Thread: I'm New, and I'm Interesting! - 03 Altima CarPC Worklog

Whats up everyone?
I'm new to this forum, actually... this is my first official car enthusiast forum that I am an active participant in... so yeah lol
Anyways, my name is Jay and I own a 03 Nissan Altima 2.5S. I bought it in September to replace my 97 accord (R.I.P) that had served its purpose valiantly.
I always wanted to put a computer in my car since I was 17, but I never had a decent car to do it with.. until now.
Currently, I am stereoless, and have been for a few weeks, with the exception of last week when i prematurely put my half-baked project back into my car.
I ended up taking it out yesterday to complete it properly this time.
Well, enough about my endless perils and lets get down to business.

CarPC Specs::

Cheap Ebay 7" LCD Touchscreen with VGA
(literally came with just the screen, no enclosure or anything... it made this project 10x worse than I anticipated.. but it works well )

JVC 730BT Car Stereo
(wanted it for the multi-colour function.. and the bluetooth connectivity// spares wires and works independently if ever my project was to not work )

IBM Thinkpad T60- 2gb ram, ati radeon x1300, 60gb SSD
( I feel that laptops get the job done just as well as an itx setup, and they're cost-effective if you know where to look)

250 GB Removable HDD
( for all the movies, music, and games I want)

USB OBD2 scanner
(I like to monitor my vehicle and its performance)

And some other things that I will illustrate using pictures; when i get the opportunity to take and post em
So far, I've spent $350 for everything including the materials.
....................................

So far, between work and school, I've been able to nearly complete the project. Now I must say, the way I made my build will probably be frowned upon in terms of quality,
but remember, this is my very first attempt and after all the research I put in to understanding the basics of doing it right, I determined that the products I used will be
more than adequate for my satisfaction....

To customize my frame, I used a LOT of bondo glaze putty... and it actually works well I must say. And yes, it is temperature resistant... hasn't cracked once (on another project that
I was involved in) and I live in Canada, so our temperature is all over the place at times.

I used a LOT of hot glue to keeps things in place just until the Epoxy Glue had set.

I used CHEAP spray paint from Wal-M4rt to colour my bezel to the factory knob colours. I couldn't figure a nice way to keep the silver and to taper the paint for a real clean
finish (that was financially viable... I am a student, after all)

.................................................. ............

What's left to do is to sand the new revision of the frame and to paint the bezel.
I want to know how to create the grain texture that most car bezels have... if anyone has an idea that can help me out, I'd appreciate it

I would also like to know which frontend is best for a rookie? I need something simple just to play music and watch videos with ease.. not Windows Media please...

Some pics will be provided soon. Stay Tuned