Hi buddies, a lil project amongst many i\'ve got going on my \'7!... unfortunately i\'m hopeless at progress pics.
This front end basically entailed much plastic chopping, a lot of plastic glueing & epoxy\'ing, a lil bit of fibreglass, a lil bit of filler, A LOT of sanding & prepping, a lot of paint, a bit of lacquer and heres the final product...
Tis an 8" widescreen touch finished in vw diamond black as will the rest of the interior panels, you\'ll notice there wasn\'t enough space for the interior light dimmer!! I keep it on max anyway, it\'s been removed and fg\'d over :)
(http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=36603&stc=1&d=1198428934)
(http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=36604&stc=1&d=1198428934)
Oh im liking that a lot, im currently looking for a solution for a carputer so i dont have to plug the laptop into the footwell and leave the laptop on the pasengers seat, so ill be watching this one closely.
Im thinking of a smaller screen as im only wanting to play muzic with no display or log via logworks so not much graphics required there.
Looking nice though mate.
Keep us posted as to how ya do the rest :)
Heheh cheers for the comments buddy, i had a 7" widescreen to play with before but i broke it during the sizing up, figured it was too small anyway!! wanted something that would take up almost the whole panel but still look relatively oem... i was close to ordering a 9" widescreen!! :)
theres a powersupply called the "carnetix p1900", it connects to your ignition, 12v rail & ground, can alter the output voltage between 16-21v iirc. You then solder your laptop/carpc\'s on/off switch to it and it will automatically shutdown/start up the pc with the ignition key... letting you hide it somewhere else!
Obviously not ideal if it\'s an expensive laptop!! Just an idea that may interest you if it\'s a dedicated car pc/laptop :)
Well i do everything on a laptop including tuning so im thinking of just sloting it in the boot to use as the pc part, thankfully it has a vga output so that combined with a usb to control the mouse via the touch screen should do it :D
Sounds awesome :) yeah i used to run a laptop for the pc part of it using the vga out... heres a link for that PSU (http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=10728)... a bit pricey but lets you just chuck your laptop in the boot with a safe power source and forget about turning it on/shutting down etc!
That looks very nice!
I keep thinking about doing it as it\'d be so much better than any headunit you can get and the fact I could just leave the car running and wirelessly copy music across from my server would also be excellent too.
got to say thats looks great mate! seen one like this before
This does look interesting, would be good to list components you are using, nice work
Hi buddies, updates for those of you who are interested :)
...
wobbly hands after a 14hour day!
(http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=36709&stc=1&d=1198965991)
iTunes...
(http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=36711&stc=1&d=1198965991)
Rest of the "Install"...
JL XR 3ways behind the grills...
(http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=36712&stc=1&d=1198965991)
Subwoofer...
(http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=36713&stc=1&d=1198965991)
Carputer/front end amp...
(http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=36714&stc=1&d=1198966199)
Thanks :) :Thumbs-up
pics dont work mate
matt
Should work now?
...
(http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=36715&stc=1&d=1198969763)
iTunes...
(http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=36716&stc=1&d=1198969763)
Rest of the "Install"...
JL XR 3ways behind the grills...
(http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=36718&stc=1&d=1198969763)
Subwoofer...
(http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=36717&stc=1&d=1198969763)
Carputer/front end amp...
(http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=36719&stc=1&d=1198969763)
Thanks :) :Thumbs-up
awesome job my friend. Is that dash flocked or is it just the light playing tricks?
Thanks buddy :)
That dash has been retrimmed in royal blue alcantara! \'Tis easier to see the colour/texture in the subwoofer pic, so no your eyes are fine! heheh :)
Just doing an install myself at the mo found some great skins for the car puter, I really like the knight rider skin:)
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/rr-skins/
Im using the carnetix p1900 like you mentioned it is really good I would recomend this to anyone, also get the additional 5V supply which goes with it to power usb and other devices.
My screen is a little larger being 12.1 I had to modifiy a standard rx7 clock cluster and cowel, mines going to sit over on the passenger side like another set of clocks.
Heres a pic of the surround, just had all plastics colour coded so nice and shiney.
Used the original holes for usb hub, card reader bluetooth dongle, I have even altered the heat light and those darkened out indicators to show hard drive access and power and things like that.
Good work your doing it looks really tidy
That\'s awesome Eddie! inspired by the tokyo drift fortune rx7?
What kind of pc are you using? I went for a mini-itx, with an m2-atx psu,
front end skins are cool but I love iTunes too much!
Has anyone used the new ipod touch or seen adverts for the iphone where the user just slides left/right in the record stack of pictures to select the album...?
(http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=36721&stc=1&d=1198972318)
^^^ That\'s a screenshot of my laptop iTunes but when it\'s used with a touchscreen it\'s exactly the same as an ipod touch :)
Absolutely fantastic interface to scroll between albums!
Quote from: S3THThanks buddy :)
That dash has been retrimmed in royal blue alcantara! \'Tis easier to see the colour/texture in the subwoofer pic, so no your eyes are fine! heheh :)
I\'ve always thought trimming the dash is a nice idea. I\'d love to have it done, along with a million other things. Looks like very good workmanship going on. Be sure to post up some more photos.
are yes you know, I always liked hte duel pod look on the fortune rx but had nothing to put in it till now:)
Been so long since I bought the PC cant remember its from a member here, its bloody small I know that:)
I do like the way yours look oem only hope my efforts dont look like I have stuck something to my dash. Yours is like factory how is it with the gear and handbrake still easy to get too?
Jobs a good un as they say up north:)
regards
heheh thanks chaps, it\'s not too hard to retrim the rx7 dash! you\'d get away with 1m of alcantara in a colour of your choice (given the average width of alcantara rolls is 1.3-1.4m), a can of spray adhesive, or better yet, timebond, patience, clean hands & Jit to supply you with all the bits you manage to break in the process :wiggle
ohh it\'s great when your in 3rd, 5th, it\'s just a nice finger length away :), i don\'t stay in 1st or 2nd for long, in 4th you\'d have to take your hand of the gear though :Hammer
getting some software with shape recognition, so you can draw a G with 2 fingers on the screen and it\'ll open GPS, M for music etc, diagonal swipe to exit programs, 2 finger swipe for volume up/down etc. should be fun :Santa
dude....youre gonna have to replicate that on my car man....i love it! Im defo gonna drag myself down there in the day one day to have a look over it....great work fella
Kinda surpassed what i want, all i wanna do is log so i think a saml 7" touch screen and a little smallend pc would do the trick, something with a usb so i could plug a stick in and log to that :D
mate did you do the dash your self? if so how much do you charge? :D i want mine done in white along with the door cards! anyways great work!
Yeah jit you decided on the fd/cosmo? heheh steve, mines only 1" bigger @ 8" and the pc isn\'t uber specc\'d but is lightning fast :)
The stuff I used:
Motherboard (http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=2#p1649)
Case (http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=3#3688)
Power supply (http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=10#p1830)
Low density 1GB ddr 3200 module
80GB 2.5" laptop HDD
Laptop optical DVD/RW drive
Lilliput 8" Widescreen touchscreen (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330148210930&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ebay.co.uk%3A80%2Fsearch%2Fsearch.dll%3Ffrom%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm37%26satitle%3D330148210930%26fvi%3D1)
Went for that motherboard in particular because it has a compact flash drive & a pcmcia slot built into the mobo.
CF drive = 2gb card loaded with windows for instant boot/seek times!
PCMCIA = my tmobile 3.5g card for 2mb broadband wherever i am :)
Enough of unveiling my geekiness...
envyd yeah i did it myself but i don\'t wana do it again LOL, retrimming is probably one of the most frustrating things man can do...
lol ok mate no bother i will have to buy a second dash and give it a shot my self! lol
nice work man. I remember seeing this a few years ago in another fd. I\'ve been wanting to do this for ages now, just never got round to doing it. Will any old pc work?
Quote from: RobbieRX-7nice work man. I remember seeing this a few years ago in another fd. I\'ve been wanting to do this for ages now, just never got round to doing it. Will any old pc work?
Yup, but the lower power consumption & quieter the better... you just need the right psu, an m2-atx has a regulated 12v input and powers your pc with a standard atx power connector... the carnetix p1900 has a regulated 12v in and a regulated 12-24v out iirc, so you can connect it to laptops etc. :)
whats the cooling like on this?
What CPU/graphics card fans and other fans are you using - i could only see one 80MM and it looks kinda thin... guess you\'ll have to wait for (if we have then again) hot sunny days to find out.... thought about water cooling or are temps no different from having it as a normal desktop?
Quote from: goldk28611whats the cooling like on this?
What CPU/graphics card fans and other fans are you using - i could only see one 80MM and it looks kinda thin... guess you\'ll have to wait for (if we have then again) hot sunny days to find out.... thought about water cooling or are temps no different from having it as a normal desktop?
80mm? think your a bit disorientated by the pic, the pc is minature, the 2 fans are 40mm, the cpu is ultra low voltage and low heat :) it could run fanless! temps are 35-40degrees max. I don\'t think i would setup a water cooling system for it :Laugh
ohh the cpu is a via nemehia... 1200mhz, but a relatively high fsb iirc 533mhz so is nippy for little applications!
wow that is nice, so does the power card thingy just connect straight to the ignition power cable, so it switches on when u turn the car on?
Also how did u go about connecting them up to the car speakers, guessing u use the sound card socket somehow lol..
erm.. how long does she take to boot up, ma laptop takes bout 5 mins :(
soz for the questions but there a be aload more lol
Quote from: interloper393does the power card thingy just connect straight to the ignition power cable, so it switches on when u turn the car on?
True indeed :) the computer/monitor both turn on with ignition, you need not flick one switch!
There are loads of modes, when you turn the car off it shuts the pc down and gives it 45seconds before cutting off the power
Quote from: interloper393how did u go about connecting them up to the car speakers
I\'ve got an alpine 9835 headunit, the pc sound out goes into the auxilery input of the headunit so it can act as the preamp/equalizer/crossover to the sub/fronts amps.
Will be mounting the face-off of the alpine in the roof lining to be controlled with a remote... not necessary but i\'m a sucker for lights! :rollin
Quote from: interloper393how long does she take to boot up
it takes about 30seconds cold, but theres a setting to tell the pc to hibernate when the ignition is off, which cuts it down to 5secs! \'Tis just a drain on the battery if you leave it for a couple of weeks/months but will probably be the setting i have eventually.
Quote from: interloper393ma laptop takes bout 5 mins :(
re-install windows! lol
Quote from: interloper393soz for the questions but there a be aload more lol
That\'s cool buddy, fire away, i know ima need your advice when i install my body kit! LOL
kewl :D so did u do all this just to play your itunes lol or are u wanting to display other info like the apexi data? how would u go about doing this?
going onlines a good idear, i need never leave my car.. only to pee :S
LOL, yup itunes mainly... also the infinite library of music! i like being able to scroll through 1000\'s of tunes at pace too, a nice change to pressing the skip button on my cdp 20 times! :)
i\'ve got a gps reciever to go in too, so gps functionality as normal... and of course it\'s a media player so you\'ll have films etc. at your finger tips, possibly even games! i know i\'ll find myself playing role playing games on motorways and traffic like heroes of might and magic 3 would be awesome with a touch screen lol!
i\'m sure you could connect your apexi to it, it has a seriel port (this is how i would have thought tuners connect it to a laptop/pc)
i suppose if you had the apexi tuning software on it you could remap it too!! (i should put a disclaimer on that last statement, lol, probably not wise but the possibility is there at least...)
once you\'ve got a computer setup in your car theres a world of new things to keep on adding :)
whats a gps receiver then? is it just a off the self satnav that plugs into the screen for easyer viewing?
It\'s a small mouse-like device which plugs into your usb port which then can be hidden in your roof lining, or rear boot hatch. It allows you to use gps programs like navigator 6 via your computer directly. Hell, you could even install navigator 6 without the gps reciever and use it like a computerized a to z, but a gps reciever will basically put your car on the map :)
AHHWOOHOOO!!!! im so doing this now lol.. cn i ask what it cost u all in plz :)
Quote from: EddieJust doing an install myself at the mo found some great skins for the car puter, I really like the knight rider skin:)
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/rr-skins/
Im using the carnetix p1900 like you mentioned it is really good I would recomend this to anyone, also get the additional 5V supply which goes with it to power usb and other devices.
My screen is a little larger being 12.1 I had to modifiy a standard rx7 clock cluster and cowel, mines going to sit over on the passenger side like another set of clocks.
Heres a pic of the surround, just had all plastics colour coded so nice and shiney.
Used the original holes for usb hub, card reader bluetooth dongle, I have even altered the heat light and those darkened out indicators to show hard drive access and power and things like that.
Good work your doing it looks really tidy
That looks awesome, but wouldn\'t you be better off with a datalogit and use that as your dials ?? Would only take about 30secs to boot and you could customize your own dials :D
Shaun
Quote from: interloper393AHHWOOHOOO!!!! im so doing this now lol.. cn i ask what it cost u all in plz :)
ahah awesome, you\'ve got all the skillz and tools, it would be criminal not to!
all in... it was circa £550 inc. paint and all the bits i broke on the 7, LOL, about a solid day of work, I\'d say 20-24 man hours?
i imported the 8" touch for £120, bought the pc inc. all the bits for £350 but i\'m sure you can source cheaper computers, a laptop with a broken screen perhaps? they go around 150-200 for a good one, if used with a carnetix p1900 psu you can\'t go wrong...
i can of course help you set everything up but were on opposite ends of the island!! :eek:
lol well bring your car up, i`ll fit yer bodykit n u cn build ma caprputer setup :yes
ahahah sounds like a plan, lol we\'ll definitely talk about this in greater detail! will be getting a decat/apexi in feb so will come up for a nice long drive after that! :)
What power are you putting through that RE-XXX sub? I\'m positive if you crank that up to 2000wrms it will blow out your rear windscreen. They are awesome subs!
Quote from: MimsWhat power are you putting through that RE-XXX sub? I\'m positive if you crank that up to 2000wrms it will blow out your rear windscreen. They are awesome subs!
Awesome, not many people know the xxx! :)
It\'s the V3, not the V4 so it\'s not AS fearsome, the V4 really, really wouldn\'t fit depth-wise!!
It\'s running 1800watts @1ohm through a us amps m2, I thought the window blow-out could have been an issue but i\'ve read everywhere that it\'s myth!! and PERHAPS
could maybe happen if i managed over 150db, but till that kinda volume the window will flex and flap around like mad, the rubber surround will give a little & the glass will act like a passive radiator since it\'s directly underneath the sub, it\'ll be like having a second sub inside the car :rollinoh these rx7\'s are designed perfectly in every way!
But it also means it\'ll be like having a sub on the outside too, broadcasting all your bass signals to the streets! :cheers:driving
So there are no issues then, awesome! Will have to try and find one. A friend had a V4 in his lil clio, running 2200wrms and it melted out one of the resonators in his Rockford Fosgate amp! Also I hope you are going to close up all the carputer components!
ahahah yeah they are crazy powerful, i\'ve not even heard it yet since i\'ve been lazy with the wiring! the v4\'s are mamoth subs, i think even the 15" sub versions have a larger magnet assembly than it is wide, damn even the v3 has a square-like profile @ 15", theres a 42mm baffle and a lot of re-inforcement in that box LOL, will get close ups of the carpooter too and some more attractive itunes shots :)
Have you got alacantra dash too? If so can you email me pics mims at lightningdynamics dot com
Yup, but I\'m gona re-do it in dark grey and black alcantara, send of the panels to be covered in carbon fibre. Which is a shame because now i have about 3 metres of royal blue left! What a waste of 150 quid, i think i\'ll make a royal blue alcantara bedsheet or something LOL
When you get some grey then you can do mine too :D
ahaha well get some grey yourself, take a long drive down south and i\'ll help you :p :)
Or I\'ll send you a dash and then some cash :p
hah we\'ll see! will have my reventon interior look completed in about a month... but with red seats :cool:Hammer