[W126 Coupe] ipod integration: ? for audiophiles and electrical types

[Shayegan, Richard]

I'm thinking of going in a new direction with my ipod integration.
Instead of hiding the ipod and the audio jack, I'm thinking about
getting this
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_ID=193794 and
making a cutout in the coin tray where I epoxy the metal plug into a
cutout I'll make in the coin tray, and sticking the ipod on that
whenever I want to use it in the car. On the other end, I'll break apart
that cig. lighter plug, splice the power wires in it to the wires on the
back of the cig. lighter and then running a 3.5mm to dual rca cord to
the aux input on my head unit. Here are my questions.

I know numerically 3.5mm and 1/8 inch are not equal, but in the world of
headphone jacks, are these the same?
If not, anybody want to buy a 1/8 inch to dual rca adapter :-p

What kind of audio degradation will I face running from the port on the
ipod, to the 3.5mm jack, to a 3.5mm to dual rca adapter, to the aux
input?

I take it I use the same resin-core solder for this purpose as I used to
hook up my speakers?

Anybody know a way to dye epoxy palomino? This may not be necessary, but
depending on how much of that plug I need to stick out it might be.

Oh, and does anybody want for free an agent18 ipod case that fits the
30gb photo ipod or 20gb color ipod? My ipod was within the 14 day period
so I swapped it for the new ipod video.
Thanks,
Richard