Baldylocks

Guessing that you have read my Workship Tip - just use the drill bit. If you twist the grommet round about 90 degrees, there is a hole already there which is currently sealed, you just need to pierce it with the drill bit.

Raj is right - short of making you a cup of tea, that's an awesome bit of kit. Mind you, for the money, I'd hope so :)

Are you going to be using the standard speakers? Either way, you'll need a head unit adapter lead to enable you to plug a standard ISO connector into the existing wiring loom: eBay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Lexus-is200-se-sport...1QQcmdZViewItem (The flipping price has gone down - I paid £50 for this a month ago!) And a fascia adapter to let your fit the head unit: eBay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Lexus-IS200-Car-Ster...1QQcmdZViewItem That's for starters, will get the head unit talking to the standard speakers.

You'd probably find that the hot ash vs tomato test would result in the same 'jump' response - a blob of mayonnaise on your work trousers just makes you look like you indulged in lunch-time self-abuse :)

Thanks Carolyn... I am well chuffed with them, but I have developed an irrational fear of curbs now - you need a taxi to get from the door to the curb when I park up now :D Have a sniff in the yellow pages or Yell.com, I am sure someone in your area will do the job. Just make sure they take off the tyres, shotblast and spray the entire wheel before you part with any cash. I think Lap-Tab have franchises now, have a look on their site, you might get lucky. Have a look in the Gallery here, someone might have dark alloys on a silver car...

I went ot Lap-tab in Birmingham to get my wheels refurbished, cost about £250 (although I did catch them offering 25% off). They did an awesome job, I got them resprayed in Anthracite, and they look really good (in my humble yet biased opinion). I am not sure if they offer a warranty on the repair, but everything I heard about the work says they should last a fair while. If it's good enough for Quentin Wilson, it's good enough for me :) http://www.lap-tab.co.uk/alloywheels.php

Don't be tempted to leave the alarm off - if some toerag is setting it off so you lose your rag and leave it switched off, they can just sneak in and rob you. Happened to a mates Beemer a few years ago, the thief just kept on setting it off over the course of a week until he left it off, woke up the next day and it was gone. They found it a week later wrapped around a tree.

Ay up Si what you been drilling mate?? Please tell me you are not using a drill to do it... Just the drill bit?

I've got a fairly low regard for the standard amp... mostly because I had a complete nightmare trying to remove it... That's right, I tore it to pieces trying to get it out :D

You tried the fader control, i.e. putting emphasis on the front speakers? I'd have thought that would drop the signal going into your amp/box, so avoiding the cut-out.

Is the LS much different from the IS in terms of it just needing a fascia plate and a wiring adapter? If so, £600 is flippin' steep, and a grand is a joke. Come round mine, I'll do it for £500 lol

I'm a clumsy sod, so taking the battery out was a blatantly obvious move - I need a bit of room otherwise my delicate office-workers hands get scraped to pieces :) Took me 25 hours last weekend to re-cable and install my stereo ripped out of my old Golf... talk about a job lol Taking out back seats to remove speakers was the most daft thing I had to get my head around, although it's obvious enough how and why they do it like that. I've always had or worked on small hatchbacks, so as my first saloon this was a nightmare job! Sound's SO much better now though, although I need to invest in a new sub... and a boot build is just crying out to be done :)

Replacing speakers with aftermarket one's will always make a difference, but you have to be really careful with the output you get from the standard head unit... From what I have read here, there are 4 cables per 6x9 as standard (2 off +ve and -ve's), because they are effectively 2 different speakers per 6x9. They are at different ohm ratings (one pair at 4 ohm, one at 8 ohm, I think), so the amp is at risk of over heating if you use the wrong connections to your new speaker. Do a search using the Search function, it should be able to explain more. As for the standard head unit and connecting to another Amo, I think there is a pre-out ont eh head unit to do so, but as I never even considered doing this (my standard head unit was screwed) I have not researched it. Again, run a search and it should pop up with something.

I've just posted a new thread on that exact topic, right here: http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...showtopic=42798 Hope it helps, give me a shout if you have any questions.

Your biggest problem there is the shape of the things - they are described as "6x9 Rectangular", and you have a oval hole to put them in. The picture kinda backs up my theory. Square peg in a round hole rings a bell. You could get a bit brutal on the rear shelf and cut it to fit, but being a saloon, and bearing in mind the window is really low, that has every oppurtunity to be a long and painful job. I had to use a socket set to get the original 6x9's out because of the lack of working space, let alone cutting the metal there. It took me an age to do, but the Amp route is, in the end, the best bet. Also, are you thinking of replacing the head unit? You'll need a facade plate and wiring loom adapter off eBay if you are.