New mod: Max PC :)
05-09-2005, 09:41 PM
#1
New mod: Max PC :)
Here you go carcus... 
You can click on the image if you want, the quality is not much better. It was inside the car at midnight with a camera phone, you're lucky anything shows up...
I started this -- no lie -- in January. Probably a bit earlier than that. I thought about putting a PC in the car to make up for some of the things that I wanted to have in the car but didn't, and it just ran away from me at that point...
The biggest issue was the screen. After about a million emails, Altimat from mp3car (and he lurks around here too) hooked me up to get the fabrication done... this would have been done AGES ago, if it wasn't for the fact that I didn't want to cut up my dash -- I wanted a spare info screen dash kit just in case I wanted to go back to stock. As you know, that part is probably THE hardest one to find and just started showing up at dealerships after a year on backorder.
Fast forward to tonight... about 3 hours ago I got started on mounting the screen in place, and it almost won... but it's finally mounted and I just gotta make a few changes to the whole layout. And mess with the drivers and see why the damn touchscreen is acting up now...
The current setup uses a 7" Lilliput (16:9) that fits just about perfectly (the screen, not the case) on the space where the info screen goes. As you can see from my crappy picture, I moved the info screen to the bottom pocket.
I have the screen wired into the power outlet in front, and the wiring for the video and touchscreen are just coming out under the power outlet door so I can play with it and set everything up. Eventually I plan to move that back, probably to the trunk or something. The PAC adapter does the audio (and the audio from the Roady) to the onboard sound system, and I'm moving the USB GPS receiver to the back shelf to hook it up to the PC.
I'm sure there's a million things I missed, and this is nowhere near finished... but after finally putting it together it does feel good to have accomplished at least that much...
Again, without Altimat and a few other people here that pointed me in the right direction this would have never happened, so thanks (you know who you are).
Tomorrow: day pictures! If I can find my camera charger!
You can click on the image if you want, the quality is not much better. It was inside the car at midnight with a camera phone, you're lucky anything shows up...
I started this -- no lie -- in January. Probably a bit earlier than that. I thought about putting a PC in the car to make up for some of the things that I wanted to have in the car but didn't, and it just ran away from me at that point...
The biggest issue was the screen. After about a million emails, Altimat from mp3car (and he lurks around here too) hooked me up to get the fabrication done... this would have been done AGES ago, if it wasn't for the fact that I didn't want to cut up my dash -- I wanted a spare info screen dash kit just in case I wanted to go back to stock. As you know, that part is probably THE hardest one to find and just started showing up at dealerships after a year on backorder.
Fast forward to tonight... about 3 hours ago I got started on mounting the screen in place, and it almost won... but it's finally mounted and I just gotta make a few changes to the whole layout. And mess with the drivers and see why the damn touchscreen is acting up now...
The current setup uses a 7" Lilliput (16:9) that fits just about perfectly (the screen, not the case) on the space where the info screen goes. As you can see from my crappy picture, I moved the info screen to the bottom pocket.
I have the screen wired into the power outlet in front, and the wiring for the video and touchscreen are just coming out under the power outlet door so I can play with it and set everything up. Eventually I plan to move that back, probably to the trunk or something. The PAC adapter does the audio (and the audio from the Roady) to the onboard sound system, and I'm moving the USB GPS receiver to the back shelf to hook it up to the PC.
I'm sure there's a million things I missed, and this is nowhere near finished... but after finally putting it together it does feel good to have accomplished at least that much...
Again, without Altimat and a few other people here that pointed me in the right direction this would have never happened, so thanks (you know who you are
).Tomorrow: day pictures! If I can find my camera charger!
05-09-2005, 10:04 PM
#4
Originally Posted by GHOSTRIDER 3.5
Yeah its a thread up in the sound part to go take a look 
05-10-2005, 12:25 AM
#7
very awesome mod, i've been thinking about getting the nav converter for factory nav systems from www.avelectronic.com since i got my max over a year ago. i just can't seem to justify the high price tag of $550. it seems like it should be cheaper than that but i'm no electronic pro. sometimes i think maybe it wouldve been a better idea to not have gotten nav and just move the info screen to the bottom like you did and add a custom screen on top.
05-10-2005, 07:29 AM
#8
Originally Posted by jsmithsole
Very nice, Viguera. Looking forward to more details! So how was moving the stock screen down, pretty simple? I want to just add another screen up top...
Removing it from the top is the hardest part, and then only because it's so much work...
You have to remove everything up to the cover, then remove the screws that hold the bracket in place. Then you pull the bracket forward and remove 4 screws that hold the screen in place and put everything back the way it was.A lot of screws and tugging and stuff, but it's a REALLY simple job. BUT make sure you measure everything if you're looking for a screen... the stock screen sits BACK recessed under the cover, so you have to make sure whatever you're gonna fit there sits in that space and you still have to secure it somehow.
Oh, and you have to lose the bottom drawer altogether (remove it from where it is) so the screen can sit there. The screen won't fit on top of it or inside it (not without some hacking).
05-10-2005, 07:34 AM
#9
Originally Posted by sagamax
awesome i had this idea for a while just no funds to start the project. would love to hear how you fabricated it to fit
I could be wrong, but I believe that he removed the face of the screen altogether and removed the rubber strips on the back of the dash cover. Then he used ABS to re-create the front mount, then you screw the screen from the back basically into the dash cover itself.
There were some issues with clearance because of the width of the lilli case, but that wasn't too hard to fix. In the end it was just more "delicate" work than anything else... When you're taking everything apart, it's all just the plastic dash pieces and stuff. When you're putting it together, the screen is attached to the dash kit, and you have cables and crap to tuck in at the same time.
05-10-2005, 07:49 AM
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 103
the same idea
this is a hot mod, i want to do that but i have the nav screen and it does make sense messing with it, i dont have a clue where to put the second screen.
i can't put it in the compartment below like you did with ur info screen because my nav dvd is located right behind the black cover.
any ideas where to put one, except the visors.
trying to avoid getting pulled over all the time.
i can't put it in the compartment below like you did with ur info screen because my nav dvd is located right behind the black cover.
any ideas where to put one, except the visors.
trying to avoid getting pulled over all the time.
05-10-2005, 08:13 AM
#11
Originally Posted by driver
this is a hot mod, i want to do that but i have the nav screen and it does make sense messing with it, i dont have a clue where to put the second screen.
i can't put it in the compartment below like you did with ur info screen because my nav dvd is located right behind the black cover.
any ideas where to put one, except the visors.
trying to avoid getting pulled over all the time.
i can't put it in the compartment below like you did with ur info screen because my nav dvd is located right behind the black cover.
any ideas where to put one, except the visors.
trying to avoid getting pulled over all the time.
Then if you use something like this mount for the monitor -- I guess depends on the back of the case and whether or not it has a vertical slot in the back. They have a few options at proclip, but you have to make sure you measure everything as well... A 7" monitor down there might be too intrusive and not visible for the passenger (if that's a big deal to you!
) and might get bumped by somebody's leg when they get in if they're not careful.The only other option I can think about is the sunglass holder... you can probably do something with that, but I don't know that anybody has or what you could use to mount something there.
05-10-2005, 12:02 PM
#13
Originally Posted by Tek-Niq
good job man, this is on my list as well.. soon as I get a screen for the top...
Err... I just posted this because I was at 666 and didn't like that at all...
05-10-2005, 01:43 PM
#16
Originally Posted by viguera
Thanks. Let me know if you need some suggestions.
Err... I just posted this because I was at 666 and didn't like that at all...
Err... I just posted this because I was at 666 and didn't like that at all...
and where did you get it?....... is it a raw screen (no buttons on it)?
05-10-2005, 04:42 PM
#18
Originally Posted by Tek-Niq
can you post pics of how that screen looks playing a movie...... I wanna see how clear it is...
and where did you get it?....... is it a raw screen (no buttons on it)?
and where did you get it?....... is it a raw screen (no buttons on it)?
As far as where I found it, I bought it from someone at the mp3car forums under the classified section. It was used but functional, and it came with everything (remote, software, etc).
It was NOT just the screen at first, it's the full thing (one of these) and we ultimately decided to scrap the buttons for a couple of reasons...
First off, everything you can do with them (power/video input/etc) can be done with the remote. And second, the buttons at the bottom presented clearance problems vertically. As you can see the screen BARELY fits in the space the info screen was at, so the buttons would have had to be either scrapped or relocated. Altimat was gonna put them in the flat area in front of the screen, but in the end we decided to just dump them. He moved the board/buttons with the ribbon cable to the back of the screen and they're just back there... never to be used.
05-10-2005, 04:54 PM
#20
Originally Posted by Tek-Niq
the buttons come off or you took the screen out of the case....... from the pics it don't look like they just simply come off....
sorry for the Q's man but thanx...
sorry for the Q's man but thanx...
The buttons are attached to a control board (PCB) that's attached to the screen via a ribbon cable and some other wiring. Basically you can take the board off the case and chop it, which is what we had to do to make it fit where the screen is now.
If you look at that image on the link I posted (bottom right), you basically chop across at the top edge of the word "lilliput". That's about as much vertical clearance as you have back there.
KEEP IN MIND...
Horizontal clearance is a whole other ball of wax. The info screen is shaped funny to make it fit back there, so I had to cut off about 3-4mm off the case on each side so it would sit back into the space where the info screen was.
If you've never taken off the dash cover and looked at what's back there, it's a highly informative experience and I suggest you do so... if I had taken the time to measure a couple of things before we got started, I wouldn't have had to chop anything off...
But oh well, the rotozip is your friend...
05-10-2005, 05:02 PM
#22
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 103
Originally Posted by viguera
Well you have a couple of options... I got a vehicle mount from proclipusa where I mounted my Roady. That clips into place and you can get a monitor mount and mount whatever you want to it. The vehicle mount I got was this one here for $30.
Then if you use something like this mount for the monitor -- I guess depends on the back of the case and whether or not it has a vertical slot in the back. They have a few options at proclip, but you have to make sure you measure everything as well... A 7" monitor down there might be too intrusive and not visible for the passenger (if that's a big deal to you!) and might get bumped by somebody's leg when they get in if they're not careful.
The only other option I can think about is the sunglass holder... you can probably do something with that, but I don't know that anybody has or what you could use to mount something there.
Then if you use something like this mount for the monitor -- I guess depends on the back of the case and whether or not it has a vertical slot in the back. They have a few options at proclip, but you have to make sure you measure everything as well... A 7" monitor down there might be too intrusive and not visible for the passenger (if that's a big deal to you!
) and might get bumped by somebody's leg when they get in if they're not careful.The only other option I can think about is the sunglass holder... you can probably do something with that, but I don't know that anybody has or what you could use to mount something there.
hmmmm.... thanks
05-10-2005, 06:24 PM
#23
Nice...I am looking into the Icon-TV carputer and some others....I'll let you know how it goes!
I like your install. Seems like you put alot of work into it! Anyway, good luck working the bugs out and I'd like to see the finished product!
I like your install. Seems like you put alot of work into it! Anyway, good luck working the bugs out and I'd like to see the finished product!
05-10-2005, 08:51 PM
#26
Nations 1st 6th Gen Turbo
iTrader: (15)
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Displaced New Yorker in Southern, MD
Posts: 10,202
Dude, that mod is boiling over, I want to design a slide out lap top tray that comes out above the glove box that is on a tracked/swival base, this way the passenger or I can use it and I have the luxury of a 17" screen with DVD movie capability. Since I do have a DVD Nav, I like it where it's at when driving. Overall, still a hot mod!!!
05-11-2005, 08:56 PM
#32
Map Monkey running...
Frodo with some skin that I can't really remember the name of, but it's hotness... and you know it is, stop fronting...
You can see some of the colors are washed out, probably my problem with the drivers and/or the cable. I took the screen off now and I'll work on it after I finish posting this...
Frodo with some skin that I can't really remember the name of, but it's hotness... and you know it is, stop fronting...
You can see some of the colors are washed out, probably my problem with the drivers and/or the cable. I took the screen off now and I'll work on it after I finish posting this...
05-11-2005, 08:57 PM
#33
The way the front-end is SUPPOSED to look like...
The way the car looks like now... ACK!
I'll take some shots of the screen and what-not so you guys can see it... gonna try to figure out what's loose and take some pictures after I get it fixed up.
The way the car looks like now... ACK!
I'll take some shots of the screen and what-not so you guys can see it... gonna try to figure out what's loose and take some pictures after I get it fixed up.
05-12-2005, 07:16 AM
#34
I put everything back together after fixing the stupid ribbon cable and now the video looks much better. I'm still having problem with the touchscreen, but it was late and I have to be at work today, so...
I'll post the "after" pictures later on today. I know somebody said something about a picture playing a DVD, but that's gonna take a couple of days -- basically I have this hooked up to my laptop for now, and since Windows sees it as a secondary display, DVDs won't display on it, only on the primary. I can probably try and disable the onboard video on the laptop or something... I'll see.
As far as clarity goes, it's not as sharp as the laptop LCD, but that's because of the touchscreen. I've been following a thread over at the mp3car forums about replacing the lamps to bump the screen brightness significantly, so that might be something I want to do in the future.
More pics later on in the day...
I'll post the "after" pictures later on today. I know somebody said something about a picture playing a DVD, but that's gonna take a couple of days -- basically I have this hooked up to my laptop for now, and since Windows sees it as a secondary display, DVDs won't display on it, only on the primary. I can probably try and disable the onboard video on the laptop or something... I'll see.
As far as clarity goes, it's not as sharp as the laptop LCD, but that's because of the touchscreen. I've been following a thread over at the mp3car forums about replacing the lamps to bump the screen brightness significantly, so that might be something I want to do in the future.
More pics later on in the day...
05-15-2005, 10:17 PM
#36
Well I finally figured out my problem with the video (stupid loose ribbon cable on the screen) and now I'm pretty much good to go. There are still a few kinks to work out (MapMonkey threw up on me when I tried to upgrade to the latest version and now I'm waiting for an email from the SDK guys to get a DLL to fix it), but otherwise it's all good.
A few shots from a few minutes ago when I put the whole thing back in the car...
Making sure it fits before I put the dash back together...
Dash mostly back on:
A few shots from a few minutes ago when I put the whole thing back in the car...
Making sure it fits before I put the dash back together...
Dash mostly back on:
05-15-2005, 10:20 PM
#38
Next up I'm moving that GPS receiver to the rear shelf and plugging it into the mini USB hub where the wireless keyboard/mouse and the touchscreen are connected. After that, I'm not really sure that there's anything left...
I'll probably look into using PhoneControl to hook up to my bluetooth phone and use frodo's sat radio interface to hook the XM radio to the PC and dump the Roady. That's gonna take a few days though... the weather's getting nice.
I'll probably look into using PhoneControl to hook up to my bluetooth phone and use frodo's sat radio interface to hook the XM radio to the PC and dump the Roady. That's gonna take a few days though... the weather's getting nice.
05-26-2005, 03:55 PM
#40
Junior Member
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 17
This is cool idea. I was thinking about something like this too. (It would be nice to have internet access in your car too, but that's another story). Once you have a working PC in your car, you don't really need the navigation screen any more, since you can get better software (even MS Streets and Tips). However, I'm wondering about the legal consequences of this? What happens when the police pulls you over (happens a lot to me ), and they see you were watching a movie while driving, ha ha?
), and they see you were watching a movie while driving, ha ha?