Thread: 2004 WRB WRX Sport Wagon

Post install thoughts:

Xenarc 700TS fits in the double DIN slot JUST BARELY. A little bigger and it wouldn't have made it. As it is, the plastic bar under the bezel bends when the screen is fitted.

I used an IKEA key box for the PC. Got the idea off of the forum.



Again, a VERY tight fit. I actually had to sand down the sides of the mobo and opus to get them to get them to lay flush. VERY nerve wrecking.

Overall, this build took a lot of work, but it was definately worth it Then again, I've never really done any fabrication before so there was a pretty big learning curve for me. So YMMV.

Still to do: Computer is running, but mostly barebones, no frills.

- Getting interference out of speakers. Going to try swapping amp and PC to have less power/speaker wires running close. Also haven't ground the PC case yet.

- Picking a front end

- Add extras: GPS, USB hub, Optical drive maybe.

im installing on my 04 wrb wrx today, hopefully i can post pics tonight or tomorrow, perhaps to compare notes...

I'm glad to see someone else doing a WRX install...

My WRX is nearly the same, being blue and a wagon, but it's a 2003.

I don't actually have a CarPC installed, but it's been in the planning stages for quite some time.


A few questions:

How did you mount the LCD in the dash?
Is it just stuck in there, or did you remove the LCD guts from the monitor?

Where are you going to stick the computer itself?


BTW, I grew up in NJ.. and I don't miss the snow that much.

Mounting the LCD

I had originally planned on using a fiberglass housing to hold the touchscreen/lcd components.



Never worked with fiberglass before. The housing came out decent but I got overzealous with the dremel and sanded it too thin. And it wouldn't have fit anyways.

I didn't want to mount the xenarc housing to the dash so I built a Lexan (plexiglass) housing and stuck the Xenarc housing to the front. I used epoxy to glue the box and the housing together.



I built the housing to the dimensions of the stock wrx radio.

Right now I'm using the stock Xenarc connectors. I've routed the Xenarc cigarette adapter under the center console and out the side and it just plugs right in. No need for a switch if I want to turn off the LCD Not very elegant but works good for now. You can see it on the pictures in my first post if you look closely.

I sanded down the back of the radio bezel to get a more flush mount to the LCD. Beware: The bezel IS NOT flat so if you want to get a perfect fit, it'll be a pain. Unfortunately, I have a small gap. But it's not very noticeable and I'll probably get some material to fill it in so it'll mout flush eventually.

Red GTi VR6: There really is no rest of the install. I'm trying to keep it low profile so the LCD is really the only visible component. I have an amp under the driver side seat and the PC under the passenger seat. If u wanted to have a visual of something else, let me know and I'll grab a photo of it

I do have this picture tho:



After my XP died horribly, I had to hook up a CDROM to reinstall windows. The PC is under the driver seat but I was getting noise interference out of the speakers so I rerouted my parts and cables. Sounds great now! That white crap in the picture is snow. brrrrr.

UPDATE: DO NOT USE THE NEW 1.16 BIOS AND NEW VIDEO DRIVERS FOR THE M1000 WITH THE XENARC. The older BIOS/vidoe drivers seem to work better. The process described below will work, but you have to go through the process each time. And that's definately NOT cool.

Xenarc / Epia M1000 resoultions

I don't remember the settings I had my video at in the pictures above (haven't been working on much sleep and I've changed things around like a billion times).

I just flashed my M1000 to the latest bios and installed the latest video drivers and my screen just got borked. I spent hours playing around with it, and I just FINALLY found a pretty good solution. Apparently, the Epia doesn't support 800x480 and 848x480 was giving me a blank display and all the other resolutions weren't using the whole screen. In the display properties screen (where you can change the screen resolution) press the advanced button. There will be a tab (at least in the latest driver) with a picture of three displays. Something like Monitor, LCD, TV. What I did was checked the LCD checkbox and the screen comes out pretty damn good.

Originally Posted by pdpbunsen

Xenarc / Epia M1000 resoultions
Apparently, the Epia doesn't support 800x480 and 848x480 was giving me a blank display and all the other resolutions weren't using the whole screen.

Have you tried using the Powerstrip program with the timing settings shown here?

http://www.xenarc.com/faq.html#QA1