Only $23 each so I got 4 of them, made in China. Ricer mod # 14: eBay turbos made by Technix. and eBay electric turbos that replicate the sound of turbos but do not add power.a modified Apexi WS2 axle back with six-inch exhaust tip.Nguyen sourced an unmolested 1998 Acura Integra LS from San Diego and compiled a laundry list of period correct mods including: After his aforementioned collision, Nguyen mothballed this aero kit until in 2015 when his comeback project began. An authentic Cali Type R front end, while different in 2008, was a cleaner look. It was a snapshot of what import tuning looked like in the early 2000s but was showing its age around the time JDM became all the rage. Nguyen’s first Cali Type R aero kit had a Cali Type R front bumper with Invader aero kit. Somewhere along the line someone called it a “Cali Type R” front end conversion, and it stuck. A real JDM front end conversion meant new fenders, hood, front bumper and a modified core support.īy enlarging the headlight area around the original Integra dual roundels, stuffing headlights, often sourced from junkyards, from not-so-popular first gen Acura CLs, and finessing fiberglass to make it look as clean as possible, you could pull off a JDM look at a fraction of the price.Īftermarket body kit manufacturers caught onto this trend and soon incorporated this fresh look on their front bumpers, adding in their own variations. Essentially, the look was a combination of import tuners wanting the looks of a JDM Acura Integra front end conversion without spending thousands of dollars on parts from Japan. Super Street does a great job chronicling (no pun intended for those in the know) the Cali Type R conversion. I'll get to those next month.A bit of history first. I didn't wire up the fog lights because I didn't have a relay handy. Because I was fitting an HID kit meant that I just had to wire up the high beams. You'll need to cut USDM headlight plugs and connect them to the rectangular plug-luckily, the wire colors match. ![]() The JDM light has a large rectangular plug and the USDM has two plugs for the high and low beams. The small issue of wiring the lights is really all that's left. All that's left is to secure both fenders, the hood and the bumper with the rebar behind it. You'll also have to cut a small portion of the side of the frame sheet metal, otherwise the JDM lights won't fit. Then take it all off and weld the support into place. If not, adjust the support until everything looks even. ![]() Before you go welding everything up, use some clamps to hold the JDM support in place and mock the front end up to see if all the gaps line up. We overlapped the JDM support onto the USDM one to ensure proper and precise fitment. With all that in mind, it was a no-brainer to cut only the portion that we needed to replace.Īs the pictures show, measure carefully, take your time and don't press too hard when drilling out the rivets as the metal tends to deflect quite a bit. The issue isn't the cutting itself but the spot welds that hold the support in need to be drilled out and that will take forever if you plan to cut it all out. Because it's thin sheetmetal, the support doesn't offer much structural rigidity and to cut it out completely would take a fair bit more time than to cut half of it out. You can cut the entire rad support out or cut a portion of it out. ![]() ![]() After you remove all of the USDM front end, including the bumper support, you'll have to cut the rad support off and use the JDM one because the headlight brackets and hood latch are in different locations. I'll skip the step-by-step process and quickly cover some of the more critical elements of the conversion since really all you're doing is swapping some sheetmetal over. As long as you measure twice and cut once, you'll be able to pull this off at home. Don't be intimidated, though-it's not as hard as it may look. This swap may scare some people because it requires cutting off part of the front rad support and welding on the JDM one.
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