I don't think I've seen this done yet.

[Mech_Mat]

O.K. I got completely sick of switching cd's and looking at my gps all the time, so, I'm installing a computer. It's still in development. It's not installed in the car yet, either.

Specs:
5U Rack-mount Case
P4 641 3.2Ghz
Gigabyte GA-G1975x Motherboard
2x 512Mb DDR2-533
2x 40Gb RAID1 (operating system)
2x 160Gb RAID0 (media)
802.11 b/g w/spread spectrum support & external hi-gain antenna.
Bluetooth 2.0
8" lcd touch-screen
2x 9" lcd widescreen t.v. monitors in the sun visors for full screen overlay
carpc.com's XM radio usb adapter
Terrestrial DTV/TV/FM/HD-Radio Tuner w/amplified over the headliner antenna
Night-Vision rear view camera
USB-GPS receiver w/hi-gain external antenna
AutoTap OBD-II - USB Diagnostic w/additional advanced Chrysler package
There will be a slimline (laptop) cd-rw/dvd-rw mounted in the lower tray of the dash. (Laptop IDE CD-drive w/standard ide adapter connected to the innerds of a external USB 2.0 cdrom.)

...I may have forgotten a few things. Actually I know I did, but there will most likely be a website with many pictures when it's done.

Nothing listed will run off of 110-120VAC! I am a firm believer of doing things right. The computer will use a 12VDC 350Watt ATX power supply. The power supply controls the power switch directly from the motherboard. 4 seconds after either sensing ignition power on, or off, it simulates pressing the power button.

Anyway, more on the picture I'm gonna post. THIS IS NOT A FINISHED PRODUCT! I tacked the screen in with super-glue. Next, I got some long haired fiberglass and filled in the bulk, sand and shape, then light-weight bondo, sand and shape. Now, I thought it was starting to look good. I put a quick spray of what is going to be my finishing paint, just to highlight imperfections, and just to help visualize the finished product.







Next steps: finishing skim coat of bondo, thick epoxy primer, sand, Water sand!!, wait 24 hours, and paint.

[jason's red srt-4]

looks great

[satyr]

i like the sounds of everything aside from the 2 9" screens in the visors.
1) they will probably look goofy and take away from how clean the central monitor is.
2) too big for that spot.

aside from that, sounds pretty good.
if you don't mind, how much is all of it going to run your about?

[jester-]

x2 on just keeping that one screen. Looks awesome though... now just start making them in bulk and become a vendor!

[vegasDSM]

better have one helluva security system...

[Mech_Mat]

there is Lojack in the car, plus i have special insurance for the custom add-ons, plus the thing I did not mention. there are 3 cameras in the car recording. I have a GPRS cellular card. I could log into the computer, get photos, gps location, or hell, just stream the video to my pocketpc w/gps. I'll find the thief before the cops do. :-)

The alarm in the car pages me if there is a problem too.

[Mech_Mat]

I also work for the insurance company that insures my car. ;-) My underwriter knows whats in my car, we are friends.

[Luvin_it]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mech_Mat

there is Lojack in the car, plus i have special insurance for the custom add-ons, plus the thing I did not mention. there are 3 cameras in the car recording. I have a GPRS cellular card. I could log into the computer, get photos, gps location, or hell, just stream the video to my pocketpc w/gps. I'll find the thief before the cops do. :-)

The alarm in the car pages me if there is a problem too.

subscribed....how the EFF did you do all that!?!

[lundy4137]

with a p4 running 3.2 ghz you will run into heating problems

[Mech_Mat]

No heating problems.. If so I'll liquid cool it and run the radiator under the car somewhere.. :-) there is a resolution to every problem. not to mention, this will not be in a mini case, I have a 5U rack-mount server case that it's in. I figured I could mount it safer being a rack case.

As for the security, Just brain-stormed one day and thought 'it would be cool if i could stream video, and raw data from the GPS antenna. as long as the car is powered on it automatically connects to cingular's cellular gprs broadband, then it sync's a dyndns hostname upon connection, and then I connect via Dameware, or VPN. Once I connect to it I can basically do anything that the computer can do. :-D

Once it's done I will have full documentation on everything. (if I can get the time to document it. Right now I'm customizing the read window defroster switch. It was too hard to relocate somewhere, so, I unsoldered the button and the led from the switch assem, and now I will use a standard momentary button and flashy l.e.d. for the button and mount the rest of the switch behind the screen in the dash. Then I still have the timer, and I made no modifications to the vehicles wiring.

I'm having problems figuring out weather i want to block off just the left center vent, or both center vents for a few l.e.d.'s, buttons, switches, and my AEM Uego that I'm ordering (w/3" o2 housing w/extra o2 bung welded in). Help me out let me know what might look better. (I'm running some cat-5 from the computer up to the heater vent block off plate for power, reset, power l.e.d., and HDD l.e.d. Even though the power supply controls the power, this will run a microsuck operating system, so, I need a reset button! I wanted Linux, but no software for GPS, XM Radio, etc..

[Mech_Mat]

You think this will overheat?












7 fans within 3 inches of the cpu. :-D

[Mech_Mat]

Oh and it's an intel, if it overheats, it down-clocks. If it were an AMD I would worry more about an overheat. I did also bechmark this system running @ 3.6Ghz and had no problem, but I will not overclock it once it's in the car, that was just my burn-in test. ;-)

[Jabbit]

My biggest concern would be with vibrations. Vibrations can be death on a computer.

[Toyin' Round]

I didn't know Bill Gates drove a neon ..The upgrades on your car in electronics prolly cost as much as my neon is worth now!! Good job though, thats sick!!

[URKRZE2]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jabbit

My biggest concern would be with vibrations. Vibrations can be death on a computer.

Not the whole computer, just the hard drive.
If you have sufficient vibration dampening, you should be fine.