 | 11:00 AM
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I put in some yellow fog lights, they helped out more than I thought they would.




My carbon trunk wont allow the factory license plate lenses to be installed, due to it's increased thickness in that area. Since they have to be glued in place (like my back up camera), I bought some LED's to destroy instead of my factory lenses.

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Old Mar 14, 2018 | 11:37 PM
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Where can I the Carbon Trunk lid?
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Old Mar 15, 2018 | 09:51 AM
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Looks great! Thank you for sharing that information on the truck lid.
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Old Mar 21, 2018 | 05:29 PM
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Originally Posted by julius071
Looks great! Thank you for sharing that information on the truck lid.
Anytime!!

Finally found a decent deal on an SE black woodgrain center section. I need to wax the scuffs out, none of them are deep, but it bugs me..


Also threw on my Buddy Club queball, feels a lot better than the factory knob. The sunflare in this pic was unintended, but super neato..

Last edited by brotatertot; Mar 21, 2018 at 05:32 PM.
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Old Apr 5, 2018 | 10:17 AM
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I took advantage of the nice weather over the weekend here in MO and installed my sport pedal set. What a pain in the dick! Multiple trips to O'Reilly's & multiple sub-par riveting tools were to blame, but it got finished.



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Old Apr 5, 2018 | 10:42 AM
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When did you get the car? Looks like Dec of 17 at 74k miles and now its a little over 4 months later with 120k on the clock. Thats a lot of driving!!!
Looks good doe!
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Old Apr 5, 2018 | 12:42 PM
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Looks great! What else you got plans for this Mustang
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Old Apr 5, 2018 | 02:11 PM
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Originally Posted by BreezyTL
When did you get the car? Looks like Dec of 17 at 74k miles and now its a little over 4 months later with 120k on the clock. Thats a lot of driving!!!
Looks good doe!
Car was purchased on Oct 23, 2014. I just hadn't been on the forums in a few years. That's why the wording in the 1st post was all past tense, sorry for the confusion. Thank you!

Originally Posted by julius071
Looks great! What else you got plans for this Mustang
Wrong forum bro
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Old Apr 9, 2018 | 09:42 AM
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Originally Posted by brotatertot
Car was purchased on Oct 23, 2014. I just hadn't been on the forums in a few years. That's why the wording in the 1st post was all past tense, sorry for the confusion. Thank you!



Wrong forum bro
Opps, read your thread title wrong.
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Old Apr 11, 2018 | 10:38 AM
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My brother hooked me up with a factory trunk mat, had to clean it up first.


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Old Apr 11, 2018 | 01:17 PM
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A stick holding up your carbon fiber trunk, why?
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Old Apr 11, 2018 | 01:39 PM
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Maybe no tension spring because it'd be too strong and would fling the trunk open when it's popped?

That had better be a CF rod though.
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Old Apr 11, 2018 | 03:39 PM
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Originally Posted by cu2wagon
Maybe no tension spring because it'd be too strong and would fling the trunk open when it's popped?

That had better be a CF rod though.
Yes you're exactly right, it's too light for the tension rods & it seals just a smidge better, the carbon rod is a stabilizer from a hunting bow.
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Old Apr 11, 2018 | 03:50 PM
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I installed a spoiler on our 2003 Accord and I seem to recall that there was either a new spring needed that was stronger, or there was a little doohicky that was installed to increase the spring force so the trunk would open (opposite problem of yours). I wonder if there's a spring from some other vehicle in the Honda catalog that would work.

Or really, if you just take the stock spring and clamp one end in a vise, you should be able to twist out some of the preload so it's a lighter force.
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Old Apr 12, 2018 | 09:26 AM
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Originally Posted by cu2wagon
Or really, if you just take the stock spring and clamp one end in a vise, you should be able to twist out some of the preload so it's a lighter force.
I've thought about that a couple times in the past with other vehicles, I bet that's the ticket, or if a thinner diameter rod was made by VIS that'd be ideal. I wouldn't expect it to be right though, they couldn't even drill mounting holes in the right places lol.
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Old Aug 2, 2018 | 10:39 AM
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This car has been put through the ringer lately, a hail storm decided to thrash it a little bit, and upon moving it to my carport out back, the neighbors' tree decided to give it a big hug. Sad thing is their homeowners insurance did not cover it, I had to file it under my comprehensive & pay my deductible.












After bouncing between here & there with State Farm, getting mixed answers & waiting 3 weeks to have an adjuster assess the damages, I was growing very tired of their funhouse mirrored puzzle basement. Fortunately for me, my friend owns a body shop & gave me a free loaner (after I found out loaner vehicles aren't covered on my plan), he & his team did the work right & saved the day, so for that I am more than thankful. $5,200 later and it now it looks even better than before all this.


Last edited by brotatertot; Aug 2, 2018 at 10:41 AM.
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Old Aug 2, 2018 | 11:04 AM
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After I got it back, I saw the headlights were in need of a restoration, so Brian & I sanded with 2500, then 3000. After that came the foam pad, 3M rubbing compound, Perfect-it, & 3 coats of wax. Turned out to be super decent.
















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Old Aug 2, 2018 | 11:28 AM
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all your shit is sex, bro taste her tots.
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Old Aug 2, 2018 | 12:03 PM
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Originally Posted by rockstar143
all your shit is sex, bro taste her tots.
Haha, thanks man!!
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Old Sep 27, 2018 | 09:49 AM
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Got around to installing my PLM header, it was a bitch to say the least, a little more pep in it's step now though.



The collector end of it was tweaked about a 1/4" and would not budge, a lift was needed, because my narrow-ass & floor jack weren't cutting the mustard.






All buttoned up & only a hair louder than stock, I'm a happy camper now.
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Old Sep 28, 2018 | 06:39 AM
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shit yeah, man...love that.
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Old Sep 28, 2018 | 08:31 AM
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nice! any particular reason why you decided the PLM over RV6?
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Old Sep 28, 2018 | 12:55 PM
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Originally Posted by rockstar143
shit yeah, man...love that.
I'm fairly certain we added 500hp according to the butt dyno, would've been nice to use the real one in front of the lift to see actual numbers, but time was running tight.

Originally Posted by xtcnrice
nice! any particular reason why you decided the PLM over RV6?
Just price, I got it for around $100 cheaper with the 2nd test pipe included, don't know if I'll ever use the 2nd one, but extra stuff is always nice to have.
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Old Oct 3, 2018 | 01:13 PM
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I've been working with carbon for a while now, here's a few things I've done to the tsx.






I didn't like the dimples or the ridges on the top side, so I filled them in.












Still in the process of finishing these window switch bezels








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Old Oct 3, 2018 | 01:15 PM
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that's cool!!!!!!!!!!
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