BMac1203

sweet deal, looks good!

Fair enough! Well Im not in a hurry either, as its ~20 degrees outside daily hah. But look for my thread, it'll have more pics and exactly what you asked for.

Yup, no shine. I might try something different next time. I was using it as a primer and then stepped back and said "hey, that looks pretty good!" I put it in the car, and it still looks good, so I kept it. I don't have the time to experiment with colors right now, might soon.

I actually used "Black Sandable Primer" haha No texture, but also no shine either (Color is a pretty dead match to OEM). Bought it at WalMart

Ill try to update tonight

Alrighty then, I'll do what I can. It's still frigid cold up in these parts, so I cant guarantee it lickity split quick, but Ill work on it...but then again, I did install my CarPC while it was snowing...hah

If you were interested in running wires back there, I could walk you through it, maybe make a walk-thru for the forum with pictures. I'd be more than happy to help. Second, how interested are ya? Should I make a thread devoted to this? If you're even mildly interested, I might start making some of these. Thanks for the interest!

Wow, that's kind of extreme; but whatever works. Mine fits snug because of the carpet that goes around the whole edge, snugs it in. If this doesnt stay, Im going to put a piece of velcro on the back and on the trunk side to keep it in place. My computer is probably half the weight of your sub as well. Also, I mounted everything inside so that it isn't top/front heavy, it sits upright on its own.

Thanks man I appreciate it. f1anatic, the issue will be the current that you're pulling. Im almost positive that that cig lighter is on a 10amp fuse. Which, isn't bad, but if you pull 12 amps, you could blow it. I ran it on that for a while, then decided on going to a circuit with a 12amp fuse. And I'll hold onto a box for ya, you prefer drivers side or passenger?

You guys think anyone else on this forum or Mp3car would be interested in an enclosure like this? I can make them for either side of the car.

That should be fine f1anatic. I would try both ways. The red/yellow merge idea might work, but might not. The PSU isnt meant to work that way, so can't tell you how it will result. You could operate the system without the battery (thus making it a desktop-like setup), but its not easy. You then have to solder leads from the PSU to the laptop's power button. Kinda complicated to describe, probably not worth it in your case. I showed my setup because you may be of use to something like this as well. Also, I'm willing to make you one of these if you wish, I can take more pics tomorrow (of the inside, the mounting locations, etc). I actually really enjoy this stuff.

So here's the sneaky enclosure I've been talking about. You saw the back of it in my previous post a few days ago. I took the fiberglass subwoofer enclosure idea a step further, by putting my CarPC inside instead of a sub. I will be routing the wire behind the trunk carpet tomorrow, and everything will be 100% hidden. The carpet match looks better in person, the flash (being night time) brought out the color difference much more than reality. The enclosure sits perfectly flush with the trunk wall and IMHO looks pretty darn OEM. I have a slot load DVD Drive, so no tray coming out or anything. I'm thinking about making more of these, not sure what the demand is. I'll take pictures of the inside. All the computer components are properly mounted on standoffs, and the enclosure is vented with an exhaust fan at the top (as seen in pictures). Also, the carpet cover is attached via velcro that goes all the way around the enclosure, giving way to the interior. More pics to follow. What do you think? I'm pretty darn happy with the result.

Gotcha. Then yes, in THEORY, the PSU should output correct power if both the "+" & Yellow/ignition wires are connected to 12v power. I guess I was just thinking that he was doing what another user did (might have been on mp3car) where they wired the laptop to power on like our mini setups do, instead of having to turn the laptop on and off manually, like he will have to do with the setup that you speak of. PS: I say theory because I cannot test it myself, but I don't see why it would not work.

Haha, not held on by electrical tape, definitely not recommended. If you take the positive cap off the battery, you should be able to loosen a nut and connect you Positive 12v wire to the terminal. Then you have to run it through a grommet, into the cabin, near the radio/cubby. It might take an hour (your first time), but it's not difficult. It's probably really one of your only options to get a constant "Hot" wire. I would be happy to take some pics and show you.

True, it will be fine (and I like your quoting me hah). The problem is, if that line does not go on and off with the ignition/accessory, the computer still won't turn on and off. The two lines can't be the same, otherwise the PSU won't get that signal that it needs to operate the on/off/hibernate state.

It, in theory, wouldn't hurt anything, but it wouldn't know when it was supposed to be on, and when it was supposed to be off. If both wires have the same signal, theres nothing saying "Hey turn on!" or turn off.

By pulse, I mean that the line notices a new current that triggers the switch on the motherboard, nothing scientific heh. If you need help/assistance, I'll do what I can to help you with that project. Yeah, you have to find a grommet that you can puncture to run the wire into the cabin. You really need a constant 12v source (aka Battery) because we don't have any inside our cars.

That yellow ignition wire needs to go to something that powers on when the car is on. No "fool"ing as you mentioned in the thread. Tap into the black/silver wire behind the 12v PWR plug (cigarette Lighter, but not), or tap into the Yellow/black wire that plugs into the trip computer. Both are accessory plugs and only get power when the car is in ACC or Ignition. Is that helpful or not what you're asking? You need to have a CONSTANT 12v source, and an Ignition/Accessory source to send a pulse to the computer to tell it to turn on.

First. You have to run a line through the firewall to the battery, that is probably the only reliable ALWAYS ON 12v source that we have. Then, you can tap off of something such as the trip computer (what I did) that's only on when the car is on. Now, when you start the car-> Computer on, turn-off the car -> Computer off.

Just to give you guys a tease. These pictures are old, my bezel is now finished and in the car. And what is that black thing? A fiberglass enclosure for the trunk? I wonder what's inside it on the other side....Could it be in my car, vented with fans, and carpeted to match the panel to the trunk? Could it possibly look like it was meant to be there from factory? Who knows....more to come. http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/2351/dsc01362ch6.th.jpg http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/4232/dsc01364zq2.th.jpg http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/5846/dsc01369bn7.th.jpg

I think that the next best would be NanoITX, 12cm x 12cm = 4.7"x4.7"

Also, http://www.mini-box.com and http://www.logicsupply.com I purchased most of my parts from Logic Supply, and the others from Mp3car.com GOOD LUCK!

Yup, I run a Mini ITX board as well VIA SP 13000. There's also NanoITX boards, which are a little less than double the price, but they further cut down on size. ~ 4" x 4" = ~$300 +/- I really need to take pictures of my new enclosure. I keep talking about it, but wanted to get it all done before I showed it. But, the conversations keep warranting the need for pictures. I think it'll be a very pleasant surprise.

It all depends on what you are doing. I imagine that any of the CPU intensive programs wouldn't run (such as GPS, DVD, etc.) I agree that the Media portion would be great, as...well....it is an iPod.

Agreed