Thread: 2004 4Runner #2

Getting the work area ready (kitchen table, I don't have a garage)



The bottom of the case HAD to go, that much I knew from Rando. Poor Lilli (I'm using a Dremel for EVERYTHING)



Make some measurements to cut the top of the case for the clips.



Top of the Lilli chopped up.



Like a glove (this is a view from the back)



View from the front



Had to take it fully apart cause I had to trim the bottom of the back also



Here's the work area again, note the plexi with protective blue covering. The mobo is sitting on top of the top plexi piece. Note the ski goggles in the front of the pic.... always wear eye protection.

Here are both "shelves". The bottom one in front with the Opus mounted on it. The top shelf in back (the mobo isn't screwed in, its just sitting there).



So here it is put together for it's first "assembled" fit-test (in case you're wondering, NO, it didn't fit ) Mobo on top, you can kinda see the HD on the bottom shelf, the Opus is under the mobo.



And in the dash...



Once I got it to fit in there (some more trimming and such), I attached the screen to the plexi with some bent picture-hanging mount (couldn't find small enough brackets).



All wired up and ready to test with a standard PSU



What do you know, it works!!



But then I couldn't have the button board hanging there... so my 2nd soldering job ever (my first was my Xbox mod chip). Tested it and miraculously the IR receiver still works. I'll tape the button board to the back of the screen and move the IR somewhere I can access it.



If you want more pics, I put all of them here http://ryanoleary.net/gallery/ . I intended to take a lot more pictures, but it's unbelievably hard to pick up a camera when you're in the middle of doing this stuff.

If you want to see something in particular, any detail or whatever, let me know (preferrably in the next week or two), and I'll snap it for you.

.....getting antsy....

Lookin' good!

OMG, that looks familiar! I think your dash trim is a bit different than mine but otherwise your cutting looks exactly like what I did. The way you extended the IR sensor is the same thing I did too. It looks like you trimmed away some of the plastic supports behind the dash trim -- did you (eek!) ? Also, how did/will you mount the plex/mobo assembly to the dash (screws, tape, or just fit it so tight that it can't move)?

I think your setup will be great if you can manage to get it all behind the dash. That should make your wiring much nicer without having to rip out so much of the interior -- as I did.

BTW, you should be able to find an ACC wire in the dash where your stereo was. Read through my thread again. There is a link in there back to t4r.org that has the OEM wiring manuals so you can tell which wires are which, including the speaker wires at the amp. I'm pretty sure (like you said) that you're going to have to install your own amp.

I can't wait to see how this turns out.

Yeah, I hacked those plastic supports out. They didn't seem to be doing much, so I cut one of them. Then I noticed how they support the plastic platform for the stereo. Damn. But at that point I figured I might as well finish the job and cut the other one too. Matter of fact, once the the stereo is actually in place and screwed in, those supports don't do nearly as much as the steel that you screw the radio into. So I think it'll be alright. In the end, I really needed that extra 2"!!! (If I ever sell it, who would notice?

As for mounting, there's no need. It's so damn tight in there that there's no way it'll move at all.

If mine looks like yours, then my goal has been accomplished!! Although, I don't think I'll take the time to make the screen bezel look as good as yours, not now anyways, maybe down the road.

I've got all the wiring manuals, but that's not really my forte. I'll take a peek anyways though and see what I can find. More questions may be forthcoming.

If you need grimp tool and some handtool, go to Harbor Freight. Their tool is not of great quality but it get the job done and you only use it couple time. Don't go buy one that cost 20 bucks or so. I bought 2 (one for big wire and one for small) from that place for 8 bucks total.
As for finding which wires going to the speakers. If you don't want to mess up the orginal stereo harness, buy the adapter. Stereo place, circuit city, good guys, bestbuy probably have them.

Can't find a harness for this stereo, as far as I can tell, there isn't one. But I have the wiring diagrams, so I think I can just use those to wire a new amp.

Just thought I'd add a quick update here. Well, maybe not so quick, but an update nonetheless.

The computer is installed and working, and has been since Friday night around 9pm (at which point I made a 5-hour drive to Mammoth to enjoy some snow). Now... when I say "working", I better explain that a little more. The following is a breakdown of whats installed, what works, what doesn't, what's on it's way, what's changing, and what's what... what?

What's in:
- Opus 90W installed on bottom "shelf" (see pics above). Wired directly to battery for 12V and ground using 8-gauge wire. There is a small wire I made that runs to the accessory wire on my old HU connector
- Epia M2-10K installed on upper "shelf" with 512MB Kingston RAM. ATX to the Opus, as well as the "power-button" wire.
- Samsung 2.5", 5400 30GB laptop drive secured to bottom "shelf". Running Win2K SP4. 2.5"-3.5" adapter connected to IDE1 on the mobo. Molex connector slightly modified (see next bullet)
- 7" Lilli TS custom cut and mounted in the HU space on the "front" of the "case". Power cables cut and run into the 2 empty slots of the HD molex connector for power. Button bar taped to back, IR un-soldered and extended with old USB wire to the side so it's visible to my remote.
- Logitech wireless keyboard/mouse connected via USB.
- Cisco Aironet Wi-Fi PC card in the mobo PC slot.
- External Maxtor 250GB hard drive connected via USB 2.0. The HD gets power from a 60-watt cig. lighter inverter. The HD power supply plugs directly in.
- Slim slot-load DVD/CDRW mounted in glove compartment ready for wiring.
- 4-channel Pioneer amp installed under passenger seat. 2 sets of RCAs to the dash. 3.5"->RCA breakouts from the mobo to the RCAs.

What doesn't work (so far):
- I was having problems with the Lilli touchscreen, so I just unplugged it for now. I'll get it working eventually
- I'm still having problems with the M210K 6-channel onboard sound. From my reading the last few days, I may have to just give up on that one and go with Audigy or something
- I didn't realize that even with the adapter, the slim DVD still wasn't a standard IDE cable, so I need to get a new cable for it. Also, I need an extension for the power from the mobo and the sound wire from the mobo to reach the glove compartment
- When I installed the keyboard/mouse, I buried the receiver up in the dash, behind the computer. When my mouse battery ran out and I had to press the "Reset" button on the wireless receiver, I wasn't too happy having to take my dash apart to get to it.

What's changing:
- The external HD turned out to be a HUGE PITA!! I calculated that it requires something like 36W, and so I couldn't go direct to my Opus. So I started looking into other stuff. As a temporary solution, I bought a 60W inverter ($40) that plugs into the cig. lighter. Unfortunately, it doesn't survive crank. SO, the process is: start the car, plug in the inverter, computer starts up. Problem is, that even out of hibernate, Windows takes about 30-60 seconds to recognize the drive. So music, if coming off the drive, won't start playing for a while. All these combined have driven me to scrap the external HD idea (even though I really liked the thought of being able to take my library into others' homes and add to it, share from it), and go with an internal 200GB. So I'm RMAing the external and replacing with a 3.5" Seagate 200GB. I'll install it in the glove compartment near the DVD, so hopefully I can run one IDE and one power extension from the dash and break them out near the source. Of course I'll install the drive in my house first to get the initial copy of all my music/movies.
- The wireless KB/mouse are alright, but they would be a pain to use all the time. I'll probly still have them connected, but I couldn't really find a good, well-priced "small" keyboard (with backlight), so i went with the $15 special for now. I'll probably change them out in the future.

Whats being added:
- My Griffin Powermate came yesterday. I was looking in the car, and I think I'll try to mount it sideways right under the arm rest, since that's where my hand always is. USB will run through the center console up into the dash to....
- A 4-port USB 2.0 hub. I will mount it up in the dash and connect the PowerMate, GPS, KB/mouse, and 8-in-1 card reader. (Hopefully not the KB/mouse if they run alright attached to PS/2, then I'll have room for Audigy or AM/FM).
- Earthmate USB GPS should arrive today. It will get mounted up in the dash and plugged into the hub.
- Dazzle 8-in-1 USB 2.0 will be placed (maybe installed, dont know yet) in the glove compartment near the DVD and HD. It will also get plugged into the 4-port hub.

What's to come:
- I might try the Lilli trick to get it to auto power-on when the Opus turns on. Haven't really looked at that though since it's not a big deal to me.
- I need to create a switch somewhere that will allow me to control the ACC wire into the Opus. So I can turn it off while driving, or on while the car is off. Also, I'd like to somehow work that switch into my current Toyota remote wiring, so I can hit my "Panic" button on my remote to turn on the computer. Someone suggested a 90-second relay to go ACC high instead of a remote-start for the car. That way, I don't have to deal with the Toyota "security" system and as long as I start the car within 90 seconds of hitting the button, the Opus will be all powered up and ready to go
- I have to check to see if I can wire the amp to the Opus remote power-on instead of ACC. I get the annoying pop now. Don't know if my Opus has that feature (or where to find it if it does)
- Eventually I'll get sick of my 15,000 songs in my collection and need AM/FM. I might try to hold out for the one being built by the members here, we'll see.
- I'd like to try to add broadcast TV, but I've read where people don't get good reception driving around. I'm curious if anyone has tried it with the hi-def PCI card that's out there - maybe digital signal works better? But that card is pretty much made for Linux, which I don't run now, and although I could run it, don't really think I want to.
- Definitely will get the Valentine V1 if the gurus on the board get a software package working with it. I drive to Mammoth so much in the winter, in the middle of the night, that it would definitely be worthwhile.
- OBD-II is something I'd like to attach to this setup, but it's one of my lower priorities at this point.
- I'd like to figure out a good way for Internet access. I know some people use GPRS, but I've seen it... it's not all that fast. Plus I use Verizon (who I like). Verizon offers a "DSL-like speed" PC card. It's $80/mo for unlimited access (I think $50 or $60 for some type of time-limited access). I get a pretty nice Verizon discount here at work (%20), so I'll have to see if it's worth it. Obviously not as much while driving around town, but when driving to/from Mammoth all the time, it would be nice to have access up there and be able to check weather/traffic for the drive.


Oh, I'm sorry, did you want more?

I think that's it for now, just a big brain dump of my current situation. Maybe some noobs will learn something from it, and some pros will chastise my choices/design.

Comments/critiques/suggestions always appreciated. Once I get the next round of stuff installed, I'll get some more pics up here.

Looking good ... still waiting to see the pics of the installed system.