Uni holidays + boredom = mods (Car-puter)

[donno]

Well its about damn time, but I only just got my hands on a digi camera (cheer's filly-fakeout). It was done well over a month and a half ago.



Pacey 4480s, Magnaflow 3" HF cat along with allready fitted 2 1/2" lukey exhaust.



The carputer at long last. Including:

Lilliput 7" TFT LCD
Sanyo FXD-RR1 CD Head unit
Invertec 300w Modified sine wave inverter
PIII 500mHz, 20gig HDsleep:, SB Live! Sound card, TV out
Cheap Packard Bell media remote

Getting it to fit was the hardest part. Unfortunately I didn't have a dremel at the time (sure as hell do now mind you), so alot of plactic out of the back of the dash had to be cut with a snapped hacksaw blade, talk about a sore wrist! The HU is at a very slight downward angle, but had to be done so the aircon ducts didn't have to be hacked. The facia was just hacked up with a trusty angle grinder then smoothed with a file.

The inverter sits under the driver's seat, and I put an inline switch down on the kickpanel. The earth goes through the holes for the seats fasteners to the bare metal chasis. All wiring is underneath the carpet, and I only had to cut a small slit in the carpet hidden by the plastic trim on the bottom of the sear pillars.

The computer goes in the boot on the passenger side. I knocked up a case out of scrap timber, as I was having huge heat problems with a hot boot and metal case. No pics as I'm too embarrest of my carpentry skills lol.

To keep with ADR (damn you to hell!), I had to put a relay in for the screen in order for it to be legal, as you can't have a screen in the view of the driver whilst the vehicle is moving. The ground is hooked up to the park brake light circuitry.



The front end. Sorry about the lighting, taken at night. I'll see if I can get a screen shot later (hmm now where to find a USB stick).

The program I'm running is called "Frodoplayer" and is available via mp3car.com. The skin was orriginally made by a user on there for his celica, but photoshop quickly fixed its short commings with some blue ovals insted of well, what ever the hell it is.



A bit of Div X action. Vids look damn nice despite the crappy pic.



Finally nothing like a bit of cardboard to trick a hardened criminal. Its surprisingly hard to pick from outside the car in a gloomy shopping centre park. Will be even more so when the darkest legal tint gets put on in winter. (Yes I am a tight ****)

Final words of advice, measure everything before you buy. I did about a week of measurements on room behind the dash, the depth of the HU, screen, you name it, and came out with a nice fit. Saved me alot of stuffing around in the long run. Also, if you find yourself hacking up and old 3.5" hard drive bay out of an old case with an angle grinder, don't grab it when you've just finished. Found this one out the hard way.

Lastly I must give thanks to the old man for giving me a huge hand hacking up the dash and facia, as well as the tools, advice, and just anything scrap around the shed.

I learnt alot doing this and if you have any questions fire away.

Donno

Edit: Just attached pic of front end before photoshop.

[neb]

i love the carputer looks awesome.. the dummy head unit cardboard is great as well

[niko]

brilliant mate, whats ya rego? :P ehehhehe

[EFFalcon]

great work
Certainly has come up nicely... i've considered this so many times but keep putting it off. every time someone puts one up it makes me wanna do it again :o

[niko]

can u make a dummy cover for the gear stik?? :P lol few falcons get pinched coz of the manual factor

[perkz]

Well done! Very nice security feature :P I'm also one of those people that've been putting off the carputer for a long time now.
Did you get the screen from Ebay?
How'd you get around the heat issues? That's one of the things that've been going through my mind.

Those ADRs don't apply to sat-nav do they?

[InitialD]

Im 1/2 thru my Car Computer atm, Just need to get the TFT screen.

What exactly do you mean by ADRs? are there rules for fitting a TFT screen?

[EFFalcon]

yeah, not alloud to be on when the cars moving.
thats why they're hooked upto the handbrake switch.

[donno]

Niko: How about a dummy shifter? just bolt on a t-bar :

Perkz: Yep off ebay shipped from hong-kong. Came in under $200 so I didn't have to pay any import duties. And it was quicker to ship then for the HU from Sydney!! As for heat issues, I made the case out of wood instead of metal, solved all the drama's pretty much. Also this way I could design my own airflow routes, which is an 80mm fan on the side down low blowing air in, and a 60mm on the top sucking out the hot air. The P3 chip by nature runs very cool and stable. And finally no, the ADR's don't apply to sat nav. I actually asked a mate who is a retired seargant, and he told me to put the relay in, but have a work around switch on the passenger side of the steering column. He also said he doesn't know a cop that would book me for it, but if they did they'd be bloody hypocritical as they have one in the front of their patrol cars.

InitialD: To cut through the pages of crap in the ADR (written in 1990 mind you), basically you can only have a screen mounted in the view of the driver if:

a) It is for vehicle monitoring (like prius battery gauges, aircon etc)
b) For navigational purposes (ie: sat nav), I could have gotten away with this on the basis I use computerised UBD, but thought I'd better aire on the side of caution, as its rare that I actually use it, and its on the media screen 95% of the time.
c) It is non-operational whilst the vehicle is in motion

Donno

[Walkinshaw]

couldnt you class it as a "radio information screen"
NO diffrent to BA climate/radio etc.

[neb]

Originally Posted by donno

Niko: How about a dummy shifter? just bolt on a t-bar :

i'm tempted to do this to my car... hehe

[LUXO_8]

NOICE donno.

should do this to my car maybe.....

[donno]

Originally Posted by Walkinshaw

couldnt you class it as a "radio information screen"
NO diffrent to BA climate/radio etc.

I actually emailed a cop on the QLD police site (inquiries section). These are extracts of our email conversations:

Orriginal reply from him, when I asked if it would be legal:

"Essentially, you cannot have a screen in your motor vehicle that can been seen by the driver.

The Transport Operations (Road use Management - Vehicle Standards and Safety) Regulation 1999 Part 4, division 1, clause 31 is where you will find the information you seek.

Notwithstanding, it is possible to have a screen that is able to be viewed by a driver providing the screen cannot operate whilst the motor vehicle is moving. It is also possible to operate things such as dispatch systems and navigational systems from a position where the driver can see them. Clearly, entertainment systems do not apply."

Now here's my reply:

"First of all, thanks for the answer to my question. With some advice from a mate, an ex-sergeant, I've put in a relay connected to the park brake switch so that the screen cannot be turned on when the vehicle is moving (ie: park brake extended), despite the fact it has navigational functionality, just to be on the safe side (as per the referenced regulations in your reply, part 4, division 1, section 31, subsection 2a).

But what has me confused is how cars such as the BA Falcon and Territory, which have factory screens in the view of the driver, which operate when the vehicle is moving, abide by the ADRs. They have controls/displays for both radio and CD player, which you would think would also be classified as an entertainment system.

The only possible way I could see it to be legal is for it to be under subsection 2b), example 3 and 6. 3, being "vehicle system equipment" (ie: sound system) and 6 a "Vehicle monitoring device" (ie: monitoring status of radio controls, tuning etc). But if this is infact legal, why is it illegal to have a screen that has the same functionality (ie: track number, duration, etc) as the cd player in such a vehicle?

The screen I have installed only displays the songs names, duration and a few other little settings like shuffle, repeat, volume etc (no moving video whatsoever, only static picture) exactly the same to which is available on the systems in a BA falcon. If you wish I can send you a screenshot of the interface to clarify any thing you wish to know about the system.

Sorry if my tone comes across agrivated towards yourself, this is not my intention. Your help has been very valuable, but this area of the law seems inconsistant and bit grey, and any help you could provide to better understanding it would be greatly appreciated."

His final reply:

"I can understand your frustration and I certainly do not feel as if your venting it toward me.

Unfortunately I can't answer your question as the answer is one of semantics best answered by a Inspector from Queensland Transport. It seems to me that you have made an attempt to comply with the relevant legislation and if you haven't, then it has not been for the want of trying. I commend you for your efforts.

I feel you should direct your question to the relevant division within Queensland Transport as vehicle standards are not something I specialise in nor is it an area in which I generally have to be involved. I leave that to Queensland Transport and perhaps that is the organisation that can answer your concerns.

Sorry I can't be of more assistance."


I couldn't be bothered taking it any further, as when I get the dark **** tint, you won't even see the screen :p.

[Psycho Chicken]

So how much did this add up to?

[donno]

For my sanity I don't really want to know....

I'd guess about $350, but she's really worth about $500. I sold my old sony HU to a mate and that covered the screen. The computer I allready had, so the only real expenses were the inverter (bout $100 ebay), new HU ($160 ebay) and all associated wiring, remote etc.

[LUXO_8]

so basically its cost you about what a mid end headunit would have, with the ability to do a whole f-load more stuff


cool

[Dez]

thats mad shit man...i love it....

but whats the point of such a system if it wouldnt be on while driving....i wouldnt bother if that was the case....i'd have that thing in place to stop yourself getting in trouble, but would have a switch that makes it work while the car is going...

my cousin put an alpine HU in his car, 1 that wen a button on the HU is pushed, a nice screen comes out electronically.....it is visible to the driver etc.....and has just a basic moving graphic for either CD radio etc....lists the 6 discs, track numbers durations etc, and i dont think he has ever had any trouble with it.

[donno]

When I get the tint the override will be put on, but until then I'm not taking any chances. Its just to visable.

[Jess85]

hey is this donno lad is still around sorry to revive the thread...just wondering...do you control volume via the headunit?? im in the process of doing research for this project and installing it into my ED...

im not bothering with an inverter just going to replace the original PSU with a 12 V DC power supply from america...

hows the system going...had any hiccups??

thanks mate

[barthez]

sorry bout that posted on my sisters account...but yeh thanks in advance if u reply!! i also added you to msn so if u get a chance ill talk to you on there

[EFFalcon]

if you run it through your headunit, you'll need an aux input on your headunit.
Mine runs through the aux port on the front, computer volume doesn't get changed and is set to be roughly the same as the normal CD player voluem.

[donno]

Yep, still around. Won't be on messenger for a few day tho, i'm not on my usual computer.

I'm running her pretty much exactly as EFFalcon described it. The output of the sound card runs to the rca auxilary input on the HU. I've got the wave volume set to about 90%, and the master at about 30%. It ends up about the same level as when a CD plays on the HU. Each soundcard will be different, so just stuff around with it until you think its good. If you've got anymore questions I'm usually on the forums every night, so just reply here or drop me a PM. Should be back on messenger in about a week. Cheers.

[barthez]

how hard was it to fit the screen??? i just recently put some speakers in and wen looking behind that dash bit with the ash tray and that there isnt much room...just cut away that plastic behind it and it was sweet??

im goin for a mini ITX motherboard and adding a p4 processor and 512mb ram, plus dvd drive, 80gb HDD and all the other goodies like network card and the likes.

cooling will be my main problem but ive got an idea for that so should be sweet!!!

cant wait till its done...but for the time being i have to worry about moving out of home and getting set up

[donno]

The screen itself was easy to fit. Plenty of room behind it (only and inch or so deep), but make sure you have enough room for both the screen and HU if you're going the same route as I am. Also with your PC, try getting a laptop HD if you're buying new. They have a higher tollerence to shocks, and a normal one won't last too long with stiffer suspension when the HD's head keeps flying into the platters. They aren't the normal IDE cable but you can get ones off ebay that'll do the job. Also along the line of shocks, try a slot load DVD. Apparantly also handle it a tad better.

[Panda]

Originally Posted by barthez

...im goin for a mini ITX motherboard and adding a p4 processor...

I thought the P4's were too power hungry.

Apparently P3 1GHz processor with sound card, AGP card and network card brings the power to 150 Watts - the maximum that the carputer DC-DC converters can produce.

Panda

[efgiar]

depends wat invertor u have, if u get a 500 watt inverter u can run alot of things off of it :P and true sign wave helps too, not that modofied crap

[barthez]

ive been told that if i run a 12V DC power supply instead of a standard PC power supply it should run fine...i think im going to just settle for a 1.7ghz p4 processor

[bo0]

I know it was done a while ago, but have to hand it to you on an excellent job there dude. It really is quite cool having a media library right there!
Definitley inspiring... would love to do something like that one day.

[col_ea]

I wouldn't use a P4 for a Carputer. They run too hot. I was personally thinking about getting a VIA 1GHz All in one motherboard. Low wattage (60 Watts), Low heat, Medium performance, and it's tiny too. A Carputer is in my long list of future upgrades.

[EFFalcon]

I'm using a P4 in my car pc, not heat related problems for mine.
I might also mention my car is dark in colour, has no aircon, and the PC is under the seat.
not to mention the 40 degree temps we've been getting.