The Heeltoe Difference

Some of my long time readers know that I struggle with work load. It can be overwhelming sometimes. People need their cars or property inspected and reports have to be completed so these people can get back to their lives. So I end up working evenings and weekends… a lot! In this line of work, it can be hard to find balance in life. But recently I’ve decided that I’m tired of living to work. So I will only work up to 1 hour extra per weekday above the regular 8-5, & no more working weekends!

The reason I bring this up, is so that my readers know why it sometimes takes weeks to update this blog. Life is hectic & sometimes more than others. But now that I’m taking weekends off, I finally had time to clean the interior of the TSX & Good Gravy, did it need it!I’ve been living in the car again & it showed. The last time I clean the inside was months ago, & I only cleaned the front (Oh the Humanity!) So the back was horrible. Especially considering that no one ever sits back there. To illustrate how rarely anyone is ever in the back seats, I just recently ( a few months ago at Lowe’s) discovered that the rear seats fold down with the turn of the key in the package tray. How sad is that? But on the flip side, even after 11 years, my car still has some surprises for me!

However, when I let the seats down in the Lowe’s parking lot, this is what I found… I never thought of myself as OCD, but I’ll admit, I had an impulse to march right back into Lowe’s & buy some rags & cleaning supplies right then & there. But it quickly passed and a couple months later, here we are. A bucket of clean warm water, a plastic brush, a bottle of Simple Green, & 3 hours later, the interior was again squeaky clean. I think next time I’ll take the front seats out & have my brother shampoo the carpet complete. Maybe even take the package tray out and give that a good blast as well. but that’s for another day.

It is now finally time to show you what I got from Heeltoeauto.

After the interior was cleaned up, I was finally able to install it. What is “it”? I bought the Basic OEM Wood Grain Dash Kit. I always liked the way they looked. The “Full” kit seems way too busy for me, as likely most will agree…I appreciate the contrast in the TSX interior. Dark on top & Lite on the bottom, & I wanted to stick with that.

I was a little worried if I would be able to get my hands on one of these kits. They are after all, an 11 year old OEM accessory kit. I looked around online & they are out of stock on just about every site I found. Even on the sites that said they had them, after calling or emailing produced the same results…don’t have them/can’t get them. I even called my local Acura Dealer (which I have a wholesale account with in the parts department) & they said they would be hard pressed to find one for me. But Marcus at Heeltoeauto said he could get one, & he delivered. I even got the kit for less than I would have thru my wholesale account at Acura. I only waited about a week or so before it showed up on my doorstep. I want you to consider that for a second… everywhere else was out of stock, or would need several weeks just to “try” to locate this out of production OEM kit. Heeltoeauto found one, had it shipped to their location, repackaged it, & shipped it to me all within about a week and a half! Needless to say I was impressed. It’s no wonder there’s so much good word on the internet about Marcus & his people at Heeltoeauto from all the Acura/Honda fans.  BOOM! Just like that, They Nailed It!

Since the kit did not come with any instructions, I watched a couple YouTube videos for some tips, & went to work. First it was suggested that I clean the soon to be, covered surface with some rubbing alcohol. Even tho I just cleaned the inside, I did anyways, & I’m glad I did…I went over the area 3 times to be sure everything was up so I would get a nice strong adhesion.  I took my time & did it right the first time. I started with the back doors as no one would ever be back there to criticize any screw ups. I’m pleased as to how it came out. I like the new look. Here are some before & after pics.

Rear Doors…

 

Front Doors…

Center Console…

I love the way the kit looks installed. But I’ll admit, the basic kit appears to be unfinished missing this one piece above the shift knob…You’ll notice that the lower cubby door cover has been installed crooked. That’s because The Princess & Little Man came home from errands as I was installing the last few pieces. Luke wanted to sit in the car & watch as I finished up, Which I was fine with. As I was installing the lower cubby door, my right arm was blocking his view & he apparently couldn’t see all the action, so right as I was laying it in place, instead of just leaning forward for a better view, he grabbed my arm to move it out of his way. I tried re-positioning it, but the 2 sided tape had already taken hold enough to where I didn’t want to chance it. I was extremely irritated at the time, but now looking at this picture I can’t help but smile. Luke has once again made his mark on one of my projects. I’m willing to bet that this wont be the last time either. My eye tends to gravitate to this misalignment, but now when ever it does, I’ll think of my son & I can’t help but love that little man.

Many thanks to Heeltoeauto.com for getting this rare kit for me to celebrate the rolling of 500,000 miles. I’ve since decided that for every major milestone henceforth, I’ll be ordering something from Heeltoeauto to celebrate the occasion! The next milestone will be the surpassing of Tyson Hugies Legend Coupe which is currently at 544,457. I may have to get something for Tyson that day as well, for it will be a sad day in Hugieville for sure! But at least he’ll have his new 5 car garage to cry the blues in. Haha…

Next week I’ll be updating maintenance & sharing what happened to my favorite stretch of road recently.

Shout out to Instagram follower xprehnz from British Columbia. Rolling hard in a ’08 TSX & a ’05 RSX. The Silver Bullets!

Thanks for stopping by!