Carputer Mod

Hey folks,

Ive had my VX almost a week now, ready to get going with its first mod. A carputer. Man I'm lost without my GPS and music so I ran a power and ground very half assed to get me by until now.

Ill pop some pics up of what im gonna install. Its the system i had in my Dakota for last 6 months.

Generally speaking the CarPC is about the size of a average amp. Im really hoping there is a lil spot i can stash the PC and the XM unit outta sight along with wiring.

Now for the 8" Touch screen Im a little stumped there still. Would be sweet to drop it in the steering wheel but thats prolly not practical or possible.

So i was leaning toward either - the dash , centered or right infront of the shift angled up onto the face of the dash.

Im going to rip the 5disc out of it. and install a dvdburner rom in its place. Honestly im not sure if it even works, never tried it.

there are a few people who have blocked off the ac vents in the center of the dash and fit nice sized monitors into the dashboard with some fiberglass work... always looks really nice.. you can pick up a spare dash bezel out of a 99ish year isuzu rodeo or honda passport

No way of putting the display in the center of the steering wheel. There's an airbag in there. Your touch screen would certainly be that in the event of an accident.

There's space for an amp-sized device under the driver's seat. The passenger seat has the ToD computer under it - no molesta.

And why on earth do you want a DVD burner in your dashboard? Not criticizing - just confused.

Well the PC i have is again small. I want it out of sight, so accessing the ROM would be a pain. DVD Burner is capable of everything. So place it in the dash, now i can pop cds, software, games or burn cds. Without having to go to the actual PC itself.

Theres no place in a panel anywhere to lay that thing? Im sure it would hide nice under the seat, and prolly be a little easier to install.

If you like the Apple operating system ( as I do ) They sell a computer known as a "Mac Mini" and is the size of an average car stereo. it would easily fit it the dash where the stock car stereo went.There is even a japanese company (minidock.jp/en/index.html) that makes a "dock" for it so you can pull it out when you exit the car. I have been wanting to do this mod.

wat carputer are u going with? im in a VERY long process of building mine and have been stumped on where to put the screen.

ps. not to thread jack but if anyone has an extra brezel pm me......

a mini-itx motherboard with minimal accessories will easily fit underneath the drivers seat. I had to remove some of the foam padding for mine underneath the carpet. I also replaced the metal rod that's for the seat adjustment with a thick gauge metal wire, and hooked it thru loops attached further up into the seat, that was a piece of cake. It allowed for ALOT more clearance then stock.

My setup has been for the past few years an EPIA M10000, with a PCI Radeon riser'd parallel to the motherboard, sitting atop. Whenever I need cd/dvd access I hookup an external USB cd rom. Too much vibration in the car to use this while driving so I didn't find it worth the effort to integrate further.

Living in Texas, I opted not to cover up my front AC vents which you would have to do for a 8" monitor. A 7" you probably could get away with refabricating those vents just to be much thinner. This was an option I toyed with for a while. If you decide to fab the monitor in your dash, avoid the fiberglass/bondo combo as you might run into expand/contraction issues with the dashes plastic. I would recommend an ABS mix. You can investigate this solution on the www.mp3car.com forums.

I installed my monitor where the 6-disc was. I purchased an extra dash piece of that area around the 6-disc, and a 2nd trim piece that goes around that area. I then created a custom enclosure around that trim piece, based from a foam carving I made. Now this was done with fiberglass and bondo. The original LCD was mounted inside the fabbed enclosure. The whole piece utilizes the existing clips of the existing trim piece, so it can be detached/attached easily.

I've since replaced my shifter with a shorter, smaller round razo so the display isn't obstructed. And the viewing angle is perfect from the drivers seat, and can't be viewed by passerbys.

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...m/114dash1.jpg