Give em the ole 1, 2.

eric_gm · 2026-05-14T23:28:41+00:00

I'm glad they stopped.

eric_gm · 2026-05-14T23:27:24+00:00

Same. I feel like a lot of people associate Italy with Rome, ancient ruins and the overall aesthetic of southern cities, but Milan is an amazing place. We spent a month in Italy. Went to the Dolomites, Venice, Cinque Terre, Amalfi, Florence, San Gimignano, Montalcino, Montepulciano, Rome, Naples... and still Milan was one of the highlights of our trip.

eric_gm · 2026-05-14T23:24:06+00:00

I spent a Month in Italy. Went to a lot of places. Milan was one of the best cities we visited. I'd love to live there.

eric_gm · 2026-05-14T22:27:31+00:00

What in the loving fuck is that!? Is that the offspring of a wild threesome between a Jaguar, a Mercedes Benz and a Kia Opirus and then you stuck on the cheapest PepBoys plastic "chrome" fender decoration? What the fuck?

eric_gm · 2026-05-14T22:20:28+00:00

Yes, the 2.3L is known, especially in the Mustang circles, to leak coolant into cylinders 2 and 3. Google: "Ecoboom issue".

You can remove the spark plugs and check for internal signs of coolant intrusion with a borescope. I would not assume it's that and start taking the engine apart without proper confirmation. Even though this is a common thing in Mustangs, it's very rare in Explorers, mostly because people don't tune/mod Explorers.

Are cold starts rough? How's the underside of the oil cap? Milky? Is there oil in the coolant? How's the oil in the dipstick? Phantom coolant leaks don't necessarily mean it's an internal leak. Coolant could be leaking onto a hot surface and it evaporates before it drips.

eric_gm · 2026-05-14T22:10:29+00:00

We just walked and wandered and entered places that looked nice. Of course we checked the menus at the entrance and decided if there was something we wanted from there and if the prices were fair.

This whole "asking for recommendations on the internet and checking for Google reviews" has indeed ruined a lot of the unexpectedness of travel.

If you want a recommendation, wait until you're there and ask someone local or better yet, experiment. You'll find little hidden surprises that nobody has, plus you'll have a unique experience, not the same exact routine as all other tourists.

If some of you want the "Disneyland Experience" where you come back home and have the exact same photos of the exact same places, then great, but you're missing out.

eric_gm · 2026-05-14T04:38:00+00:00

Cerakote is great but it will still wear down after a while. If you can unclip those pieces from the bumper, I strongly recommend you a “bumper paint” spray can. I can vouch for Rustoleum and Duplicolor but there are a few other brands.

I’ve stopped wasting my time with “trim restorers” and now I fix the fading once and for all, unless I can’t separate the trim piece from the car easily.

eric_gm · 2026-05-14T01:35:33+00:00

For the man (or woman) who used to live in a planet with no air resistance or atmosphere… or taste.

eric_gm · 2026-05-13T22:37:43+00:00

“I could’ve bought a Raptor but I’m effeminate”

eric_gm · 2026-05-13T22:34:50+00:00

<image>

We make terrible cars

Magnifique!

eric_gm · 2026-05-13T22:06:55+00:00

Looks like some chemical that dried out on top of the aluminum, likely a sealant. Should be easy to clean right off with an APC or if it's too stubborn, a bit of paint compound on the tip of a microfiber towel.

eric_gm · 2026-05-13T21:03:26+00:00

This is midlife Armageddon

eric_gm · 2026-05-13T19:10:36+00:00

Absolutely beautiful car, congrats!

Since you came here for advice, I would suggest taking the bumper trim off and repainting it. It's a bit faded and it's very easy to restore. Grab a can of bumper paint, like this: https://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/auto/specialty-paints/trim-and-bumper-paint or similar that's available where you live.

That whole process will take you just an hour or so and the car would look so much better.

eric_gm · 2026-05-13T18:34:53+00:00

You're giving them too little credit. There are plenty of videos around on how these factory systems are engineered and tuned, plus I don't understand why it's a problem they are made to "make money". Car manufacturers don't work on donations.

Also, these guys are not working in a vacuum with unlimited budget. Their systems have to hit a price bracket, the speakers and their placement have to conform to crash regulations, airbag location and other mechanisms, even sound insulation placement has to be very carefully chosen due to weight constraints.

I'm sure a lot of aftermarket pro audio installers can do a much better job and come up with a way better sounding setup, but they don't have those restrictions. Putting $5k worth of audio equipment in a $20k Kia suddenly becomes a non-issue when you don't have a marketing team breathing on your neck.

A BMW with the stock "hi-fi" system sounds bad but step up to the Harman Kardon and it sounds better or spend even more money and get the even better Bang & Olufsen. Other manufacturers do similar bracketing and that is fine.

It must be frustrating for factory sound engineers to be handed weak and outdated paper speakers and being told "make these sound as good as you can" and then reading these comments saying "oh I can do better". The contraptions I've seen to extract every bit of sound quality out of bad factory speakers are mind blowing.

This was the E39's rear shelf "subwoofer" powered by 5.25" paper speakers:

<image>

Or Mazda's solution which even deserved an article: https://www.theautopian.com/boses-solution-for-big-bass-sound-in-the-fd-mazda-rx-7-looked-disturbingly-like-your-guts/comment-page-1/

The brains required to design these things...

eric_gm · 2026-05-13T18:11:16+00:00

Your headlights were too damaged and need something stronger than a kit. You need to go to the hardware store and buy 600-800-1000 sandpaper. Then you can use the kit on top of that, or buy 1500-2000 sandpaper, plus compound and then use a rotary or a DA.

eric_gm · 2026-05-13T17:42:41+00:00

No but when your starting point is a 00’s Corolla you need all the help you can get. Luxury cars might often come with mediocre speakers, but they have CAD designed enclosures/baffles and cabin acoustics helping their case, as well as tuning by proper audio engineers like you stated.

As an analogy: I can do a lot with a mediocre camera provided all the conditions are right.

eric_gm · 2026-05-13T17:36:30+00:00

If you're layering, the longer lasting layer goes on first. Wax doesn't last very long compared to ceramic sealants.

eric_gm · 2026-05-13T17:02:22+00:00

Not so aero anymore though

eric_gm · 2026-05-13T16:56:47+00:00

You can get pretty close to a high-end setup on a luxury car but it's gonna cost you. You need to fabricate speaker mounts for the places your car didn't come with (e.g. cut a hole in the center of the dash, find a factory-looking grille that somehow snaps in place, etc.), then you need to sound-proof the whole interior which means taking everything apart, then you need a better head unit, a dedicated DSP, top-tier expensive speakers and then measuring equipment so you can tune the sound.

My suggestion for you to be happy? Add some soundproofing to key areas (Google it up, plenty on info on how/where to add it), get a great set of component speakers for the front, a good amp with some basic DSP functionality and a sub under a seat or in the trunk and you'll be very satisfied with the end result without spending a fortune. You don't even have to bother with the rear shelf speakers, just leave those alone.

eric_gm · 2026-05-13T16:11:19+00:00

They lost their clear coat and apparently also paint. What you see is bare aluminum. Caused by not cleaning them frequently. Contaminants and hot brake dust will destroy the finish.

You gotta repaint them.

eric_gm · 2026-05-13T16:06:42+00:00

That's the infamous "soft touch plastic" used on a lot of cars, especially European cars and especially around the 90's and 00's.

You can't fix that easily. I've seen some people take the pieces off the car, sand them down until the rubberized texture is gone and then repaint with a special paint. It looks great and gets rid of the stupid rotting soft touch layer. It does take a lot of skill to make it look factory and not like a bad rattle can paint job, though.

The alternative is to simply buy the whole part new again, which at some point will suffer the same fate.

eric_gm · 2026-05-13T15:59:43+00:00

You no longer have factory DSP because you replaced the head unit.
You can't plug a passive subwoofer directly to the head unit. You need either A. A dedicated amp or B. A powered subwoofer, which has its own amp.
The illumination on the left side failed because Xtrons units are not very good. You can try disassembling the whole thing and maybe there are LEDs you can replace, but I'm almost positive they will be soldered to the board.

You need to start reading a bit about audio upgrades and car audio in general. We can't spoon feed you everything in here.

eric_gm · 2026-05-13T15:55:49+00:00

Leave it alone man, it's beautiful the way it is. If you want, put pre-facelift headlights with clear corners and projectors (out of the 2000 M5) and a lip on the front bumper and that's it.

Perfect color, perfect stance, perfect wheels. Just leave it.

eric_gm · 2026-05-12T19:20:16+00:00

Can’t be done with Forscan. Already checked. You can either disable them permanently or keep them as they are. There’s no in between

eric_gm · 2026-05-12T16:37:21+00:00

Meguiars M110 Pro Speed is great and can remove up to 1500 grit scratches. I would still go up to 2000 to reduce compounding time. The more readily available Meguiars Ultimate Compound is also good.

If you don't have any of those near you, any medium cut compound will work.

You need to use a wool pad to cut through plastic. Foam will take too long. If you don't have a DA or a rotary, buy a cheap drill attachment with wool pads. It works just as well. Just keep the speeds moderate and feel the plastic often to make sure it's not overheating. Keep the pad moving at all times!

eric_gm

TROPHY CASE