Thread: 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Custom Car PC

doncarbone's Car PC

I'm a 22yo webmaster and computer geek...decided some time ago to attempt to get a working computer in my 2003 Lancer.

A brief back story... Over a year ago, I started by mounting a cheap 3G netbook onto the dash. I bent some aluminum to craft a monitor stand which held in place a 10" netbook laptop which had the monitor flipped the opposite way around (so the keyboard/base was behind the monitor on the dash). I powered this with a 300W inverter and connected the laptop's sound to an AUX-in on a single pre-out JVC head-unit that I bought for around $50. Since then, and after being laughed at by passengers, I've decided to try and do something a little more 'complete' and higher quality.

I'm by no means a professional and actually this project marked my first time working with fiberglass and a lot of the required tools. It has been both a fun and frustrating experience. I welcome criticism and suggestions of any kind!

**EDIT: I didn't bother posting a picture of the full "before" as the members of evolutionm.net (where I first posted this build progress) are familiar with the Lancer. Now this is not my exact car, but the interior looked identical to this before I got started:
as you can see, there is adequate room for a 7" if you relocate the climate control, as I did, but I wanted to go with a bigger screen (10.2"), so it required a very custom approach as you will see =). Climate control was relocated, hazard light switch moved, clock above hazard was ditched, vents were closed off and rerouted to under the dash (extra leg vents)



Components/Materials:

- Kinetik HC1400 power cell (front/starter)
- Kinetik HC800 power cell (rear auxiliary)
- Stinger 300amp isolator
- 10.2" Xenarc 1020TSV touchscreen monitor
- 300W inverter (from before, will power the monitor and be used for misc)
- Griffin Powermate programmable dial
- Opus Solutions 350W 12V power supply
- PC with 4GB DDR3 ram, Dual Core 2.4Ghz athlon cpu, 120GB solid state drive, Creative X-Fi sound card + two 120mm blue led fans (fabricated in trunk)
- Focal 165A1 components/tweeters
- Focal 165CA1 coaxials
- Two 10" Image Dynamics IDQ10V3 2ohm subwoofers
- Hertz EP4X 4-channel amplifier (150W x 4)
- Alpine MRP-MR1000 Monoblock amplifier (500+ x 2)
- Dynamatted the entire interior/trunk/doors
- Applied 0.5" thick neoprene foam throughout the vehicle to absorb road/engine noise
- Two 60mm Prosport volt gauges (for each battery)
- 3-way USB hub
- key/lockable LED valet switch for PC power

Pictures:

This was the first batch of pics I uploaded on my build thread at evolutionm.net (lancer enthusiasts)


Removed entire dash panel / climate control / stereo / trim, two PVC pipes where gauges will eventually go. At this point i was Noob Level I.


Metal screen frame glued in place and fleece fabric stretched over top...i think at this point i said to myself more than once "what the **** am i thinking?" Mixed my first ever batch of fiberglass resin for this step.


Glued the frame in place, cut mold


"Well it will look strange if the rest of the panels dont match?" - ah screw it so started smearing fiber-enforced filler across.


Starting to take shape, added the gauge pods above


Sanded a bit and testing fitment...decided to have it stretch overtop the instrument/gauge cluster above steering wheel


Wish i took some pics between this pic and the last, added in USB ports from hub, hole for valet switch, hazard light and 2 component switches


Primed and sanded, still lots of dents and scuffs


painted, bit too glossy, I have since applied quite a few layers of dead flat toner


stripped interior, time for dynamat -__-


have dynamatted the entire floor, front doors, trunk and doubled up on trunk lid






Neoprene, 1/8" strips glued together, this particular piece went in the door. Couldnt find thicker neoprene from a Canadian dealer, so went with the only roll on amazon.ca (1/8")


Now to move the climate control panel


i hate working with this stuff


-__-


bit better


in the meantime, will spray on some toner


looks a lot better, i think since taking this pic ive used more toner


new battery, 0 gauge, inline fuses and isolator all fixed in place


all internal wiring fed underneath the carpet, two USB extenders, monitor cable, monitor power cable and 0 gauge from front to rear battery fed through




side note, since i spilled resin on my front seats and they are pretty poor seats in the OZ rally, i bought these new ones! very comfortable and the bolster support is great! (in anticipation for the 4G69 + mods)


climate control relocation starting to come together


painted, still needs toner to match dash


more madness! filled over where ash tray used to be, time to get the griffin dial mounted


angled base toward driver, griffin pictured top


light guard and some finish (this dial has a very bright blue LED on its base, i wanted to contain it a bit with a guard)


getting the guard in place


what a mess


cleaned up a bit, good ol' bondo


spot putty and some sanding


primed, griffin in place, will be attaching it to the base via velcro