its working!!!

Here are some pictures finally of it working.

Mounts

I spent all weekend trying to figure out how to mount everything and made some progress...

I made a bracket for the PC where the stock amplifier was originally. I used the stock bracket from the amp and unscrewed the amp from it, then welded a frame out of some angle iron and flat stock and riveted it to the bracket:

And I'm trying to figure out how to mount the amplifiers still. This is what I've mocked up. It allows me to fold down the back seats still all the way and the amps are then flush with the seat.

almost done! no really!!!

Big status update i guess...

I got the HORM working and everything A OK, but i decided to switch from igo8 to sygic drive and it is soooo much prettier. I need to test the GPS with hibernation because igo8 didnt like coming out of hibernation. but im sure itll be fine.

Im taking the car to my dads shop this weekend and am going to string all the wires and try to get everything mounted sans LCD screen. then come home and wait til my screen bezel paint looks perfect. the actual cutout is a bit chunky on the paint so i need to wet sand it down hopefully and then thats it.

i have a hard deadline of august 21st. so ill do it.

almost done!

i've got carbot in its case. everything functioning properly as well. i'm getting excited cuz i might get it in this weekend! woohoo. i still need to copy some music to it though.

So, the only REAL thing left right now is to figure out why my HORM (hibernate once, resume many) isn't functioning properly. and if it continues to be annoying, i'll just say eff it. enable ewf on its own and boot up. oh well.

New paint + SSD mount + GPS + newsetup

So first off, the SEM classic coat didnt match. so scratch that. waste of 15 dollars. i bought some black plasti-dip aerosol ($6 @ home depot) today and will try that out when i get a chance. its supposed to be a decent match. otherwise im gonna go to SEM color coat satin black and give that a shot.

I was able to get some scrap aluminum sheet about 0.08" thick from the scrap at work. i work for a local government agency and our sign guy had a bunch of 12"x3.5" pieces of scrap so he let me have one. I'm gonna bend up the sides and mount it to the same platform taht the pc will be on. and mount the hdd inside of the U shape.

I got a new skin for iGo8 that Spawn from Digital car put together and what a world of difference. the only problem im having is that only california maps seem to work. which luckily for me i live in california, but i go to reno and tahoe sometimes and always seem to get lost. so hopefully ill find some better maps.

I've also connected the m2-atx power supply to the system with my 300watt PSU supplying the 12v line with a toggle switch emulating the ignition. This allowed me to get all of the cable tied and squared away as well as organized and ready for the top of the case to be put on.

i'm very tempted to reinstall windows on the hdd because its running a bit sluggish. but im not sure. its kind of hit or miss. i'm gonna see what happens once i get a codec pack on there and videos working better.

Oh, and I'm still waiting on Lilliput factory to get back to me regarding the flipping of my screen. I may have to get a newer 629GL to do so. I have the right model, but hte firmware is from 2007 instead of 2009 like the new one. when i tell it to flip, it just stays normal. its strange.

Pics of RideRunner

Here are some pictures of my front-end software RideRunner actually running with iGO8 embedded into it...

Bezel at 95% completion

Bezel: It's painted. Some dust got on it after i wet sanded down the first coat and ill have to sand it back down and throw another coat on it. I need to wear gloves next time because im apparently allergic to something in the SEM Classic Coat paint that makes my skin break into hives. SWEET!!! Here's a pic after the first coat:



GPS: I switched from DeLorme Street Atlas to iGo8 and WOW. What a difference. iGO outperforms delorme by a mile (no pun intended)

Bezel nearly done; GPS update

Here's the bezel after a lot of primer/filler and spot putty, and even more sanding! this was after 600grit wet sanded. I'm experimenting with colors and spray techniques to match the dashboard in the car right now on some other pieces of plastic i have. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have it all done and ready.

GPS: I got my GPS antenna to work finally! Took some random commands in sirfdemo and now it works, so no complaints here, other than that I've got DeLorme Street Atlas and its terrible. I'm switching over to iGo right now and then possibly purchasing iGuidance if i'm not happy with iGo.

GREAT PROGRESS!!!

I decided it was time to buckle down and I got A LOT done... (my camera is broken and didnt have access to one so I couldn't take pictures of my fabrication)

I've got windows XP nLited, installed, drivers up, software installed (sans navigation software as I'm having install issues) but other than that software is good. I found an awesome saab 9-3 bootskin so it looks super slick when booting up.

My external DVD had an epic failure and doesn't seem to want to work, which is strange because it was just working a month of so ago. I'm not sure what happened with it. But its ok, i suppose I dont NEED dvd quite yet anyhow.

Once my navigation software is installed, I can finish configuring Ride Runner and get it all up and going, set my hibernation state, and go from there.

I'm 90% done with the screen bezel. The 2nd coat of primer-filler is drying right now and I'm gonna spot putty it after and sand some more, one more coat of primer (hopefully) and then paint! i pray it looks good when finished. even though its upside down. haha. it'll work.

I'll post pics when i can find a camera!

Part Listing

***UPDATED 03/09/2009***

LCD: 2008 (LED) Lilliput 629GL-70NP/C/T - $250
Mobo/CPU: Jetway J7F5M1G5D-VHE - $140
RAM: 1GB Kingston DDR2 533 - $20
OS HDD: 32GB Patriot SSD SataII - $73
***OLD - 1GB Flash IDE - Logic Supply - $45
Storage HDD: Western Digital 160GB 2.5" SATA- $80
Bluetooth: Cirago Mini bluetooth dongle - $15
GPS: USGlobalSat BU-353 - $45
HD Radio: Visteon HDZ300 - $60
Mitch's HD Cable - $25
DVD Drive: Slim Slot DVD/CD-RW Combo drive w/ext adapter - $40
Case: Mo-Co-So raised pci case - $80

Amp: JL Audio a6450 6ch - $315
Ch 1/2 - Dash: Boston Acoustics S35 3.5" - $40ish
Ch 3/4 - Doors: Boston Acoustics SL65 6.5" - $145
Ch 5/6 - Rear: Boston Acoustics S45 4" - $50ish

Amp: JL Audio a1200 mono A/B - $100
Sub: Jl Audio 10w1v2-4 10" - $80

Wiring/Accessories:
Power cable: Kicker - 4awg (15ft) 4awg(4ft) 8awg(8ft) - $100
Ground cable: Kicker - 4awg - came in kit
Distroblock: Stinger SHD4MAX - $26
Fuses: Kicker ANL 100A & MAXI 60A - 30A - 20A
Bass Control: JL RBC-1 - $35
RCA: 4 Pair P3 Gold RCA plugs - $20
Mini Stereo: 4 Neutrik Nickel Mini stereo plugs - $4
Firewall Bushing: Streetwires 4AWG - $7

Fabrication:
Double Din Fascia Kit: - $45
Double Din LCD Mount: ByByte ABS LCD enclosure - $40
Lots of Fiberglass stuff: a lot of $$$

Dash Fab (pt 2.)

I married the bybyte lcd frame with my dash kit with the epoxy putty. looks good. except that i effed up and put it in upside down. how to fix this?

options:
1) tear out and do again - NEVER!
2) use windows to flip screen - Will work but might be annoying that bios screen is upside down
3) mess with pin38 on the lilliput ribbon - I think this will rotate the screen 180degrees.

other than that, it looks fine. will start filling and sanding down more tonight. will post pics later.

Dash Fab

I picked up some loctite epoxy putty from lowe's last night and am going to start cutting up the dash kit tonight. I'm going to fit in the bybyte lcd frame and tack it up with some super glue, then use the epoxy to fill in the voids. sand it down. and then add some body filler after. sand it down. and hopeflly itll fit.

im still not sure what im gonna do about the dvd drive. i was going to add it to the dash, but i think i might just throw it in the center console, the smart slot, or the glove compartment.

Software

I put everything up in the spare bedroom. so i can start working on some stuff.

I put the new roadrunner (now renamed RideRunner) on the PC. I updated to winamp5. I had to mess with some stuff, but I got HD working out of the box. which was sweet.

i bought an xmdirect box at circuit city for 10 bucks this weekend.

ive run into a sound card issue. which is i only have 3 jacks. i thought i had 5. this presents a problem. for 1) the audio outputs i planned were three outs and 2 ins. so i need to do something. I'll either get a pcmcia or usb soundcard, or possibly the MJS line-in selector. Which may be the better option. Much more expandable and I think the quality of the on-board will be fine.

I'm ordering some epoxy putty to fab the dash.

All moved... almost

OK. So I will officially be all moved in tonight (probably). I moved in December, but left a lot of stuff at my parents. I unfortunately do not have a desk or table to put everything on so I will have to figure that all out...

But I have the fascia kit and a the bybyte kit. and im gonna try to figure that whole dilemma out. So i'll get that worked out.

then the whole software doings.

i jailbroke my iphone so i can tether it now. so thats good.

ill update soon hopefully.