Pulled it back in and finally took care of behind the gas lid which I've been dying to do.

 

Let the body cool for awhile. Then, with the cleanest it's been in probably 15 years, I set to work.

Started with the hood and took a quick progress pic

 

I used a Griot's orange pad with their complete compound. This was my first time using an orbital buffer on paint so I didn't want to get too aggressive. I didn't bother on bumpers or wing for obvious reasons. Then I used their Best Show Wax with a red pad and this was the result. I wasn't expecting miracles with how bad the paint is overall but I think it's definitely an improvement and the grille matches the hood a lot better than before.

 

 

Not too bad for polishing a turd I guess. The end goal for the body is too simply make it less worse so I think I'm heading in the right direction as far as that goes.

The clear on the roof is much worse than I thought it was. In addition to a few cloudy spots where it and the paint are gone, the remaining clear is starting to show tiny little cracks throughout as it's failing. My wife's car has the same issue so I think I may try my hand at putting a wrap on both of our roofs just to keep them from getting worse.

The lower paint on the rear bumper isn't that bad so I think my first attempts at spraying paint will be to do the top of the wing and upper portion of the rear bumper above the chrome strip. I figure that way I'll have hard lines to go up against so I won't have to try and blend it in.

If that is relatively successful then I'll try respraying the entire front bumper since the whole thing is a lost cause.

 

Spent about 12 hours working this weekend to begin the audio upgrades. I don't think I've ever spent so much time on the car with so little to show but I guess wiring is like that. My biggest and only issue is that the amp I got for the components is just a little too wide to fit above the glovebox in the CD changer area so that kind of threw off my whole weekend plans. It was a like new used amp for less than half of MSRP so I jumped on it without looking closely enough into fitment. My wife will probably end up benefiting from that but I've got a just as good but better fitting replacement coming that should work perfectly. Anyways, on with the show:

Head unit is a Pioneer single DIN. As much as I would have liked to go with a more period correct old school Alpine, I didn't want to give up newer Bluetooth connectivity standards. This one should work great though. Reason I chose it is the accompanying Pioneer app allows you to "unlock" advanced tuning features as such as an active 3 way crossover, 31 band EQ, and time alignment. I was originally looking at getting a DSP since those seem to be hot **** these days but they're so expensive and I think this should more than suffice in the meantime. It will also allow me to run active components which I've never experienced before so I have high hopes for sound quality once I get the tune dialed in.

Not wanting to hack into the stock wiring, I used the adapter harness for the long gone armrest phone to connect power, ground, and accessory turn on to the head unit's harness and tapped into the cigarette lighter harness to control dimming with the headlights on. That then plugs into the stock wiring harness:






I got the OEM double-din trim from Japan but apparently I need the proper brackets to actually snap it into place. That's on hold for the moment and I also have a like new OEM DIN pocket coming from the middle east because that was the cheapest and nicest one I could find. So I used the Metra DIN kit for now. I also finally got around to properly routing the wiring for my dash cam so it's no longer hanging down the middle. That and my phone mount charger are running off the 12v accessory outlet in the armrest:




Components are Focal Performance 165AS. Another solid "used" but never actually used buy for quite a bit off MSRP. Thanks to the guys on the DIYmobileaudio forums for hoarding equipment they never use and then selling it off for cheap.



Mounted up in door adapters with silicone baffles to seal against the door panel:



Nice upgrade over ML




However, I bought a half inch speaker ring adapter because I was worried about it clearing the window but then it was too thick to fit the door panel over it. Fortunately, the Focals had just enough clearance without the ring. More butyl rubber tape was used to help seal the back of the adapter against the metal door skin




The silicone baffles came with these egg foam pads to deflect rear soundwaves




Of course the door's crossbar is in the way but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try and use it anyway




And since I have more deadening then I'll need to finish the last door, I figured why not add some more to the fronts




The tweeters came with good angled surface mount adapters. Thanks to wifey for helping aim it while I marked mounting holes in the stock tweeter cover:





One of these days I'll get brave and try making fiberglass sail panels but this works alright for now

 

So yeah, that's it with audio for now. I only got the passenger side speakers mounted to test fitment but they aren't actually hooked up to anything yet. Still need to run speaker wires through the door boot. However, I did also run power and RCAs to the trunk for a future sub amp so at least that is out of the way for now.

 

And one other thing I thought I'd try that actually made a bit of difference: TRD door stabilizers! I swear I didn't buy these just because they say TRD on them. I don't remember how I found out about them but I saw the GR86 guys speaking positively of them in addition to a few mentions on here. I like to drive with my elbow on the door sill with my hand on top of the door and noticed it flexing against the body going over bumps and even pulling into my driveway that's on a somewhat steep slope. A bought a pair for the front thinking I'd just sell them off if they didn't do anything but they actually do reduce that flex enough to notice. Plus the doors close with a more definitive thud. I'll get a pair for the rear eventually too. Despite not being a huge difference, small improvements like these should add up in the long run as I work to stiffen the car up without reducing its ride quality. These are the universal ones btw. Our cars aren't officially listed as being compatible but they fit perfectly.

Black wedges attach to the door while a matching wedge/latch assembly fits in place of the stock latch. This wedge is spring loaded so it slides back as you close the door to ensure a tight fit between the two surfaces.

 

Have you noticed any noteworthy reduction in cabin noise after all the sound deadening you've applied, especially at 80+ MPH?

I saw one video where someone claimed that the door stabilizers even reduced road noise on his IS SportCross. I'm dubious about that claim. In theory, I could see how coupling the doors with the rest of the chassis could reduce resonance, but I'm not convinced a door latch striker and wedge can do that much with its limited contact patch. I'll probably get them anyway, but not for anything to do with noise reduction.

Last year, I was spoiled rotten by a 2022 Mercedes-Benz S580 and the gulf in exterior noise between that and the GS could not be more apparent. Knowing that I'll never get to that level, I'm still trying to narrow the gap within reason. Beyond the butyl sound deadening panels, I'm planning on fiber mat for the doors and front wheel wells, in addition to what I think is the biggest culprit especially on concrete pavement: the tires. I went with General G-MAX AS-05 tires in 2018 when I upgraded to 18" wheels, but I previously had Michelin Pilot Sport AS3 tires on the OEM 17s. I think the G-MAX tires are much louder than the Pilot Sport AS3 were, but too much time has passed and I might be misremembering things. Either way, I'll be entering the time frame for new tires within the next year or so, and I'm currently looking at the Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS+ for the next set.

 

Yes absolutely! I wish I had gotten an SPL meter to take before and after readings but it's too late for that now. The most noticeable sound reduction came from doing the trunk and then the roof. I agree on the road noise from tires. That's my biggest source of noise now and the car came with new Kumhos so I won't be replacing them with quieter tires until they wear out. Wind noise is very minimal too aside from the whistle I'm still dealing with around the passenger A pillar. The only other weak spots now are the windows but there isn't much that can be done about that I suppose. I wish we had that double pane glass that the LS430 luxury models got.

 

Nice work! The only cool thing about ML installs is it’s wired for active cross-overs from the jump.

very nice quality of sound out of this setup I’m sure.

 

Thanks! I finally got everything back together after working all day today and intermittently throughout last week. It took a few overnight Prime orders of additional speaker wiring and various connectors. It's been so long since I've done a full system that I forgot how much work it is and I still need to do the sub down the line. It sucks having no bass now. Speakers sound great though after a little initial tuning. I do need to get an RTA mic to really dial it in as the tweeters are a bit overpowering at the moment. I also managed to mix up the left and right channels at some point so I need to get back in and swap the RCAs when I get a chance.

Fancy new battery terminal and wiring. When I do the upper oil pan over Labor Day I'm going to upgrade the power and ground cables as well as do a proper mount for the fuse holder. For now it's just zip tied to the battery tray.





A more appropriately sized amp for utilizing the CD changer case



Testing before wrapping it all up

https://i.imgur.com/VRF50M4.jpg

Hides nicely

 

I may move the left tweeter mount around the corner of the mesh trim piece as I couldn't quite get it aimed like I wanted to. My driver door panel is also starting to give up on life. The panel is pulling away from the upper belt piece so I'll be hunting for one in better condition.

 

Labor day weekend = dad coming to town and work getting done

First up was upgrading the factory battery ground and power cables with 4 gauge



All connections crimped and wrapped in heat shrink naturally



The ground cable was a total replacement using factory routing while the power cable was added in addition to the factory wiring and ran straight to the alternator





Also replace the factory terminal clamp with another one from Knu Konceptz



1/4" ABS plastic trimmed and bent to serve as a mount for the fuseholder




Then we started tackling the valve cover gaskets. Got the passenger side done while replacing more electrical connectors

Here's some upper cam sensor gore. The wires were barely holding on and I can't believe it didn't trigger a CEL:





Repinned



And as expected, every single connector for the fuel injectors cracked upon disconnecting them. I was prepared and all on that side have been repinned






Looking pretty good for almost 220k miles. The forward most VC bolts were barely finger tight so I believe the gasket was contributing to my oil leak in front that's been slowly getting worse.






The original plan for this long weekend was to also do the upper oil pan gasket and pull the intake manifold to do the starter, rear coolant joint that's been leaking worse, and the knock sensors and all other connectors in the area. However, a few of the parts needed for that got delayed and won't be in until after my dad heads back so some of these goodies will have to wait for another weekend in the future






Driver's side VC gasket will be completed tomorrow while replacing more connectors along with the PCV valve although I probably won't take pics unless I find anything of interest.

 

Looking great Jon! I’m saving my power cables refresh for another segment but it’s definitely on the list since I’m relocating the battery.