I really cant believe I didnt post this over here but since I sat down to "update" my build thread i guess i should make one first
Im gonna copy the opening post from k20a.org and then add my "update"
Hi everyone. I have been a member here for quite sometime but have yet to post a build thread and since I got time today, I thought why not?
Here We Go!
I have a 2007 Acura TSX. I bought it almost three years ago w a little over 27,000 miles on it. It was pretty low miles at purchase and has continued to be that way. I just turned 60,000 miles this past week and the car remains to stay somewhat close to stock. The theme of the car is to have the most of everything while retaining a predominantly stock look. basically someone would have to take a double take to actually realize whats going on.
So far, I have done the entire sound system. The new system consists of alot of overkill because of the equipment being left over from my last vehicle which was a SPL street pounder of a F150 Harley Edition. The system got somewhat downsized but still has alot of power behind it. I used the stock h/u and tuned the system to max out around the 15lvl on the stock nav volume and is tuned for SQ.
System includes
2 sets of Focal 165K2P in the front doors and rear deck
1 JL Audio 600/4 (150 watts going to each door speaker)
1 Sundown 3500 (capable of [email protected]@12.4v. I have it [email protected] w/approx 1900w going to subs)
Wiring=JL Audio Blue RCA's and power cables
Power=Under the hood I have a Duralast yellowtop and in the spare tire area i have a Kinetic HC2400. Even at full blast the electrical system stays at/above 12.5 volts.
Pics:
Tweeter through the widshield
Volt Meter and 1st Bass Knob placement
Box build pics
Placement in Car (Sundown3500 Hidden at the top of the trunk on a hinged amprack to allow to keep dvd for nav in stock place)
Next was the exterior. i wanted something clean simple and since i have had all black trucks up until this point i wanted something dark and somewhat mysterious looking. i blacked out the tail lights, rear safety lights, turn signals in the mirrors, grill, I also tinted the windows.
Next was wheels. I admit, i got a great deal on these. Like they were free kinda great deal. I found an add on craigslist for someone wanting to trade aftermarket wheels for stock ones and i jumped all on it. It just so happen that they were the exact look i was wanting.
After the wheels were on I knew i had to lower the car, it had wayyyyyy too much gap. I started looking around at the typical manufacturers. I decided that since $$ was tight i was just gonna do springs and since the stock struts still only have 50k miles on them @ this point, i would make a decision about them later.
I chose Tein S Tech springs because a member on the TSX forum was selling for cheap so i went with it. I installed them myself in a day with little to no knowledge of how it was supposed to go. It didnt go to bad.
BEFORE
Next was brakes. The brakes on the TSX are absolutely awful!! First I replaced the rotors and pads, and then again a year later. While i had it apart i decided i would change somethings.
Rust Buildup
Cleaned all four of them w a wire wheel and drill
Painted Red
This is where the real custom starts...
After replacing the rotors and pads twice in two years i decided something else needed to be done, but with aftermarket kits being so expensive and me being layed off from work there is no way i was going to fork out the cash for an aftermarket set of calipers and rotors. So i went back to TSX club forums to see what others had done, all of which were either too expensive and over the top or not enough. I finally came across a member who was selling the Acura RL 4 piston calipers. I bought those and a Nissan 350z rotor and got to work. I ended up having to collect parts for sometime but the final product is absolutely amazing!
Thats about it so far, thats installed. This fall im going to get into the engine. So far I have magnaflow exhaust (installed) and a Weapon R header and 45* VTC in the shed. In the fall i plan on ordering the RBC intake, hondata gasket, RDX injectors, and a tune. After reading the recent Import Tuner magazine, im hoping to be in the neighborhood of 250whp, which should make my TSX alot of fun. It will handle, look great, sound great and move!
Enjoy
First Trophy for the TSX! With all this work done, i was still placed in the stock class....stock look, but wayyy more bad ass!
Once i Finally got it stopping right, it was time for the gooooooo! I started by purchasing parts whenever they came up for sale because its always cheaper that way. My first goal was to make the car breath better, both in and out. I already had a custom 2.5in magnaflow exhaust so I added a weapon R header to that and the exhaust was done.
and I had pictures of it installed but i just got a new phone and they seem to have disappeared lol
Next was getting the air in.
After racking my brain for months over RRC or RBC intake manifold I found a member over at k20a.org selling a RBC for cheap, so i took it as a sign and snatched it up. Once that came in I was still on the fence about changing out the VTC. I had never opened the motor and really had no experience in that portion of the car. So after some long thinking sessions and ALOT of research over at k20a.org i got the balls to order a RBC 50* VTC. Installing it would end up being just a little bit more involved than i imagined but in the end came out perfect.
When i installed the VTC I also went ahead and put on the RBC and Hondata IM gasket and hybridracing throttle body gaskets. After all that was installed i used the map from Hondata for the TSX they did for Honda Tuning magazine, since it was those articles that I based my engine mods after. I figured since it was good enough for Hondata its gotta be good enough for a while for me. I still do want to get a custom tune from VitViper. Just waiting on a little more cash to come in. After these mods I experieced not only a huge HP increase but also an increase in MPG. Now i get somewhere around [email protected] and [email protected]
A few days later, I experieced something no guy should go through...my rubber ripped. lol. I dont have a pic of this but im talking about the rubber boot between the IM and the intake box. i wanted to keep a stock look and sneak up on anyone that decided to check under the hood. But when this boot ripped it kinda shit on that idea. I didnt want to buy another that I knew would crap out and aftermarket ones designed for this problem were stupidly priced!
So I decided to build my own intake. I used the 3" UBI kit from Airaid and a few other odds and ends from jegs.com. I then topped it was a K&N cone filter. I think i spent less than $130 on the entire setup.
Here is the engine bay after all the dust settled. Please excust it for being dirty. Its not show season and Ill be honest, I havent been very motivated to keep it clean since i have moved and the weather has gotten cold lately.
After the motor was "done" i realized i was driving a rice rocket! Meaning the exhaust was WAYYYY to loud on the highway. I started using the term, prisoner to my own exhaust. Its bad, I have been around sound systems almost my whole life and im guessing on the highway above 80 its around 115-120db. LOUD! and with a 5k sound system an exhaust competing with it is exactly what you DONT want. So it was time to up the sound deadening. At first I used the last of a bulk pack of dynamat I had from my old Harley F150 build that I had laying around. It was no where near enough.
So I got on ebay and ordered 100sqft of fatmat. I had used this material previously on my accord in highschool and remembered it being decent for the price. Upon recieving it, I almost sent it back. The material itself is almost as thin as the paper that it sticks to. No lie, paper thin. So i decided to double and triple it up. As long as you get all the air bubbles out of it and stick it straight to metal it works just the same. So in the trunk I trippled it up ALL over.
instead of doing the same area three times, i decided to cut sheets out of the roll and then stick three together, leaving me with material that was thicker than the dynamat extreme i already had.
and of course in my haste to finish the trunk I didnt take a finished pic lol
Then a few days later I decided to pull the interior and fatmat the floor. I decided that when I trippled the trunk it actually made the material not plyable and thus made it not want to stick into creases and such very easily so I only "doubled" the floor.
Also while i was in there i pulled the old cheap RCAs I installed first time around for my JL Audio BLUE RCAs. It made an audible difference in the Focals. My doors finally sound like they have small subs in them and the midbass has finally decided to show itself.
After putting the interior back together I spent the next few days tuning. and tuning. and tuning the system. Right now im faily confident i could compete with absolutely anyones SQ setup. To date this is the best sounding car I have ever heard, that uses stock speaker locations and for the most part is almost completely concealed. Not to mention a STOCK HU.
Almost forgot one huge mod! Well it wasnt really a mod, it was a DE-mod. I decided that it was finally time to rid myself of the last piece of SPL equipment I had. At one point I was deep into SPL. I won a couple comps, got some cool stuff but for whatever reason NEVER got laid @an spl comp lol. It was ALWAYS dudes. It was fun for a while and some of the things me and some buddies built was absolutely crazy. I still think i might have the record for the largest T-Line in a vehicle ever! lol
Yes those are JL Audio 13w7 and they were tuned at 21Hz if i rememeber right. It would do a hairtrick @20hz and the human ear could just barely hear it.
But in all honesty, SPL is dumb. You should up, make it go boom and then its over. it has nothing to do with music. So out with the old and in with the new.
The BEAST the day I sold it
He weighed just a little over 30lbs
Then since i didnt need to support a behemouth anymore, I decided to pull my old Kinetik HC2400. This thing was the size of cinderblock and weighed almost 70lbs.
IN with the NEW!
JL Audio 1200.1HD. I stole this thing off ebay and am so glad i searched as long as i did because i got this thing for over half off retail prices. Here it is the day i recieved it in the mail.
I lost absolutely no SPL and gained an emense amount of SQ. Its overall just a cleaner amp then the Sundown SAZ3500 was and is over half the weight and doesnt need a huge secondary battery to power it. This De Mod took almost 100lbs of dead weight out of the trunk. Although i believe eventually i will add another secondary just to stabilize the system it will be a much smaller battery. Probably one the size of what the TSX comes with under the hood. I dont have any install pics yet because I am trying to get a few parts so I can fiberglass a sexy amprack in the trunk. Right now they are crudely screwed to a board in the wheel well
Haha. So modest. But seriously. Next on the list is some nice wheels. If our cars were parked they would stroll right past mine toward yours.
As far as sound processing.... There is none. I ran straight from the amp through the JL Audio Blues to the 600/4HD and then out to the JL 1200.1HD. That's it. As long as the stock pioneer amp that came in my 07 is healthy, the signal is flat all the way up to about 15 on the dial. In car audio all you need out of a signal is for it to be clean and flat. Any processor is going to do the same and allow some adjustment. I just don't feel like the 07 needs it. Idk about other years though. Other years may have different amps with different BL curves in the amp that may need some sort of processing.
Worked on my fiberglass amp rack today. I think I have the layout exactly how I want it. Now the question is...how am I going to finish it. I have something up my sleve, but Im no telling anyone. Just know it should be pretty sick when its all done with. Now for the pics:
Getting the outter frame of the JL 600/4HD and JL 1200/1HD
How the amps were in there before
Holding the frame in place in the back of the trunk near the latch
View of plastics from VinVestors before i cut it
Then after...i had to do a little more trimming before it was done, but this gives a good idea of what I have going on.
Quick mock up of about how its going to look without amps installed. Im going to place them in there to where if you look from this angle your going to see the JL coins on the front of the amp
Ready for fleece
Cutout, glassed, and ready to dry.
In place for the night. In the morning hopefully since i put it in its place the resin wont pull and it will be perfectly molded into the spot i want it.
Damn...no love for the amp rack? Maybe it just needs more pictures.
It still isnt done because im waiting on the materials im going to wrap it and possibly the ABC pillars. Ill probably post a poll on that before I do it because if I do the pillars its going to be ALOT more work.
The amp rack has gone through more sanding then I would like to even talk about but here is almost how it sits right now. I have it installed and the amps working, but when I installed it, I jumped the gun and the paint hadn't dried completely so you see the small white marks on it :/ but after another round of sanding and more dry time it will be back to almost perfect again.
Then the cherry on top! You dont have one of these! It is the coin that comes out of the back of a 12w7 motor structure. :king:
I recieved my Innovative Mounts 85A urethane mounts on monday and I wanted to get them on ASAP. So today I got started. I only got to do the side and rear because of time constraints but im hoping to finish the front on Friday.
On to the pics.
When I opened the box I was hoping for a fully polished piece but unfortunatly that wasnt the case. So i got out the 3000grit sand paper and my polish and go to it.
Here it was when I first opened the box.
I used the Meguires quick detail to lube the sandpaper.
Here is after a pass with sandpaper and polish
Right side has had a pass of sandpaper and polish, the left is nothing. You can start to see a shine.
Here it is when I was done, this is two passes with 3000 grit and Meguires cutting compound 2.0 and finished with Mothers aluminum polish.
:drool:
I had only one gripe about these mounts so far. The side engine mount bolt holes that bolt to the body of the vehicle had holes that were oblong and were too small to fit the bolts through and needed to be drilled out. I have contacted Innovative about this problem and believe it will be resolved before anyone else is able to purchase them.
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TSX Club is the perfect forum for Acura TSX fans and Owners, where you can discuss concerns about reliability or how to upgrade your TSX with mods and accessories.
