Not a problem.

If I can help you in any way, I'm just "paying forward" the
help that EmporerJ11 gave me with the input dilemma that I had.

 

Has anyone modified their bezel so that they can remove it without removing the
two side trim pieces first?

I don't plan on removing the screen alot, but I might use the handy dandy cubby
space vacated by my factory headunit to hold some electronics (FusionBrain, Flux Capacitor, etc), and would like to be able to get at them more easily if needed.

I have been mulling over in my mind the option of trimming the overlapping portions of the two side trim peices and grafting them to the factory headunit bezel.

I just wondered if anyone else had done it yet, because I don't want to get it done and find out that I don't like the way it looks.

 

if anything i would cut the part of the big bezel that go under the 2 side pieces. i wouldnt try to fiberglass them all together because it will brake eventually

 

i was actually rather curious to find out if the mp3car double-din bracket for a 7 inch liliput would fit in our ride. i just don't wanna do the measurements.

 

I would assume so. My screen is a 8.4" 4:3 ratio, so I would assume that
a Double Din mount would fit a lilliput 7" fine.

The only problem would be that the factory radio has risers that hold the radio out about an inch
from the mounting points. It may require an amalgamation of a metra kit and the lilliput mount, but
the dimensions should fit well.

My screen has beveled sides on the back, and if it was flat on the backside, it wouldn't have fit.

No, I meant that I was looking to trim the sides from the two side trim pieces and graft them to the center bezel. It would still come apart, and still be three pieces, but the seam would come out past the overlapping parts, so that the bezel would be able to clear the side pieces.

I'll fudge together a rough idea in MS paint (I'm at work, so no GIMP or Photoshop) in a bit and post it here.

Here's a rough idea of what I'm talking about.

Take a look at the lines where the trim pieces meet the bezel.

(I apologize in advance for bastardising somebody elses picture, I didn't have the means to get a pic of mine to use)



That's all I'm thinking about, still make it be three pieces, but eliminate the overlap.

 

Dremel is your friend.
When i first got my double din I didn't have a DD kit for it all I had was the single din from my old HU
So I busted out the dremel, a file some sand paper and a knife and hacked it apart, it worked just fine.
Its along the same thing your thinking of, as long as you allow those side pieces to stay where they are you can cut off the extra trim without a problem. Just make sure it stays symetric.
Oh yeah and cut it a little to small to start and then sand or file the rest down. This will save you from unwanted gaps in the trim

 

I am actually going to mark the side trim peices (put masking tape on them and write with marker) then remove them and cut with bandsaw.

Every time I cut something like trim with a dremel, it comes out looking like I fell
asleep halfway through the cut.

~

Something like that, LOL

 

how in gods name did you keep the DD held in?

lol i feel you 100% man. sadly when i first got my dremel i was so excited i used it for everything. fucked up cuts and all

 

I got the computer wired up yesterday.
It now starts with the key, and the screen shuts off with it.
The computer stays on for a few minutes after.
I was worried about the current draw, but it's minimal.

My son is having a blast with it, because
I don't yet have my USB and VGA extension cables to run it up to the dash,
so it's (the screen) just sitting in the backseat.

I have the wifi adapter sitting in one of the LATCH pulls on the rear deck. I might have to rig something up more permanent as I work the bugs out. It looks kinda stupid sticking up like Alfalfa's hair. I'll have to do something similar for the GPS dongle.

Pictures are forthcoming. my wife had the camera in her purse (at work like an hour away)
so I'll have to get them later.

I was a little worried at first, because I had dropped both the screen and the PC onto the shops concrete floor at times, and when I booted it up, the PC couldn't find the HDD.

But, I was lucky, it was just unplugged inside the case.

 

I think you should do a full how to when you're completely done...but thats just me! =)

 

I'll work something up soon.

I wish I had taken pictures of what I was doing already, but being married, I tend to take any available time to get stuff done and not worry too much about posterity. LOL

I just got the touchscreen calibration problem I was having fixed by installing an older driver.

Now I can take the PS2 mouse out of the back. I had hooked it up because I couldn't click
on close buttons or the start button. It freaked me out a little bit, because it (the laser mouse) would slide around in the backseat when I was driving and at night it felt like I was playing cat and mouse with a drunken sniper with a laser sight.

I'll get some pictures posted soon.

My sons gonna be bummed when I get it all moved to the front. I told him I was going to get some ipod nano clones off ebay (red new generation) and recess one into each of the rear armrest bulges and hook them up internally so I can use them to store music on, and transfer it to them without removing them every time.

I'll eventually get some rear headrest screens, but I'm still looking for a software setup that does everything I like.

 

are you gonna mold the headrests urself or what is your plan there?

 

I plan on fabricating the headrests myself.

I'm skittish enough to not want to cut up the factory ones, in case I change my mind later. I might get another set to modify, but the angle of the stockies doesn't seem the best for LCD viewing.

I'm still looking at a solution to have more than one touchscreen going at the same time. My son wants to have his own setup. (He wants to play Crayon Physics in the back with a touchscreen while I listen to music in the front.

 

I just ordered the Metra Harness and everything else that I need to install the screen.

I have a quick question, though.

I'm looking for a cheap cigaratte lighter plug adapter that outputs 12v (solid 12v) in order to power my monitor.

I am currently running it off the M2-ATX PC power supply, but the additional draw is confusing the logic controller enough so that the PC has been hard shutting off with the ignition and not always starting up, though the screen always turns on immediately.

It doesn't draw much power, so a plug for a portable dvd player or something will work fine.

 

just tap 12v from the harness.

reason i ask is because you can get like the prebuilt titanum power headrests and the screen is huge (9.2) but its not touchscreen

 

Where in the harness can I find a regulated 12v power feed (one that does not fluctuate (13.8-14.4) from 12v as car current is known to)?

I'm still open to different possibilities. The non-touchscreen route is undoubtedly easier, but I have that problem on the back burner until I get the main screen in.

Do you have a link?

Hopefully, tommorow I'll have the main screen painted and installed. I'll have to use something else to listen to until I get the USB cable in the mail.

 

lol my bad i didnt realize u needed the regulated power (duh) but i have no idea which cig lighters offer 12v. i know sat radio ones are 5v and i think the cellphone chargers are 5v as well but no idea on 12v

 

I've been looking at laptop chargers, and they all seem to be 19v.

I'll keep looking, and if I don't find one, I might just have to make my own, lol

 

after work if it's not raining i'm gonna do the first very temporary hook up of my carputer to the amplifier system. This initial test will be for initial sound quality judgments while using the kxproject drivers(I LOVE THESE DRIVERS!!!). If the test tonight meets my baseline requirements, the mo-so-co lilliput w/ bezel w/ metra dash kit + M4-ATX power supply w/ enclosure will be ordered tonight.

aka.....

CARPUTERS RULE! :-P

what front end ya gonna use mae?

personally i was gonna run my trial out with centrafuse and then purchase it w/ the navigation.

 

Right now, I'm using RideRunner (formerly Roadrunner) with the DigitalFX 4.0 skin.

I just painted my bezel, and I'm fighting the upload app to get them into the thread.

I just got my Metra adapter in the mail last night, the only thing keeping me from
being at the step you are at is the two RCA Y connectors (onboard audio sucks, but
there is always the chance of buying an extigy in the future.

 

RR is a good front end, the biggest thing i liked was it being free. I'm curious how their pay product will turn out.

omg dude, speaking barebones, you got everything besides the rca stuff, whereas i got everything besides the monitor stuff. lol, kinda curious if you feel the same as i do now, so close yet so far away from getting the damn thing in. lol

maybe it'll be time to include tuning software. tune your car from the in-dash hahaha. :-P

 

Ok, I fought the picture uploader and the picture uploader won.

I have pictures of the screen in the dash, the finished (almost) bezel,
the backside of the bezel (showing the way I grafted it to the bezel),
and the CarPC installed into my trunk.

I reinstalled the PC, and installed the screen. It powers up fine, and boots pretty quickly.

For some reason, the touchscreen isn't working, but that is probably a driver issue.

Oh yeah, I tried to match the paint color using some paint we have in the shop.

Me matching paint trim=FAIL.

But you'll see, hopefully later tonight when I get the chance to post them.

I also just recieved the Y adapters that I need, so I should be able to install the audio soon.

 

I fought the Uploader, and finally came out victorious!

Here's a shot of the painted (soon to be repainted) bezel.


Here's the backside, showing how I grafted the LCD bezel to the Cobalts stock bezel.



Here's the CarPC mounted in the trunk on the PS rear wheelwell.



A closeup of the front of the PC



With screen installed after painting.



I didn't get a shot of the screen installed into the dash again after painting, mainly because I think it makes my attempt at paint matching that much more embarassing.

I'm going to get the matching paint and spray it, then reinstall it.

It plays music now. I installed (laying in the backseat) some passive ipod speakers and
they work, but are too quiet to hear over road noise. I just got the Streetwires Y adapters in, so I'll have it hooked to the stereo soon.

 

mini-box!

And hey man, overall your center dash piece looks great! sure the color deal, but it still looks professional and clean.

 

Yeah, it's from mini-box.

It's a pretty well built setup, can't complain, except that the M@-ATX shutdown controller is acting a little wonky at the moment.

Thanks. I'll get the color thing situated soon enough.

I think I might make a video and post it on Youtube once I get Centrafuse installed.

Well, post the link here, I mean, LOL