I've seen that, I'm sure it was intentional. The guy that runs the store is pretty laid back.

I'm fabricating a Xenarc 7" touchscreen into my dash right now. Slowly but surely. . .

I was looking at DVD MP3 systems with navigation, and the prices are so ridiculous for what you get (limited features, stuck with one brand), so I'm building my own system. All I need is a motherboard now.

There's a few Tiburon owners on that forum. Here's an RD2. My final install will be much more oem than his, and I'm recessing the screen slightly at a better viewing angle. No cupholder for me, I will have a dvdrw drive in its place. And no need for a touchpad since I have a touchscreen monitor. I can also fit the entire pc behind the dash.

Gonna be nice. GPS, OBDII, Clifford alarm, wireless internet, and 80 gigs of mp3s and movies all for less than the price of a Pioneer AVIC-N1. I'll be booting from compact flash. If I wanted to, I could connect to my car pc from anywhere in the world when it's parked in my driveway and start the car, transfer files, check to see if my alarm has been triggered, even unlock the doors. . . B)

 

Is that site jsut for the screen. I mean it doesnt play cds or have a radio tuner does it? Yuo would need a different deck for that right

 

im jealous of you.

i just need to get my glassing skills up. never messed with the stuff.

 

thats killer fonseca. I would love to have a setup like you have/doing.

 

No glassing for me, I'm using liquid plastic baby! The homemade variety. That's the best way to do it: with fiberglass/bondo or epoxy, you have multiple materials that expand and contract in the heat and cold at different rates, so after a year or two they will crack and seperate. This is how the professionals do it, although they use a two-part liquid plastic which I don't feel like paying through the nose for.

I'll post a thread when I'm done, but it will be a while, I suck at painting. still need to get a good 4+1 channel amp as well, so I can ditch my headunit entirely. But I've always wanted to do this.

There's a very nice install on a red GK Tib at mp3car.com as well. Here's an RD1.

Oh, and that screen is a screen only, you have to plug something into it, such as a carputer or aftermarket navigation system/DVD/MP3 receiver with video outputs.

 

link for this liquid plastic?

i got some castamold and castalight. was/am trying to make replacement courtesy door lenses. is that what you're talking about? cause that stuff is a HUGE PITA

 

i'm secretly working on something like that for myself, i'm putting a mini custom computer where the spare tire is. right now i have a normal lcd screen, i'm debating whether i should sell it and save for a touch screen, or if i should buy a touch pad. i like that guy's idea of the touch pad in the ashtray....hmmm

fonseca, what are you doing for the wireless system? i assume what you meant by being able to control it anywhere in the world if it was parked in your driveway that you have a wireless lan network in your house, and you can control the car's computer from your home pc .. so anywhere in the world you would just use something like gotomypc and that's how ud control the car (via your home pc?) also, how are you integrating the alarm ??
plz tell me about your GPS system too. tongue.gif

 

Ya'll need to spend some time looking at some of the awesome installs in the project forum. There are some great installs loaded with features.

I'm getting a VIA Epia Mini-ITX mobo (just need to decide which one), and I'm fitting it in a gutted oem double DIN radio from my brother's 97 Tib FX. It should all fit with room to spare, the mobo is 17x17cm.

"Real" versions of liquid plastic would be the product available from the HZEmall store(talk about some amazing installs on that site), or the Duramix two-part products(which need the gun to be applied properly). Check that linked thread, acetone with dissolved ABS can be thickened to the consistency you want, and ends up very strong, forming one piece between the bonded plastic parts. I have several bottles full right now in different thicknesses.

I'm still unsure as to what filler I will use. HZEMall has their "icing", and Duramix has a filler. Both are overpriced IMO. I may just use a very thin layer of the premium bondo to fill any pinholes, or sand the bejeezus out of it and use several applications of plastic primer. If you look at the fabrication or showoff forums, you can see how people mold their screens.

Another option is to get a motorized or non-motorized single DIN screen, and not mess with fabrication at all. That has the benefit of being less noticeable by thieves too. But for me the extra work will be worth the outcome.

Zoned019, I now have an 802.11g router in my house, and will run an 802.11g card in my car. The connection won't be spectacular for file transfer, but it will be okay since I park 30 feet from my router. It will be easy to use the wake on lan function to turn the carpc on, and from there I can control my alarm since I have a Clifford with the Cliffnet setup. I'm not sure if any other brands let you connect to a pc to control functions, but I have total access through a pc with Cliffnet. So that means I can check the battery charge, cabin temperature, start the car remotely, etc. Not like I really have any need to do that, but I'm a geek.

As for connecting remotely, just use your flavor of VPN, there are some nice freeware apps available that act like you are actually at your pc.

For now I just bought a cheap USB GPSmouse, but I'll get a nice low-power oem Garmin unitsometime. I. . .um. . .acquired Delorme Street Atlas 2005 for the software side. There are some nice front ends available through mp3car's forums for integrating everything in easy to use menus.

This is quite a bit more complicated than buying a $2500 DVD/MP3 navigation unit with touchscreen, but it's much cheaper and has endless options. I think there will be a lot more semi-complete carpcs available in the future for people to just slide into their dash and plug in.

 

Cliffnet hmm, I have a cheapo alarm right now...i'll have to do some research on the cliffnet thing, that sounds way cool. how much did you pay for this? which one do you have? i think i need one laugh.gif
edit so i was looking around, do you have the intellistart accessory with the g5 avantguard5 alarm system? ive been reading but im still sort of confused -- first you get the g5 system/start installed, then you have the intellistart 'accessory' installed over that, and then you install the cliffnet wizard software (where? on what pc? the one in your car, house, both?) and then you can control heater, ac, check temperature/battery, and unlock doors?

also, I found a really cheap VGA touchscreen I think im going to buy. (if anyone else is interested in one of these, i can get you a pretty good deal, otherwise i have a normal black LCD screen that has an SVideo port i won't have any use for now if someone wants that laugh.gif)

i'm pretty good on the PC side (im a g33k), but im a little confused on the rest..(maybe u can clear it up for me fonseca, you seem really knowledgeable)

what i want to do is eliminate a deck entirely, and just use my mini-PC - for the video i have a radeon 9700 card that i will be using to hook up to my touchscreen. (i think i will set it up so when windows loads i have a custom desktopx skin im working on be there and ill have a few different modes i can switch to .. gps, cliffnet--i want to try to do this too it sounds sweeet, plus my current alarm bl0ws laugh.gif, music, movies, etc.)

what will i do for the audio side? do i just buy a good sound card and hook that up to the amplifier? (im an audio newb, lol) i have two 12" subs that i will be using and a multi-channel amp, i HAD them in my car, but my deck broke and i don't want to buy another one because im planning on having this carputer system up within the next few months.

also, how can i get radio? the pc will be fine for dvds and cds (im just buying trays that ill mold in the dash), but i would like to integrate radio also somehow.

 

I'm not especially knowledgeable. I've built a lot of computers, as I used to do it for extra cash, but this is my first carpc. I have wasted hundreds of hours over the last six months researching everything though. smile.gif

The lack of radio is the one real problem. There are am/fm tuner cards available, but none with good sound quality supposedly. So if you listen to the radio a lot, your best bet is to get an XM or Sirius setup designed for PCs. The only thing I ever listen to is NPR on rare occasions, so I don't want monthly fees for that.

The other option, something a lot of people do, is leave their current head unit installed, and use its audio inputs to connect the pc sound. Then you can power your speakers with your current setup and still have good radio quality. Here's how a lot of people make room for a molded screen and decks. That could work in the Tib if you were willing to join the shifter and radio surrounds, but it would be a pain.

I thought about doing that; my Kenwood deck doesn't have aux inputs, but I could just buy an adapter for the cd changer input. But then where would I put it? There won't be room in the dash with a screen molded in both DINs. So I could mount just the face up above the rear view mirror, which might be neat, or do some molding and fit it where the ashtray is. It will just fit there, I measured. But with my deck I wouldn't be able to show ID3 tags or filenames from the pc (not with my level of knowledge anyway, it gets complicated), so I'm not going to bother. I'll get a tuner card eventually.

One great thing about sound from a pc is that it can easily be far superior to the best commercially available deck, for a fraction of the cost. I love that. Example of show-winning sound. That guy is using an Audigy PCMCIA notebook card with optical out. I will be using an Audigy USB soundcard that does all the sound processing, and output that via RCA to an amp. I'm hoping to fit the amp on the floor behind the center of the dash, it looks like there is enough space there, and that will mean a lot less wiring all over the car. For now I'll just use the stock speaker wiring as well for stereo sound. Maybe one day I'll upgrade to surround sound, but that's a project I'd rather save for later. I remember reading that someone has a setup for shows that rips the judge's cd on the fly and runs filters on the sound, upping it to 24 bit. Pretty cool.

Via Epia motherboards all have decent sound built in, so most people don't even use a seperate soundcard. I just got a good deal on mine.

I have a Clifford Intelliguard 7000 G4, renamed the Concept 550 for G5 for current model, and the Intellistart IV with a bunch of accessories. It wasn't cheap. Next time I'm installing it myself, I could have done a much better job. The "professionals" that did it didn't solder a single connection, and did a terrible job bundling and running wires.

Search those forums and you will find people that control their alarms via USB or serial port. I think they sacrifice a remote and basically wire it up. DEI alarms that can be programmed with Bitwriter might also be able to be controlled, but I don't know. Cliffnet is just an overpriced cable and software, but it's the only option I'm aware of to just plug in.


Man, I gotta stop with these long posts. -_-