I also need to figure out where to put a DVDRom. I have a full-size one from a desktop system that I thought about shockmounting under the driver seat..but..I might rip one out of an old laptop and have the nice mini-DVD..but, I still don't know where to put it! I considered dremmeling a hole in the passenger dash, but..I don't know if I can make it look clean enough... Any ideas? Talking about a standard Laptop DVDRom drive..
So...the pictures!

First...the front dash pulled off(thanks Mike for the instructions)

What was under the dash...

What I found in the dash! That's the Glass Breakage sensor for the 'Security' system. It's next to the air setup on the passenger side..

Here's the factory GPS antenna. Yes, that is the defroster vent it's attatched to.

Here's the power supply for the computer. Huge, ain't it? It slid in behind the AC controls and shifter. Fit pretty well..I had to slide it over slightly to get it to fit with the stock AC outlet housing..but it all went together. Above it is my 'aftermarket' GPS. A Rand McNally serial GPS with no top.

And a closer of the aftermarket GPS

Here's the lower half of my Alpine EQ brain..which..needs to move. It rubs the bottom of the seat if you put the seat down. The Inverter is the blue thing.

Here's the mess in the 'passenger seat' area. Note the center console and passenger seat missing. The factory Nav is sitting on top of the EQ brain.

And here's the aftermath. As I don't have a replacement screen yet (it should be here Thursday. I get to drive with this lovely view.

And finally..my new puppy, Dade. Leashed to my Hidden Hitch and staying cool under the car.

I'll resize the pics better when I can think..and, when I build a little website about the whole project. This is a nice peek however.

"He inched his way up the corridor as if he would rather be yarding his way down it."

"For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen." - Douglas Adams...we all miss you

Nope, nope, nope!

My Vibe pics on Cardomain

2009 Chevrolet HHR SS!

Well, that's actually a darn good idea... Only reason I wouldn't is the fan in the inverter is quite loud, so i'm using the rear seat to muffle it.. I moved it under the driver seat..it's a snug fit, but it should hold up pretty well. I'll probably put in a temperature sensing system to keep tabs on overheating..

Quote, originally posted by Mr.Poopypants »

You are a braver man than I, I wouldn't even think of ripping my car apart that much.

Quote, originally posted by damronjr »

Nope, nope, nope!

It's not too bad, actually. Just imagine, I know what most of the stuff back there does. Can you picture ragingfish with the dash apart, the headliner off, and who knows what else missing? He's the brave one! I merely tread in his footsteps..

The most nervewracking part was disconnecting the air bag..but, that turned out to work pretty well..

On another note:

I hooked up one of my desktop LCDs in the passenger seat and got everything working today. Lo and behold, my makeshift GPS reciever works! Hahah! Now I just need to get better software. I'm using DeLorme Road Atlas 2005, but I really need to get my hands on iGuidance 2.1 by iNavCorp. It supposedly does things WAAAAY better.

And more good news, the computer actually -eliminated- most of the noise I had in the radio. There was some residual stuff coming off the MiFi, but a small in-line GLI fixed most of that right up.

I'm waiting on the in-dash screen and the power controller. Once those come in i'll be all set. The next big part of the project is figuring out how to get the screen -in- the dash...argh..

"He inched his way up the corridor as if he would rather be yarding his way down it."

"For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen." - Douglas Adams...we all miss you

I'd just put my mac mini under the seat and have it held in by double sided tape, then put a screen somewhere. LOL! I probably couldn't make anything more complex work.

It's actually not as much as it looks like...the worst part is yet to come.. I saw a Matrix XR that built the screen into the dash, which is what i'd like to do, but that requires a little bit of fabrication...which..i've never tried.

Anyone have an extra dash bezel they can part with?

"He inched his way up the corridor as if he would rather be yarding his way down it."

"For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen." - Douglas Adams...we all miss you

if you get into fabrication for thing to mount to/in teh top part of the dash, i'd like to where you go or what you do, since i am at that point for one of my projects.

i admire the scope of the project and how well you are doing it thus far. are you in an area where you are able to get wireless high speed internet (UMTS) or anything?

last question...

you don't happen to have a picture of the bottom of the dash or a close up of behind teh cluster do you?

thanks, and nice work again.

Jeff

This is going to be my basic instruction set: http://www.mp3car.com/vbulleti...45897

With this being the end result:

Without the radio on the bottom...

Quote »

i admire the scope of the project and how well you are doing it thus far. are you in an area where you are able to get wireless high speed internet (UMTS) or anything?

Thanks! It's been something i've wanted to do for a while..and though it's not 100% what I really want to do, it's a darn good start! I'm just outside of Atlanta, so I could get VZW's highspeed mobile, and i've heard that T-Mobile has something similar. However, as i'm broke (and STILL no job) that'll be down the road. For the time being, I have a choice of USB or PCI wireless cards that I can use to get WiFi where available. If I go with PCI, I can get a magnet mount antenna on the roof, unless I mod the USB version. The wireless utility on SP2 makes it easy to find access points, as well as a program called NetStumbler.

Quote »

last question... you don't happen to have a picture of the bottom of the dash or a close up of behind teh cluster do you?

Not as such... There is a pretty amazing amount of space back there, and I did happen to find the relay pack for my Remote Start that I had jammed up in there. Is there something specific you want? I know i'll be taking the dash apart again on Thursday (when the screen arrives), so I can snap something then if nobody beats me to it.

"He inched his way up the corridor as if he would rather be yarding his way down it."

"For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen." - Douglas Adams...we all miss you

Wifi is a good idea. here in the bay area we have UMTS from ATT. its about 200-300kbps, but its the ENTIRE bay area, highways and all. but its $80/month

Quote, originally posted by Jahntassa »

Not as such... There is a pretty amazing amount of space back there, and I did happen to find the relay pack for my Remote Start that I had jammed up in there. Is there something specific you want? I know I'll be taking the dash apart again on Thursday (when the screen arrives), so I can snap something then if nobody beats me to it.

well, i initially misunderstood you. i thought youw ere going to carve into the top of the dash, not the radio faceplate thingy. i need to carve into the top of the dash (your very first pic on this post).
how thick is that covering?

if you do have it apart and can spare the time, i sure would appreciate a shot of the bottom view of the dash cover (bottom of your first pic) and a pic or two of the area behind the cluster (maybe top view and a side angle view). that would really help me a lot. I'd really be thankful.

good luck... i know it was hard to part with your nav, but i think this is going to be totally worth it!

So far I'm going to go with one of three options.

1. Mini-Usb keyboard, about $20.
2. Mini wireless keyboard, about $60
3. Mini keyboard, about $15 (as seen here http://www.mp3car.com/vbulleti...41136

I'd like to do the wireless one, but then I have to figure out where to put it when i'm not using it. The MiniKey is an awesome idea..but again..where to put it! I might do some combination of that, and a wired mini-keyboard that I can stash somewhere, or maybe figure out a way to latch it to the headliner, hm...

Drat, now I need to put in a USB hub!

"He inched his way up the corridor as if he would rather be yarding his way down it."

"For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen." - Douglas Adams...we all miss you

I've been consulting with him on logistics for this one...

I'm letting him take the lead on this project. I may or may not do this based on whether or not he has success!

2006 PONTIAC G6 GT COUPE (AKA the Karmic Nightmare )
3.5L 3500 V6 SFI (201 HP @ 5600 rpm, 222 lb-ft @ 3200 rpm)

keyboard option 3 i could see nicely flipping up from a holster on top o the steering wheel or column. if you ned to run lines to it, i can show you since i have the experience of staring at open clocksprings for hours.

you could also mount it on the underside of the center console. open teh console and unlatch for easy typing.

if i were going to do it, i would probably avoid the temptation of making it too accessable to the driver, and make it a pop up thing when you open the glovebox. more of a passenger side ammenity though. i doubt youa re looking for that.

keep us posted. let me know if you are able to snap any pics tomorrow.

But.. I also have no money. So..hey! Hopefully this will work out. Depending on how successful I am with mounting the screen, I could do it for others!

As for the keyboard... jeff, I like the ideas.. I think i'm looking for something that's more stow than go. Something I can pull out and use if i'm just sitting somewhere. This will be mostly for the driver, but I like the passenger thing..er..glovebox.

Long day, much?

The screen is probably going to be ghetto rigged at first, at least until I can scrape $25 for an extra dashpiece. (Yes, broke.) Function over form at first..I need to get the better nav software as Delorme sucks.

"He inched his way up the corridor as if he would rather be yarding his way down it."

"For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen." - Douglas Adams...we all miss you

Maybe I just don't pay any attention but you are using a touch screen right?

And i'm only a little behind in the times. But yes! I'm using a T-View T-700TS 7" Widescreen Touchscreen. It has one VGA input, and two video inputs, plus USB touchscreen.

Here's a newer update:

Ha HA! The screen finally came in! It's the T-View T-700TS/ 7". It might not be the best in the world, but I got it off ebay for $210 shipped, and it seems to do the trick! There's a Matrix user on this board, who recently posted on the Vibe board about how he mounted his screen, and i'm going to be followign practically the same procedure. It won't look as pretty, due to the fact that he used a Lilliput (I think), and I have the more square TView, but... It'll still look pretty decent.

Now, pictures!
Here it is, fresh out of the box.

Here it is hooked up to one of my other systems. I believe it's running 1024x768, the 15" LCD is hooked up DVI, the TView is VGA. Still pretty decent! Touchscreen is working well after the initial 4-point calibration

Here it is with some video from media player. The TView has an annoying red tinge to it, which the ATI in that system can correct, but right now i'm running onboard video in the car, and it doesn't have that. I'm contemplating finding a PCI ATI-based board on the cheap, just for the Catalyst drivers. No AGP on this system.

Here's a comparison of size to the hole in the dash. I think I have two options. One, cut the bottom of the dash trim off and mold the casing into the dash. Two, pull the screen out of the casing and make an inner shroud, mounting the screen to the existing dash.. If..you get what i'm saying.

Here's the lameo boot screen I made for it. Still needs some work, but that was the first one, and I didn't put too much effort into it.

Here it is running Centrafuse, which isn't fully setup and running yet. Just threw it on there to see how it looked.

And the obligitory wide shot of the screen with the dash. I've since changed the method of 'temporary' mounting. In these shots i'm using the flexible base that came with it and kinda 'anchoring' it between the dash trim and dash. This morning I took out a headrest mount from one of the other projects I had, and cable-tied it in the dash. It's designed to slip onto the poles of the headrests and hold a screen up, so right now it's cable-tied to the factory radio mounts. It seems pretty solid, and I can pull the screen out by unscrewing the bottom of it. Security is an issue around here now, and until it's -in- the dash, i'm going to be pulling it out of plain sight.

Still waiting on the DSSC. Yes, serial power controller. The guys at Dashwerks said they're waiting on a part, so it should be here sometime next week. Then I'll really get moving on things!

"He inched his way up the corridor as if he would rather be yarding his way down it."

"For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen." - Douglas Adams...we all miss you

This from 6/5:

And here's an update! I'm about 90% there, (just waiting on the DSSC shutdown controller)

So, some interim pics:

Here's the 40Gb drive i'm using for media (replaced one of the 20's), and an old HP DVDRom. I'm using an IDE-to-Firewire adapter that supports two drives, and extending the molex from the PC to the drives. Works surprisingly well!

And here's the mess of running wires. I ran:
- Power for the glove box drives
- USB behind the screen
- VGA
- Firewire
- Seems like other stuff, but it's been a blur!

The USB hub behind the dash. Right now for the screen and my WiFi. Probably gonna put in an extension and figure out a nifty way to have a visible USB port.

Here's a nice little touchpad I got from Target a couple of years ago. At $20, I couldn't beat the price! It's just PS/2, but it has a long cord, and reaches perfectly. Good for when I need more specific control than the touchscreen.

Here's my WiFi adapter (and my EQ control above), I'm using the little velcro holder so I can disconnect and hide the WiFi if I want to.

And here's the results of chopping up my screen! I decided not to chop up the dash, and it fits well! A combination of Epoxy, and well placed screws helped with this one. I chopped the power LED, and kept the buttons along with the IrDA reciever. This is just a test fit (to make sure the screen still worked after all I did to it.)

More to come later!

"He inched his way up the corridor as if he would rather be yarding his way down it."

"For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen." - Douglas Adams...we all miss you

Inder

1998 Nissan Sentra

Surprise coming soon.... http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=23129

2004 Pontiac Vibe - 52k and counting
Cosmo CAI

Two new additions, one being a seperate LCD Character display, and the other an AC Extension reel so I can run the PC off AC! Mostly because i'm still on stock battery, and, well...it's crap. I need to do some research on 12v power supplies and see if I can put one in the trunk so I can possibly run the car off AC. Hey, i'd already be wired up for shows! I just need..y'know..performance mods..and a paint job...and for the car to not look like crap.

So, pictures!

First up, the LCD itself! It's a 2x16 (2 rows, 16 character) display that I ripped out of a demo for a Beltronics FX1 performance meter I grabbed from CC before I was (summarily) fired. The demo did nothing but repeat a little loop of features, but the screen could be used! Here's a shot after I got it working with one of my desktop PCs!

The trick with this is, it uses the parallel port, and 5v. Well, I already have an independant 5v power source, thanks to my XM power adapter, so, tap into that, tear apart a parallel port extender, and voila! Here's a shot of what my desk looked like while I was trying to wire it up.

And here's a shot of the back of the LCD panel after I cleaned everything up. The ribbon cable came from an old Canopus DVRaptorBay that happened to go on the pins perfectly.

And here's a shot of the donor device. Right now the LCD is up in the headliner (no pic yet) and looks kinda crappy, so what i'm going to do is cut off the sides, and jam just the window part into the headliner, so at least it LOOKS decent. That's a project i'll probably try later tonight or tomorrow (depending on the monsoonlike rain outside at the moment)

And a promo shot of what the FX1 display would normally look like.

Next up, the AC reel!

This I also ganked from CC. I have two of them now. They came from those shop flourescent bulb reels where you have the 18 inch flourecent tube on the end of a 40 ft reel. Well, the bulb holders were destroyed, and I got to keep the reels! So, what I did was reversed it. I put an AC plug on the part that reels out, and attatched the other end to the relay. It works fine in testing!

And here's the relay. I've had this thing hanging around since high school! A simple industrial AC switched relay that Johnson&Johnson was using in the machines that make BandAids. (I'll explain that if you want..)

Anyway. The way it works is this. The Inverter normals through the relay, so the relay doesn't do anything when i'm powering from the car. However, if I plug in the AC reel, the relay automatically switches the computer over to the reel's AC, and the computer will power automatically!

If I put in a battery charger, i'll probably put in a cutoff switch with some sort of circuit breaker as well. But for now, it's JUST the PC, so i'm not too concerned.

Still waiting on the power controller. It's been like, four weeks! I'm giving the guy a couple of days to respond to my last email, then i'm thinking about going to paypal and saying the guy never gave me the goods..

"He inched his way up the corridor as if he would rather be yarding his way down it."

"For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen." - Douglas Adams...we all miss you

i would love to see clsoe up pics of the fit of the LCD screen. i can;t believe you got it to fit.

what are you using teh little monochrome LCD for? Digital radio title, etc?

my projects always seem so small compared to yours i have project envy.

nice

I will get more pics of the indash screen, I still need to 'black out' the white text at the top of it.

The character LCD is going to be system status. It's going to have time/date on the bottom and change through the following up top: CPU Temp, Case Temp, CPU fan speed, Case fan speed, CPU usage, Memory usage, and computer Up-time.

I found a little program called LCD Smartie http://lcdsmartie.sourceforge.net/ that controls the display. Though I could have Centrafuse control it, I think I like the idea of having the background system info scrolling where I can see it.

This is one of those projects i've wanted to do FOREVER. And, of course, it's not going to look 'exactly' how I want it..but..i'd say it's going pretty well and easy for the moment!

"He inched his way up the corridor as if he would rather be yarding his way down it."

"For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen." - Douglas Adams...we all miss you

Quote, originally posted by Jahntassa »

My god, I thought I had a ton of crap on my computer desk!

I have one of those corner desks, too. Two computers running (though both the monitors you see are for one computer)

Where the vise and soldiering iron are is like..all the usable space at the moment. I can never keep the thing cleaned off!

"He inched his way up the corridor as if he would rather be yarding his way down it."

"For a moment, nothing happened. Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen." - Douglas Adams...we all miss you

Holy crap!
There is a computer on that desk.
Have trouble seeing it past the mountain of electronic stuff.