Thread: PROJECT: 2004 Xterra Carputer

Looking back, I should have taken more pictures. I suppose we got a bit carried away with the process and skipped documentation on a few steps. If anyone has any questions as to how we got from here to there, feel free to post or PM.


This is a shot of the dash with the factory radio in it before we started.


We took the front bezel off the Lilliput screen and ABS'd it to the Nissan dash.


We wanted a laptop dvd-rw and a center channel speaker up front so a cage was made from Luan. Hot glue was used to temporarily hold the two cages in place until liquid ABS could be poured in to fill the gaps. Styrofoam sheets were cut and placed in between to give the liquid ABS support while it dried.


Closeup



Here's the miraculous jump. We decided that USB and Firewire ports would be nice up front as well, so we took a Belkin hub apart and integrated it into the dash we were making. After the ABS plastic dried, an angle grinder was used to smooth it out. Then I used Evercoat polyester glazing putty to fill in the craters and smooth out the dash to the look we wanted. This is where I wish I had taken more pics. I suppose the smell was getting to my head.


Finished primer.


Closeup


Really bad lighting and ****ty camera phone.


Hard to make out the center channel here but it sticks out 1/4". We used the Clarion SRK-5.

With the dash piece made and the components installed, we've been busy encoding mp3's and playing with all of the frontends to find out which one is best. All of the audio equipment came in today so we will be working on building the rest of the system. Our goal is to have this project complete by Spring Break Nationals in Daytona 2006. Here is a system diagram.