My brother and I love detailing/restoring shitty old cars, especially cars that are cheap! A few days ago an 04 TL was traded in at the local Honda dealer where he works, Price was $500 before it went to auction, then it changed to $200 at the time of exchange, weird but we weren't going to say anything, and both gambled 100ea. It was pretty trashed... 260k and a few problems, neglect, & poor repairs. I've been doing mechanical repairs and my brother has been detailing the inside..

The good
*It kinda runs
*It's not on fire
*Found some weed in it

The bad
*Multiple misfires
*Plenty of codes
*Beat the heck up
*Sluggish steering
*Smokers car
*Missing/broken parts everywhere
*Wrong parts used for repairs




After a thorough outside was it's a solid 20 footer



Progress pictures coming soon..

 

It has an automatic transmission, so make sure you budget for that before throwing in too much money on making it look nice.


That's a great price though, you could easily part it all out and make 10x your initial investment.

 

Shifts solid, seems to be ok, what should I look out for?

 

looking forward to how this turns out!

always wanted to buy a TL super cheap and just bondo, sand down scratches and rust spots, replace parts that are beyond repair, and then finish off with a DIY vinyl wrap job, throw coilovers on, new wheels and bam. show car for the low.

 

Detailing has begun, everything has been pulled out of the inside, and is in the process of being cleaned/pressure washed.



Found a lost nug




Found a water leak too

 

Following!

 

Hell of a pick up. Could part the thing out for $1500+ easily.

 

Subscribed.

 

Looking forward to the outcome

 

Did somebody say weed?!?!?!??!?!?!

 

If I tore my car down; there'd probably be lots of green leafy substances that have fallen. little guys

 

Imagine if you were pulled over with a drug sniffing canine!?
But officer!!! it isn't mine!!!

 

I have a slightly different problem; I drink a special Oolong tea from Taiwan and the leaves are individually hand rolled and dried, and not surprisingly, before infusion they look a heck of a lot like pot. A few years ago I was working on a mini-ERP system in a factory just outside of Taipei and I brought back two kilograms of green tea. Yeah, about that; the tea got confiscated.

 

Yeah there was shake all over the trunk lol

Well it was throwing p0300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, & 306. After a couple minutes of playing hopscotch with the coils I found the #2 coil to be bad, I also found Autolites in it, after a new set of NGK's & a coil I have no more codes and it idles decent.

 

you're such a great person! taking an abused unloved car and making it healthy and lovable again. are you it's forever home?

 

i love this thread.
especially OP. he's gonna be fun.

 

Well done; I can't tell you the number of times folks have posted (here and on other sites) the "had" to replace all six coils and plug because the codes showed misfires on all (or most) cylinders. While two or more bad coils has happened a time or two, I'd bet 99 times out of 100, when a misfire code is thrown on an otherwise healthy J-Series motor, there is simply one bad coil.

 

I've had all misfires and then individual misfires just from doing seafoam.

 

Thanks, I try to take heed to basics first lol, I understand completely. And spending money is annoying.

 

I always play musical coils until one fails, if that doesn't work then I cry.

 

Hmmm...IP check with Brolando...
Y'all two have the same humor.
But yes, agreed...don't cry.

 

nope, different parts of the country

 

Love to see cars get a 2nd chance at life.

I actually picked up a 6spd TL as a winter beater a few months ago for $500 bucks. Car needed some love & had multiple misfires as well but ended up needing a motor. Gave the car a solid refresh along with the swap & I've been having been having too much fun with it. Hurt some feelings along the way which is always a plus..
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Good luck..

 

And some nug?! You guys really lucked out... In all seriousness though I really enjoy the threads like this of a beat up car brought back from the brink of death. In for more!

 

subbed.

 

another Desert mister brother! gluck with the restoration!

 

Agreed! Best part is knowing how close this total dumpster fire came to being a fixture at the local salvage yard.

Right?!! That's exactly how my brother acquired his 1990 Accord for $250, rust free, but it was totally wasted & trashed. Been his super clean daily for 3 years now.

Thank you!!

 

Best of luck on the project! Lots of valuable information on this site to help you along the way!

 

Thank you!

Yes unless it starts giving us fits, then it's getting 86ed.

Interior is slowly going back in after cleaning.




Pressure washing the seat belts..


Aside from a few cigarette burns it cleaned up well.


Still working on the driver area..


Leather is cracked on every seat bottom. Cleans up nice though.

 

Great work! That TL has seen much better days. Reminds me of why I'm not willing to let go of my TL. One of my biggest fears was having my pristine TL turn into a rolling dumpster. If you're ever interested in replacing the leather, an Ebay seller has the replacement skins for a very good price. https://www.ebay.com/itm/2004-2008-A...JY9jae&vxp=mtr. I posted a quick DIY in my build thread on how to replace the leather.

 

I need to look but I'm pretty sure I have a 04-06 3G steering wheel in my garage. Can't imagine it costing much to ship...interesting in buying it cheap?
PM me.

 

I hope this car holds up, because that's a priority at the moment, thank you!

If this one is a turd I'll get a hold of you for sure. Thank you!!

 

Subscribed. Always wanted to do this myself.

 

Sounds good, man...
I just assumed it was fuxed because of the wheel cover.

 

nice progress, well done.

 

Lot of work done, lot left. good luck !!! getting better with every step, I am going thru this with my TL too

 

Awesome build. Can't wait for an update.

 

Can't wait to see the finished product here!

 

Awesome progress so far! In for moar

 

Not as much got done on my days off, as I would have liked, we kept coming across broken/messed up parts at the salvage yard, so now its a waiting game until something else shows up. In an effort to keeps costs low we're sticking to salvage yards for parts, due to it's age, mileage, & condition. We also suspect it to have a bad head gasket, so that has us at a quandary with the next step, but there's plenty to work on in the mean time.

I started by cleaning up the rest of the bullshit in the engine bay


Aforementioned Autolites



All nice & factory looking, minus the plastic covers.


Next I painted the new mirror & replaced the busted one.








Decent match, I didn't know any mirror above 04 had 10mm studs, as opposed to the 8mm from the original, drilled the holes out a tad & it fits perfect.