This is the result of 11 months of effort bringing the Bullet 350 back to life.

BHPian arun1100 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

15 years of searching for the lost Bullet, then finding and enjoying the motorcycle. Close to a year of restoration and how much I missed this motorcycle!! All I was hoping for was for the restoration to be completed on time and the restored Bullet to be the way I had expected.

After 11 months of efforts from Mehboob garage and countless hours spent by me at the garage, finally the Bullet was back home and happy to say, that my parents, and wife were surprised to see the outcome of the restoration. I always enjoyed the process of restoration and witnessing by being at the garage in person. The restoration experience has been wonderful although frustrating many times due to the unprecedented delay in completing the works. The next task is to get the documents updated by getting the Fitness test done. Looking forward to some memorable rides with my family's heritage motorcycle!

Back home after the fresh restoration!

Bullet parked alongside my 1960 Ambassador Mark1. Two Black beauties!

Dad invited his old friends home to see the restored Bullet!

Collage of two pics 50 years apart!

• Pic of Dad, his friend and the Bullet taken in 1974.
• And the latest pic of Dad and the Bullet taken in 2024.

Dad's Classics United! - 1997 Bajaj Chetak || 1991 Premier Padmini Economy || 1971 Enfield Bullet

Thank you for reading, ride safe!

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The Bullet being my daily ride and considering the Bullet was now 52 years old and me touching 40, I felt it was the right time for doing up the ground-up restoration.

BHPian arun1100 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Restoration of the Bullet to its full glory! - May 2023 to April 2024

Kindly read the first post of this thread to know how I acquired this motorcycle! Two years after the Bullet was found, purchased, and partly restored, it was time for the complete restoration. The Bullet ran flawlessly during the last two years post the quick restoration. The Bullet was my daily ride and considering the Bullet was now 52 years old and me touching 40, I felt it was the right time to do the ground-up restoration.

The Bullet was serviced at Mehboob garage since the '80s, I decided to get the restoration done at the same garage. In May 2023, I visited Mr. Syed and Nawaaz of Mehboob Garage and told them about my aspirations of the Bullet and what I expected of the restoration. They inspected the Bullet and gave some info on the work to be done approximate costs and the timeline for restoration to be complete

My expectation from the Bullet is a perfectly done-up engine with any modern bits to make it more reliable and, should look like a 1971 Bullet. Some exceptions from originality are ok with me like the cosmetics, latest type meters, switches, handles, etc which are modern but OE from RE.

With the understanding and expectations clear between the Garage people and me, we started off with the restoration!

Restoration begins! - May 2023

Mr. Syed, owner of the Mehboob Garage

Closely inspecting to estimate the work to be done

Nawaaz also inspects

Selfie with the Bullet before it was dismantled!

In a few hours time, the entire Bullet was split into parts

Chassis

All the parts which are not needed by the garage are loaded in my car for safe storage

The Engine being dismantled

Heavy crank of 9.1 kgs

Mr. Syed examines the engine parts

Daughter Yashna. During a regular visit to the garage.

Bullet's Body and Chassis work - July 2023

The body parts' tinkering was done

Toolboxes

Corroded parts were patch-welded

Chassis being worked upon

Body parts prep work before the painting

At the painter's garage.

Seen here are the painted parts of other vehicles

Stickering on the painted body parts - November 2023

Here's my Bullet's tank painted and ready for applying the sticker. Lacquering is pending.

Mr. Syed applied the various stickers

Rear mudguard. The sample tail light was fixed to know the position of the sticker to be stuck

Yashna with the painted toolbox!

Sticker applied

Here's the completely painted toolbox

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The RX125 is 25 years old and will have been in my ownership for 20 years by the end of 2024.

BHPian SnS_12 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Thank you Sir. These RD’s came into my life at a time when I was not financially in the pink of health but still did my best that was possible at the time and eventually as things improved the bikes got a better second shot at life.

The thread has been dormant as the 200 was not being used as the 2T oil leak from the manifold made its appearance again and then one thing led to another and I just parked it away. Last month I had to get paperwork sorted where the RX and RD were due for renewal and the 848 had to be transferred to my name. So, once the paperwork was completed I decided to get the RD 200 and my friend's RD 350 (this one has been lying unused for over 8 years) sent in a tow truck to my friend's place to get them running again.

Both the bikes were loaded on the towing truck this Monday and for the RD 350 I had kept my fingers crossed hoping that the engine at least won’t need any major work and a basic service should get it running. On the 200 the oil leak source had to be identified and also the front suspension tubes had to be replaced along with the front brake master cylinder and both the tyres, which are over 15 years old now and were never changed because of the limited riding.

Some pictures…

Both bikes are set to go now. Building folks had an interesting view out of their windows on a Monday morning. Even the building watchman was like "Sir, where are your bikes going?"

Just needed basic maintenance and it now starts on the first kick. Mechanically it works like a charm. Mr RX is giving it company as had taken to get the rear shock absorbers changed along with the old Michelin Pilot Sport tyres.

The RD 200 post a wash looks just like new.

My RX is the only bike which has no dedicated thread on Team BHP and being my first bike gets its thread space mostly here. The old shocks are off.

Posing next to the RD with its new shocks and now awaiting the tyre change

The final look and the bike are now sorted for another decade. Fun Fact it is now 25 years younger this year and will complete 20 years with me on 14-11-24.

Now, waiting for the RD 200 and RD 350 to join it and its other garage mates.

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The motorcycle was fitted with a bigger carb from a Bajaj Pulsar 200 and also had a K&N air filter installed. It was a perfect sleeper bike.

BHPian SunnyBoi recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The Apache belonged to a very good friend and I have been seeing it since it was new. Sometime in 2015, he received a surprise birthday gift from his wife - a RE Thunderbird 500. Since then, the Apache has taken a backseat.

Two years later in April 2017, we were discussing something when the matter of the Apache came up. He told me, why not take it? At that moment, I did not have a bike in Bangalore and gladly took him on that offer. So I went to his place later that week with a new battery in hand since the old one would have been toast. The bike of course did not start. The old fuel had gunked up the carb. We got it opened up by a mechanic and the pilot jet was just jammed and the head came off, making it impossible to take out with a screwdriver. Oh well, somehow we got it started and I rode it home.

Why is this Apache special? Apart from its history, the engine had been modified. It was bored out, new sleeve and a bigger piston put it, effectively making it 193cc instead of the standard 149cc. A bigger carb from a Pulsar 200 was also used along with a K&N Filter. This bike was the perfect sleeper. Looks like any other Apache on the road but goes like no other!

The day after it reached my house, after a good clean

Workhorse gets its first service! I got a great deal of Motul 300V from Amazon and ended up buying 8 or 9 liters of it. Ever since 300V has been the only oil it's running on. The damaged pilot jet was replaced with a new unit and the workhorse was ready to release all those horses!

New Rubbers. Zapper FY1 from the R15 doing duties in the front

The venerable Michelin M45 does duties in the rear

Workhorse experiencing the David and Goliath moment with an Africa Twin parked at home next to it

The instrument cluster came off

It was upgraded with all LEDs and a polished lens making it look better than new!

Workhorse even did light touring whenever it was needed

It was time for a serious brake upgrade

All done! Ironically the Apache had a bigger rotor and better feel than the RX despite the same pads and caliper.

May 2023. I come to Bangalore by bike for a couple of days and I meet up with a good friend at his house. Finally got to see his Duke 200 in the flesh. He did tell me he was looking to upgrade to a 390 Adventure at the end of the year. Hmm, this looked like a good contender for the next workhorse, especially after experiencing first-hand working on a Duke myself and the ease of getting parts for it.

Around June 2023, I was back working in Bangalore. I had a long 50KM commute every day and the workhorse took it on like a champ. However, the cracks soon began to appear. All this while for the past 5 years, I've only been changing the oil and basically not doing any other maintenance. Small things started to fail. The side stand would droop too much, one-way clutch would break down and have to resort to kick-starting.

One of the days, the bike refused to start after a routine grocery shop stop and I could hear loud puk puk noises when starting, as if there was a major exhaust leak. Spark plug intact, exhaust intact, still why? Turns out the carb just fell off the manifold, sigh. It worked itself loose and I never saw or felt the signs. In no way were these faults of the workhorse, but a testament of my negligence. All this while. the Duke 390 was getting superb treatment.

Fading into the sunset?

At this point, I was thinking about what next with the workhorse. Should I replace it with a newer bike? Or go all out and get it modified in other aspects to overcome its current shortcomings? I wished the suspension was better on the workhorse and I needed to do something about the foot-forward stance, I needed rear-set footpegs. Suspension from the Himalaya/Xpulse and rear set footpegs from the RTR? Or do I get a different bike? I was happy with the power it put out and the 35-36KMPL I would get from my daily commute.

While mulling over these, I was returning from work one day, late October 2023 and the clutch cable snapped. I somehow rode for another 10KMs, parked the bike when I couldn't ride anymore then took the metro and reached home. In my closet was a brand new clutch cable, still sealed and purchased 2 years ago and I was too lazy to change it despite the obvious signs since then. Enough was enough. The workhorse desperately needed a proper service and it was time.

Heading back to Mysore for its fixes

I rode back with my Duke 390. I have used the Duke in Bangalore for a couple of days at most, but never on a daily 50KM commute, 6 days a week. Riding the bike every day finally after putting so much effort into rebuilding it was great. However, filling up the bike every 3 days with 800 Rs of XP95 wasn't. The duke served me for 3 weeks in Bangalore while the workhorse was getting serviced.

List of fixes. Head rebuilt to fix slightly leaky valve stem oil seals. While in there, why not put fresh piston rings, timing chain, chain pads and tensioner? new valves, clutch plates, rear shock absorber rebuild and slight fork bend were also corrected. A new complete one-way clutch was sourced and I could use the self-starter again.

The next day, I rode back the workhorse slowly, varying speed between 40-60KMPH to seat in the rings. Power had definitely increased thanks to the new top end and rings! I was told to follow the running-in procedure for about 800KMs. At the end of 800KMs, I slowed down a lot and didn't feel like going fast. Maybe I've become older and an uncle now but hey, all for the better.

All this said, The ergonomics still irritated me. I couldn't shake off how much better the Duke felt in terms of suspension and ergonomics. The brakes? Workhorse was far ahead in a different league even with the Duke and its new master cylinder and EBC pads. I still love the brakes on my workhorse too much.

Another 2 weeks go and I hear my friend with the Duke 200 moving away from Bangalore. This probably meant he would sell his Duke for sure. I deliberated for two days and messaged him.

...but wait, what happened to the workhorse? It may be retired for now but it will get its moment of glory soon with a proper cosmetic restoration. The chassis has surface rust on many spots since it's over 17 years old now. More things will get fixed and it will do duties back in Mysore whenever I'm there. The workhorse for me is a permanent addition to my stable. The Dukes may go but the workhorse will never leave.

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They already owned an Austin. They acquired it some 40 years ago and have restored it themselves.

BHPian Jeroen recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My good friend Berndt had decided to sell a few of his oldtimers. Berndt had asked me and two other friends, Marco and Kees, to come and help extract them from his garage. Those of you who follow this thread will be familiar with Berndt's garage. It is not easy to find anything in there, let alone get anything out.

The new owner showed up with his son and his granddaughter Mila, who was very excited about it all. They already owned an Austin. They acquired it some 40 years ago and have restored it themselves. Both of Berndt's cars are going to require some major work too. But nice to see these two cars go to an enthusiast who will restore them and make them road-worthy again.

We had the first car out and on the trailer within 25 minutes.

They drove off to take it home, we went for another round of coffee. Next, we started extracting the second car from the garage. It was parked all the way, stuck in a corner. We had to use a trolley jack to swing the rear out.

I was surprised to see the tyres still held their air when we pumped them up. Even more surprising, the brakes were still working. I had expected them to be completely seized. British engineering at its best!

After about an hour and a half the new owner returned with the trailer for oldtimer number 2. As we were about to load up on the trailer, a bunch of one-HP vehicles came pass!

Nice old registration plate. Look carefully, it is mounted on a contraption that can swing. So if you lower the boot, the registration plate will swing and remain vertical and visible.

Myla insisted she would winch the car all the way up onto the trailer! Strong little girl, she just kept on going!

On it goes

Berndt has a couple of lockups where he keeps more cars. We are going to move some more of his cars. One of these currently hidden cars needs a new gearbox. Berndt being Berndt doesn't have a new gearbox, but he has several old ones. So we will be doing some swapping to see if we can find one that fits and works.

In the Netherlands cars over 50 years of age do not require an annual inspection APK (MOT) anymore. This last car still has its Dutch registration so as soon as it is road-worthy, all it needs is insurance, and can be driven once again. It will take some work as the head gasket was blown a couple of years ago.

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We have located a Tata Sumo at a scrap yard and will be sourcing the power steering pump from it.

BHPian Sanidhya mukund recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

First drive in 9 years!

A major milestone in the project: The car runs and drives! This is the first time in 9 years that the car has moved on its own power. The mechanic managed to get the car going without the power steering pump. We have located a cannibalised Tata Sumo at a scrap yard and will be sourcing the pump from there, which will probably take a week. Meanwhile, the car was driven onto the elevated washing pit and the entire underbody and the rims were painted black.

After the painting was done, the mechanic took the car for a short spin around the garage:

Next order of business is to send it to the panel beaters to cure the body line of any dings and blemishes. Post that, paint, electrical and interior will be done. On the mechanical front, we are left with Radiator replacement, sourcing the Power steering Pump and AC Compressor, fitting the fuel tank and fuel lines, and giving the entire car a good service (differential oil, engine oil replacement etc.). The car will hopefully be fully done by mid 2024.

A video of the car in action. Sorry about the poor quality; The video was sent by my mechanic as I was not present at that point in time.

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The owner was an elderly man in his 70s and was honest about the car's condition. He even gave us the original owner's manual!

BHPian BeemerBug_06 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Warm Greetings to everyone. It has indeed been a long since I last wrote something on the forum. Work and other commitments never seem to leave me with enough time to sit back and write on TeamBHP.

Anyway, expect this to be a fairly long and detailed thread. As for the title, it may have you wondering as to why restoring a 1995 Maruti 800 is being called Mission Impossible. Read on and you will know. Also, let me add that the restoration job has not been one that was light on the pocket but considering the car in question was a 'money no object car' it does not really matter. The result however does matter, greatly!

PROLOGUE

Now here is a little backstory.

Those of you who know me personally know that I enjoy spending my free time tinkering with cars. Having spent a lot of my days over the years with my friendly neighborhood mechanics - Ravi and Sanjay bhai has taught me a thing or two about working correctly on a car. As a result, I love to work on cars, especially older ones and help the owners with getting them up to speed.

An enthusiastic friend of mine named Chetan, who happens to own a rather diverse garage and also the 1990 Premier Padmini that I worked on last year, gave me a call in September 2023.

He wanted to know my opinion on how viable it is to purchase a Maruti 800 today. Me being myself, I told him to go for it immediately if he came across a good car. The 800 is one of the simplest cars ever to work on and maintain. Parts availability is still good, so it would make for a good choice. His reason for wanting one was interesting though. He mentioned that his uncle owned a White Maruti 800 SB308 (Second Gen) which he had purchased brand new in the early '90s. He went on to tell me that his uncle truly loved the car and used it for several years, driving it across the country. Sadly, the car was sold and does not exist anymore, but the memories made with it were priceless and his uncle fondly remembers and misses the car till date.

His plan was to find a White 800 of the same type, restore it to near brand new condition and gift it to his uncle on his upcoming 70th birthday in March 2024. What a lovely gesture I thought to myself. I agreed there and then to be a part of this process from start to end assuring him that it would end with his uncle having the best birthday present ever!

Searching for an 800 is no big deal given the millions of numbers that they sold in and are still around in. However, finding a car that is well looked after and largely original is a challenge. We strictly wanted a car that had not been tampered with much and was in good honest condition overall. At the end of the day, a 25+ year-old car would naturally command some work so we did not have unrealistic expectations.

THE CAR

We saw a few cars listed online and a few more in person but none of them seemed to tick the right boxes. They were majorly rust buckets with multiple owners and expired paperwork. The fact that we wanted only an SB308 (Sold between 1986 and 1997) narrowed down the search greatly. One day while scrolling through a Facebook group I came across an ad for a 1995 Maruti 800. The Ad proudly mentioned that the car is a FIRST OWNER vehicle, being posted by the owner himself. It had its fitness and documents in order and was asking for a very reasonable price. There was only one picture in the ad. The car seemed pretty decent going by that one image. I decided to send it to Chetan and he contacted the owner.

Purists would notice that the rims aren't original to the SB308 and are from the Type 2 model. But otherwise, the car seemed fine from this angle at least.

Chetan spoke to the owner. The owner was an elderly man in his 70s, an architect by profession who said he had purchased the brand car new in 1995 and had driven it about 90k km in all these years. It was his first new car. He was honest about the fact that the car was not in great condition and needed work but was largely left original and had been kept running at least for the past few years. His reason to let it go was that his age does not allow him to maintain it like before and the fact that it does not get used lately. Hence, to avoid it from deteriorating he had finally taken the call to sell it off. He was nice enough to send us some more images of the car and a video of it running (it sounded healthy).

The car did look tired. It was dull, the interior had its share of wear and tear. The door trims were from a later model. But at least it was honest, unlike some of the others we had seen which had fat layers of filler putty painted over the rust to hide it and other hidden surprises. Note that this car was largely still on original paint apart from one of the doors and the bonnet which had been replaced at some point due to a small fender bender.

Honest opinion - Good base; mechanically seems good. Documents are sorted. Cosmetically needs attention.

We decided to leave this car on the backburner for a bit and look for better options. However, we found ourselves back with this car rather soon. Chetan then came to a common standing with the owner regarding the price and the car was sold. A mistake we made was not going and examining the car in person as both of us were busy with our respective jobs and the car was located in Thane. Considering the honesty of the owner and the material he sent us, we decided to go for it anyway as time was ticking.

A photograph of the car on the day of purchase, shared by the First Owner. This photograph would remain the ultimate aim for our restoration project as we wanted to get the car to this shape!

This would end up being my first full-blown restoration project!

THE ARRIVAL

So the deal was done. Chetan paid the owner and the car was ours to take. The owner suggested avoiding driving it to Dadar from Thane because the car had not been in traffic or travelled a fair distance for over 5 years. He was not sure if it would make the distance without breaking down or overheating. Furthermore, it was in need of new tyres and an issue with wheel alignment. So we decided to tow it down. I went to pick it up from Dadar the same evening and to my surprise, it had arrived on a flatbed! Free upgrade I was told.

The owner had sent literally everything related to the car with it. Things such as an extra carburettor, fuel pump, belts, ignition coils, and even some other stuff which was nothing but junk.

I got into the car. The driver's side door and A-pillar were both terribly rusted: eek: Rust is a game spoiler. Especially with older Maruti cars such as the 800, Zen and Esteem. But anyway, this was a restoration project so in Rust we Trust!

I barely turned the key and the car rose to life and began to idle steadily albeit a bit on the higher side. I slotted it into the reverse and released the clutch. The clutch was weak and the car moved only once I had taken my foot almost entirely off the pedal. Again expected in an old car like this. The engine was fine as hell and did not make a single whine or rattle. So that was a big win. So my first thought was that the car was honest. A what you see is what you get sort of thing. It had been maintained but neglected at the same time. Bet that's a tough one to understand.

The fuel was low in the car, so I decided to drive it to the petrol pump for a quick fill up That was when I realised what 'alignment issues' it had. The car had a very strong left pull and the tyres squealed out loud. Clearly, it needed new tyres. I had to hold the steering diagonally to keep the car straight for the most part.

Filling up

Among the original bits left behind for us was this - The original owner's manual!

Handwritten Service History helped confirm that the car was genuine. The car had very high running in its initial years. Along with this, the owner had also sent a folder full of old bills from local garages, fuel receipts and other documents such as photocopies of the Old RC book and tax receipts. He also promised to give us the original invoice of the car, if he managed to find it. I love seeing things like this!

Back Home

Continue reading about BeemerBug_06's restoration project for BHPian comments, insights and more information.

Even though this old Mercedes W210 has a non-complicated NA diesel engine, I replaced all these parts just as a precautionary measure.

BHPian Vmax1200 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Last week, my day started with a frustrating twist – my car refused to start! Well, after ruling out the usual suspects, I did some quick research online and found that a malfunctioning fuel shut-off valve can prevent the fuel from reaching the engine. Luckily the “Merc Motors” in Cochin had it in stock and I got it replaced.

Even though OM605 is a non-complicated NA diesel, the parts which may prevent the engine from starting are the fuel shut-off valve, crankshaft position sensor, air in the system due to worn O rings and Diesel plunger spring. So, as a precautionary measure, I replaced it altogether with the fuel shut off valve. The V belt had a noise in the idle RPM. So, replaced the damper and spring. Now, the engine runs very smoothly at idle. Planning to fix new diesel injection nozzles too.

Fuel shut off valve

Tensioner

Crankshaft position sensor

Nozzles

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It was a nail-biting 2 days for me when the EMS tracking showed "Present to import customs" at Ahmedabad.

BHPian ads295 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The hunt for OE spares

The second batch of spares from Kerala have arrived (spare headlights, tailights, all 4 power window motors with winder mechanism, chrome strips for all doors). The seller didn't send the air purifier I'd asked for, though. These are all backup spares and nothing will actually go on the car right now.

Below are the spare parts orders that I've placed so far. I began with Hyundai Mobis India and ordered the rest through Avto-Korea.

Shoutout and my heartfelt gratitude to TBHP member “KK_HakunaMatata" - his references were invaluable in my spare parts search! Both of these companies were recommended by him earlier in this thread.

Mobis India order 1 - placed 30/11/2023:

Mobis India order 2 - placed 13/12/2023:

Mobis India order 3 - placed 26/12/2023:

Avto-Korea order - placed on 28/12/2023: (I subsequently added 1 small part worth $6 which isn’t shown here)

Kogoos parts Korea order - placed 15/01/2024

Since the windshield is removed, the rubber moulding that seals in the windshield is done for and has to be replaced. I was told to get one for the front as well in case I wanted to change the front windshield later. I asked Avto-Korea and they didn't have them! It was a jolt for me because I thought they carried everything. However, help came in the form of Kogoos spares Korea who had the exact parts in stock - in fact, they arrived the first!

They arrived on 30th January 2024. I was pleasantly surprised that India Post did not charge customs (the technical limit for customs duty exemption is goods value worth ₹1,000+. The box clearly mentioned parts worth $40). It was a nail-biting 2 days for me when the EMS tracking showed "Present to import customs" at Ahmedabad.

One quirk was the Korean newspapers lining the parts when I opened up the box. My wife is a BTS fan and was chuffed. Here are the pics of the mouldings.

Now the pending work is as below:

• Full body respray
• Interiors to be refreshed - seats, roof lining, fabric upholstery on the door cards
• Spares install. Nearly all spare parts are yet to arrive! Mobis India is taking their own sweet time

The project is taking longer than I imagined but then that’s the price of wanting to do a 100% thorough job. I can’t wait to see the car put back together after a complete respray!

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The entire interior, including the boot area, was sprayed properly. Now, all the old rust spots are completely gone.

BHPian ads295 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Time for the weekly update.

The paint process was technically completed on Thursday, 29th Feb, 2 days ago. The car has been drying since. What's more, it rained heavily today here so we got the paint done just in time!

Water drain area had slight surface rust. Cleaned up and painted. (Red is just a reflection)

Entire interior sprayed, including the boot area.

All the old rust spots are now no more. The car is good to go for the next decade!

The spares situation hasn't improved. I pushed the local Mobis exec to write to Hyundai management. He took WIP pics of the car to add to the story. He spoke with the Mobis outlet owner as well. I'm writing to Hyundai Mobis from my end as well. Here's hoping this ends soon...

Finally, I decided to go for Mannol ATF since they have a specific SP-III grade that corresponds to Hyundai/Kia specs rather than the multigrade Motul stuff. I got a response from the company directly so it's almost too cheap, at less than ₹850/L. Saved a bomb not going for the Hyundai ATF! Also got coolant and brake fluid for the car from Mannol.

As for engine oil, everyone recommends 5W30 but Hyundai recommends other grades for temps exceeding 38°C. Below is a screenshot from the owner's manual.

After some hunting, I managed to find some semi-synthetic 10W40 from Mobil. It seems as though the higher temp grades are not made fully synthetic.

I ordered a 3M Headlight Clear Coat so that the headlights don't yellow out again after I've cleared up the current yellow layer. It took me a lot of research to get there. This one review covers everything I found during my research:

I was in a fix regarding the car audio. I'm not an audiophile when driving, at least not when there's a sonorous V6 under the hood, but one of the stock speakers has distortion and tearing even at normal volumes. Rather than mess with the stock wiring, I'm going to replace the speakers with superior ones. I like the factory look anyway.

Watch this space for more...

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