Fabricating My New 1999 300M Bezel?...WORKLOG !!

**locs4dayz** · 09-29-2009, 10:33 AM

I am new to this Car PC thing, but I'm off to a good start. Found out that my current in dash monitor would not do the job because it was not a vga monitor, so text would be crappy. So I removed the miscellaneous blank cubby holder then moved the Climate Controls in my 1999 300M down to the bottom above the ashtray and moved the radio down a little above that to make room for my monitor. Decided to avoid flip out monitors because of all the problems I've read about on Mp3Car. I've gotten ideas on how to make the bezel by reading Turbocad's threads(he is definitely a master at this!). My question is this...Will dynatron 660 adhere to whats left of my existing bezel in order to fabricate a new one, or do I need to do a fiberglass job? I want to keep the existing bezel I've cut out because of the snaps on it that will hold the bezel in place. I've read that a lot of epoxy type fillers don't adhere well. Once I've figured out how to fabricate the bezel, I should be in bizness!!! I don't have the tools for plastic welding!!!!....Thanks for all ideas in advance!!!!!

PS:Here is a pic of my 300M(gotta fix the dented rear passenger door, but thats another project)...And a pic of my progress so far with the climate control re-location and stereo moved down. As you can see, now I have room for a 7" monitor(plan to use the bracket to hold the monitor)...But I want to use whats left of the bezel to fabricate a new one that will snap into place like the original did!!!

**jessekilner** · 09-30-2009, 07:25 PM

easy.. wish my chrysler was setup that way..you can bond the plastic with "plastic weld" filler from autozone.. you got enough room for a 10" lmao.. heres mine

I SUPPORT ANY CHRYSLER/Dodge installs

beleive it or not this is original and snaps in and out.. I remove it when i go clubbing..all I used was plastic weld tube type as mentioned ealier and some bondo to smooth out edges 3 coats of heavy primer and couple coats of semi gloss black

**locs4dayz** · 09-30-2009, 08:17 PM

I can only get a 10" in if I remove the factory radio, but I got it hooked up nice to my amp and box and it sounds lovely...Don't want to rely exclusively on windows for music(the radio is my crash-proof fail-safe device). By the way, love the screen install in your ride...What is that...A Sebring?

**jessekilner** · 09-30-2009, 09:10 PM

sure is..01' Coupe .. being I went with a complete carpc and removed factory Im biased as to saying junk the original..and this is for good reason..1st is carpc can't integrate into the factory radio, theres no inputs..2nd carpc crash? Get your hands on a SSD harddrive for operating system. Then once your Frontend is installed then remove explorer.exe from starting, replace with the Frontend of your choice (theres tutorials on that) therefore you wonts sweat harddrive failure or system crash as only the frontend is running.. It acts more integrated as if its built into car not a addon. It looks factory from startup to shutdown no window logo's.. I will admit though bypassing the factory Infinity amp and wiring in the Jl audio to the factory speakers was a pain in the a55.... my wire harness was under passenger seat, the original stereo had low outputs but not the RCA type.. I sure hope you got it easier.. I simply used a Ohms meter to trace +/- to each speaker for the phasing..(7 factory speakers) reading all those colors was getting confusing..

**locs4dayz** · 10-01-2009, 09:58 AM

Right now I can't afford a Solid State Drive...Will be upgrading to one in the future though...I have a SATA laptop hard drive at the moment. For some reason sometimes my OS won't finish loading and I have to reset, or my power supply will suddenly shut off...more often when the outer case is on. Hence my reluctance to get rid of the stereo at this time. Am I not grounded right or something, is my mobo about to die, or is it a processor issue? Trying to figure out the problem!

**jessekilner** · 10-01-2009, 10:21 AM

I doubt its a motherboarddying, or processor issue..infact I'd rule that out..I dont understand what you meant by outer case is on? Your using a laptop Sata, are you using a laptop also? If it won't finish loading operating system I would trouble shoot Windows first thats a seperate issue you could try (click start go tot run type msconfig and select startup tab unselect everything in there restart and try it.. see if it boots without hitches, I would suggest reformatting and doing a clean install, theres too many isssues that could cause software issues that its easier to redo the program..in my opinion..as far as hardware I would do a full scan of hardrive and run benchmark programs for memory tests. Google can shoot you in right direction for those topics. How are you powering this when it suddenly power's of? AC, or DC converter?

**locs4dayz** · 10-01-2009, 10:56 AM

Powering on using AC. I have a DC to DC power source that I will be using when I do the final installation. The mobo green light stays on but the fan on the power supply turns off when this happens, so I know something is not getting juice correctly...Working on the PC in the house trying to get all the bugs out before I mount it all in.Here is the PC...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWNX:IT

This is the mobo inside...

http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/em...ail.jsp?id=301

Maybe some thing needs to be updated. I will be upgrading to 1gig of ram as a rule. I have a GeForce FX5500 card installed already....This is my first install. What do you think?

**jessekilner** · 10-01-2009, 12:40 PM

Do you get a quick flash blue screen error just before it shuts down? Check your Bios setting for anything relating to power off on error/ halt on error, disable this, so next time it will give a code to whats causing that.. it sounds like your power supply is being over drawn in my opinion.. do you have a spare to test that theory. It appears as a standard ATX type.. What operating system are you using winxp? Windows XP does'nt support SATA nativly to reinsatall..you half to create a driver disk or create a WinXPLite version withthe sata drivers entwined. Was OS. already setup when you purchased this?

heres a quick rule of thumb when diagnosing a stubborn PC, remove Harddrive, select to boot CD first..then stick in a windows install cd.. let it sit on the setup page for a bit like a hour or two.. if it shuts down then your issue is obviously hardware if not then I would be inclines to say software.. hardware will fail reguardless what state computer is in, I just want you to rule out windows first.

some process's I would use to elminate issues like that are

especially if you bought this PC already setup

*download the motherboard user manual check double check all jumper setting on motherboard
*check cmos battery,some bios software versions can cause system unstable from weak CMOS battey. I personally have'nt cam e across this but I am a member on many PC forums and have seen this issue mentioned..
*reset bios to defaults
*search for bios update and create a bios disk (from another computer) update bios if possible
*switch memory banks if theres one available as sometimes it could just be not seated enough
*clean CPU fan fromk dust buildup
remove CPU and replace the thermal compound.. overheating CPU will surely cause turn off's.. you can check CPU temp in your bios let computer sit cooled off for while over a hour.. then turn on get to the bios temp reading it will most likely be in Celcius if this climbs quickly or reached 55-60 within a few moments then your isssue is CPU has a crack in it''s cast or has poor thermal compound or clogged heatsink fins or possibly a failed CPU fan.

This should keep ya busy for a bit..lmao, but atleast I can get a better idea of when, and what state PC is in..post the temp you get from cold PC after running 5-10 min..

**locs4dayz** · 10-01-2009, 12:56 PM

No blue screen of death...Running XP Pro upgraded to SP3(installed it myself, OS and service pack). Downloaded all available updates already...Had to connect directly to my DSL modem though, cause my Netgear w111v2 won't let me go to any web pages, even though it's connected(can't seem to figure it out, so I may get a different one, maybe a Belkin, cause I think it may be incompatible with my graphics card!!).

PS: Installed and started tinkering with my Ride Runner Frontend last night!!!

**locs4dayz** · 10-01-2009, 10:06 PM

Took my GeForce FX5500 graphics card out and decided to use the onboard display. Ran CHKDSK /F on next startup. After that I uninstalled my USB wireless card, then reinstalled it. And now my PC so far is stable and able to connect to the internet(using wireless zero instead of bundled software to manage my wireless connection cause it's easier to let windows manage it and easier to diagnose when problems arise). But back to topic, I think it my be better if I made my monitor part of the bezel...Would the liquid plastic weld be able to support the monitors weight over the long haul? Other wise I will stick with plan "A"!