Enough Lurking, now time for work

**RonsRed88** · 09-12-2009, 12:09 AM

Hello, I've been reading and searching for a little while now and and am planning my own CarPC. First a little about me and my car. I'm the IT Director for a medium sized aerospace company and have developed broad IT skills over the past 25 years, but mastery of none! I have an 88 C4 Corvette that my Bose radio and speaker amplifiers have decided to call it quits. I do all my own maintenance on my car so I'm mechanically inclined and willing to take apart just about anything. Getting it back together is usually another story.

About my plans:
Being an older GM vehicle I have the infamous 1.5 Din opening with a surprising amount of space behind it. There isn't room under the seats because of all the seat electronics. It's a coupe so there is room in the back, but I like being able to jam my golf clubs back there. Here's what I'm thinking of so far.

Motherboard Intel D945GCLF2D mini-ITX
power supply M3-ATX 125 watt
radio Directed dmhd1000 www.gooddeals18.com
radio cable http://www.rush2112.net/
amplifier
speakers
memory 2 GB DDR2 Crucial CT25664AA667
touch screen lilliput 7" EBY701
hard drive 60gb seagate ST960818SM
SD reader tribeca
wireless GIGABYTE GN-WP01GS IEEE 802.11b/g PCI
blue tooth kensington micro adapter
gps DeLorme BT-20
case fan masscool
USB port/cables Cables to go C184-27036 (tiger direct)

I have two big concerns, room for an amplifier and room for the touch screen.

For the amplifier I need something very small, but all the amps I've seen are relatively huge or are overstating their capabilities (Mitzu). Ideally something about 3" x 5" x 2" should fit. Another possibility could be small individual amps in each speaker like my Bose system uses. So far I haven't been able to find anything that fits the bill.

For the touch screen the width doesn't seem to be a problem, but the height is another issue. With some minor surgery I could go as high as 105mm. I've seen lots of conflicting measurements for the various displays and could really use the minimum dimensions a display can squeeze into if taken out of its bezel. I am looking at the EBY01 because having the buttons on the side cuts down the height significantly. I've also seen some 6" monitors, but they aren't wide screen and are therefore taller than the 7" monitors.

So if you can point me in the right direction for amps and screen dimensions I'd be most greatful.

Thanks,

Ron

**kross** · 09-12-2009, 03:42 PM

The smallest high-quality amps that I know of are the Alpine PDX series, but even they are bigger than your stated size. The only amps that I know of that are that small are motorcycle amps, but they aren't exactly high power.

I also have a GM vehicle (2000 Jimmy) that came with a factory 1.5 DIN radio. As it turned out, there was plenty of room behind the dash bezel to put in a double DIN unit, I just needed a new dash bezel, which I got off eBay. Newer Jimmy's come with double DIN radios, and the dash bezel from those fit on my 2000.

My Lilliput 629 is about 4 1/8" tall out of the plastic case.

Hope this helps!
-- Kevin

**RonsRed88** · 09-13-2009, 07:34 PM

Thanks for the info, I think 4 1/8 will just fit just perfectly. Motorcycle amps sounds like a great idea. I'll start searching for those. I can order a replacement bezel for my car for around $150 just in case I goof up on my fab work or want to put it back to stock. I bought a plastic welder recently (got a great deal and I'm kind of a tool junkie) and have been practicing. So far I'm only proficient at melting things, but I'm getting better.

**soundman98** · 09-14-2009, 09:50 AM

for small amps, look at 41hz.com-- most are very small, and very powerful, and clear sounding. i have never ordered from them, only read reviews on their products--and most look like very good designs.

if you are planning on taking the screen out of the bezel anyways, most of the monitors button arrangement is a separate pcb, so the 629, or the 701 should fit in the same area if you removed the button board. but after using a bybyte screen in my own install, i would say that you should look into relocating the ir reciever so you can still control the monitor with the remote.

**Bugbyte** · 09-14-2009, 11:52 AM

Post 6 and 7 give Xenarc LCD dimensions for 8" and 7". Lilliput thread MAY have them but I didn't see them in scrolling through. You may need to search on terms "Lilliput dimensions" for that thread or in the site. I know they're posted somewhere but they ought to be very similar to the Xenarc dimensions.