Car PC

[rc0032]

Funny Weasel...whatcha thinkin' ?

I cant wait to see this

 

I want one, how much

[f1anatic]

The fabrication is a "slut". A bitch wouldn't quite be indicative. But who knows...I may be talked into selling it.

 

I am yet to mount the PC in the car...but the hard shit is over. You should see the control panel that I am making...complete with on-off switch for the pc, laptop touchpad and radar detector mute button.

[rc0032]

Not how much to build one for me but how much for the components? I would like NAV and don’t need all of the other bells and whistles

[NSFW]

Looks great.

[fweasel]

Admiral...whatcha thinkin' ?

Too much sheen on the bezel paint. Hit it with 0000 steel wool to knock a little glare off it. It will be distracting in the sunlight, IMO.

 

Fab work looks excellent, you've learned a thing or two since your info display relocation days.

[fweasel]

Not how much to build one for me but how much for the components? I would like NAV and don’t need all of the other bells and whistles

You don't want those worms, or the can they come in. Buy a Nuvi, schlap it in the cubby and walk away.

[f1anatic]

Too much sheen on the bezel paint. Hit it with 0000 steel wool to knock a little glare off it. It will be distracting in the sunlight, IMO.

 

Fab work looks excellent, you've learned a thing or two since your info display relocation days.

 

I thought you ultimately found my display relocation decent.

 

Yay Rich, it is a money pit, a time waster as much as it is a proof of automobile coolness. If you just want Navi, get an external unit.

[BMac1203]

I thought you ultimately found my display relocation decent.

 

Yay Rich, it is a money pit, a time waster as much as it is a proof of automobile coolness. If you just want Navi, get an external unit.

 

I think it depends on how much pre-planning you do. I spent about $850, and I'm pretty much 100% content.

 

I fabbed my bezel ahead of time, and instead of leaving the buttons on, I covered them up for a more OEM look, and I mounted the IR Receiver in the left air vent. So I have no buttons, but full function of the screen (point anywhere near the screen/air vent and bingo). My screen is auto-on, so I dont need buttons.

 

I fabbed a wire harness, 15' of all my USB, VGA, Audio (w/Ground loop terminator), Power, Ground, and Accessory. Zip-tied it all together, and ended up with a 15' plug and play wire harness.

 

Then I mounted all my components to a piece of plexi/acrylic using motherboard standoffs (because plexi can be static & conduct elec.).

 

All in all, I spent about $850 on parts. I spent 4-5 hours on fabricating and painting the bezel (was extremely happy with result). And I spent about 2.5 hours installing it in my car, including the JazzyMod Aux-In kit. It looks OEM, all wires are hidden and run under carpeting, etc. To me, I spent about 4 days on it, and I'm done....hah

[BMac1203]

And....will be offering pre-fabbed bezels for the Xenarc 7" and both Lilliput 619 and 629 7" Models soon.

[Meltdown07]

Looks killer F1!! Nice work again!

[Jerboa113]

great work on the screen mount.Its important that someone carry the torch on a buy-n-bolt-in kit for this stuff to really bolster the project. If you make one, I would suggest contacting the guys at mp3car.com to see if you can work out a deal to sell through their site as well.

 

I'd also be interested ot know how close you got that paint to match your factory bezel finish. thats why I was trying to build an unmodified navi bezel screen bracket kit so that it would match factory.. because it was factory. But it was very very diffuclt.

[BMac1203]

Well, I got mine almost 100%, just working on getting the correct texture. I'm currently working on a "buy-n-bolt" kit that you speak of, for both the Lilliput and Xenarc Screens. I am also working on creating prefabbed wiring harnesses. I am also tweaking the fiberglass sub box install idea, to put the CarPC into an OEM-looking Carpeted enclosure that will fit into either the driver or passenger side wells in the trunk (user preference). This will keep the trunk tray open for use.

 

I'll keep you guys updated.

 

Now, I just need interest in this project, so that I know how far to go with it.

 

My install only took about 2.5 hours, due to the fact that I had prefabbed all my parts to fit (Clip in bezel, tap 2 wires, run wire harness to trunk, mount pc in cubby, hook everything up, bingo). That install was by myself WHILE IT WAS SNOWING heh.

[f1anatic]

Well BMAC...not to sound mean...but how exactly do you think I am approaching this issue ? Why do you think it's been taking me so long ? Because when I decide on the install day, I just wanna dump everything in place in a few hours and be done with it. No more fiddling with it, no more doubts in my mind whether I would be able to pull the screen out of the dashboard if shit happens, everything modular, everything unified...everything plug and play.

 

I bought some dark grey (GM grade) paint from Pep Boys and a clear coat. I can provide the exact paint code when I get home. It may be indeed too shiny as Funny Sea Weasel suggested but it can be sanded down with extra fine sand paper or similar. I thought about painting the entire assembly black, did that, resented the looks and decided to aim for the darkest grey/charcoal/petrol look I can do commercially available within 5 miles of my house in 1 trip. I think it is a decent result.

[BMac1203]

Well BMAC...not to sound mean...but how exactly do you think I am approaching this issue ? Why do you think it's been taking me so long ? Because when I decide on the install day, I just wanna dump everything in place in a few hours and be done with it. No more fiddling with it, no more doubts in my mind whether I would be able to pull the screen out of the dashboard if shit happens, everything modular, everything unified...everything plug and play.

 

I bought some dark grey (GM grade) paint from Pep Boys and a clear coat. I can provide the exact paint code when I get home. It may be indeed too shiny as Funny Sea Weasel suggested but it can be sanded down with extra fine sand paper or similar. I thought about painting the entire assembly black, did that, resented the looks and decided to aim for the darkest grey/charcoal/petrol look I can do commercially available within 5 miles of my house in 1 trip. I think it is a decent result.

 

f1anatic, I really apologize. I honestly didn't mean anything by my previous comment. Especially not pointed at you. I'm just an optimistic person, and want to help everyone do this. I think there's a lot of people that want it, but aren't willing or don't trust themselves to do the work. Again, I didn't mean to offend you or anyone. AND, I think you did a great job.

[f1anatic]

No bro you did not offend me in the least bit.

It would be cool if you could offer these people a solution for Lilliput / Xenarc screens - something that will not require lots of fabrication. I just don't see myself getting into this mass production business any time soon.

[BMac1203]

No bro you did not offend me in the least bit.

It would be cool if you could offer these people a solution for Lilliput / Xenarc screens - something that will not require lots of fabrication. I just don't see myself getting into this mass production business any time soon.

 

Alrighty, yeah I just didn't mean to come off as I did. I think that if everyone had the ability to purchase a bezel with the craftsmanship of yours or my own, then almost anyone could do this on their own. I'm attempting to put together a Legacy "Kit" if you will, that will give the user EVERYTHING they need, minus the screen and the computer; so that the hard part is already done for them.

 

Not sure how many people would really be interested in this though.

[BMac1203]

Post pics of the wiring, installation and case I'd love to see what you did. I will build a Lexan case sometime, just going to use an ABS project box for the time being.

 

Unfortunately I'll have to dismantle to take some pictures, but not a problem, just most likely won't get around to it until this coming week.

 

My harness consisted of a 10' USB Extension cable, a 10' VGA extension, ~ 20' of 16awg wire for power, 15' of 16awg wire for ground, 15' of 16awg wire for accessory, 15' of RCA cables for Audio (with ground loop terminator from JazzyMod). All of this was electricaltaped and ziptied about every 6 inches.

[f1anatic]

B MAC, how did you run it under the carpet between the hand brake portion and the trunk ? Anything I should know before doing this tomorrow ?

 

With regards to the interest level; I think many people would love to do a car PC over a commercially available solution (think kenwood, pioneer, eclipse, alpine) for any number of reasons including price and versatility. However they realize the amount of fabrication - custom, individual fabrication - involved and they are not really educated about the project.

 

It is the job of people like you and I, darkfox, seberry and a few others to describe the process, write idiot-proof instructions and even assist with the fabrication. Indeed a car-specific bezel that can just be screwed in or glued to the space there and just take the "guts" of a xenarc or lilliput would make the car pc business really take off. until then...it is just an enthusiast hobby.

[BMac1203]

First, I took a wire coat hanger and cut it, so that I left one of the hanger's bends in. So you have a stretched out "V" with the hanger. Then, I lifted up as hard as I could where the carpet starts at the back seat, and started to route the wire under the carpet to the handbrake. It is difficult. Getting past the bend at the "hump" inbetween the rear feet wells is most difficult, becaust the wire hits this at a 90" angle, and you just have to push hard to get the wire to bend and continue moving forward. You'll see what I mean once you begin. Then, when the wire pokes out at the handbrake, pull it about 6-8" out, so that you have plenty of place to tape your wires to the hanger. I only left about 2-3" the first time, and I ended up pulling the hanger and leaving the wires mid-way under the carpet. Then, I did it right the second time. Be patient, and you'll get it.

 

And for the second topic, I want to do this for just what you say, to give the people that you speak of the opporunity to do this to their cars (not just a hobby anymore a reality). I spent about $850 total on my system, and it does so much more than an OEM Nav, and looks pretty darn OEM. I am working towards making these idiot-proof kits, so that we can trim the work time down to a quick saturday afternoon where anyone can do it.

 

And lastly, it was you, darkfox, and sebberry that inspired me only weeks ago. Who knew I would be so passionate as to start creating kits for others?

[Fat Charlie]

How many points do you need for a connector? I can do some looking at work.

[BMac1203]

Ah, I thought you did something ultra fancy.

 

What I want to do is make a cable that uses only one connector. Modift the connections on the back of my screen to all feed into one recepticle, then have one cable and connector carrying everything... kinda like the larger connector on the back of the head unit.

 

Would be much easier to route the cable and reduce clutter in the already tight space behind the screen.

 

I just can't find any connections that are as good as the OEM automotive stuff.. it seems like everything requires a lot more force or is too big...

 

I didn't do anything fancy for my personal install, but I'm working on a custom harness (with single connector) for the "kit" that I'm thinking about producing for us all.

[BMac1203]

12 pinsI think for VGA (I think 3 arent used)

 

I was thinking about possibly using something like the ATX 24 pin Power Connector. Reason being, most of the smaller computer connectors (the Centronics or D-Sub connectors, for example) cannot handle the heavy signals such as power. On most of them, they can't handle a guage wire larger that 20-22 awg, which is very small.

 

But the big issue is, once you put this big connector on each end, it's going to be very difficult to pull the cable through/under the carpeting.

 

But I'm working on this, don't you worry!

[Fat Charlie]

Okay, so we're looking for two identical male connectors and two matching female connectors, 25 or so pins. I'm working tomorrow, so I'll look then. Hopefully I'll find something I like and be able to get them in on Tuesday. Hopefully I'll still like them after I see them.

 

If all goes well, I'll have pics and numbers for you Tuesday night.

[BMac1203]

Hey thanks, appreciated! Make sure that the pins can hold 16-18 gauge wire, with up to ~10 amps max.

[Fat Charlie]

Damn it, Jim, I'm a parts guy, not an electrician!

 

 

 

 

I'll talk to one of the techs. He'll make sure whatever you said.