Thread: 2004 - 2005 Audi 80 (1992) Carputer Install and other modifications

Project Vitals:

Audi 80 1992 RED (model B4)
2.0L Petrol Engine (non 16 valve)
Lowering Springs Applied
New Exhaust System Applied
New Fogs Applied
Location: Shoreham in the United Kingdom (Near Brighton)

Project Status and Progress:
Current Status: In Progress (18%)
Current Task: Setting the wood together ready for holes.

I plan to have this finnished in the next few days during my time off work for the xmas period. The image gallery will be kept as up to date and detailed as possible. I have included descriptions for most the images within the gallery on my site.

Project Overview
Aside from the other completed and planned modifications on my Audi 80, my main current project is a CarPc which I have been planning for over a year. I have even had the touch screen for about 9 months.

Originally I intended to take the top half of the plastic dash off and then mount an aluminium frame on top which contained the screen. This would then be blended into the current frame ready to seat back into the car.

Having thought about the project a lot and looking at other audi 80 installs such as this one I decided that I would take another route.

I am constructing a entirely new central dash area which will be customised for my needs. The layout will remain essentially the same, mainly due to the huge headache it would be to try and relocate the heater controls.

The new dash is initially made from 2 20mm thick pieces of MDF that have been bonded and screwed together. Then sanded and machined to get the right angle and rounded edges to fit perfectly in the existing hole in the center of the dash.

After this the areas are marked out and holes machined out ready for the positoning of the touchscreen, radio, and heater controls along with the possible additional of some wonderful laser engraved buttons to replace the existing ones that are far smaller and more stylish.

The final step will be to either paint the new dash, cover it in a laminate, or to produce an aluminium "face plate" that will go over the entire dash and wrap around along with the same holes cut out. This will produce the look of one continuous dash and allow for a nice anodised black finnish that would otherwise not be achieveable through current methods.

The system itself is a 7" Lilliput touch screen combined with an old Sony Vaio PCG-Z600NE laptop which sits comfortably under the dash by the steering wheel which is handy. The power output has not been purchased as yet and I will be doing this in the next day or so (any suggestions welcome, although I may just got for a £30 unit from halfords). I will need to power the laptop, the screen, the amp in the boot, the headunit, the car (of course), the green neon in the boot (bit of fun) and the fridge that is located with the neon and subs. Its always nice to have a cold drink handy, although at the moment I think there is a bottle of Rum from Barbados which I should probably remove.

I will keep you all updated as things progress this week, however the image gallery will more than likely be the most up to date area.

Project Images
View Original Dash Before MODS
You can see a VERY ROUGH diagram of where this is all going
View The Entire Gallery Of Modifications

Project Sample Image:

View the rest in the gallery
View The Entire Gallery Of Modifications

Looking forward to your comments, and comments can be placed on the images within the site too.

TTFN
Dave