1991 Subaru Legacy

**jnorion** · 09-19-2006, 12:37 AM

So I have been slowly working on this for about four months now, and finally got the screen mounted properly this weekend. I figured it was time to post some pictures and stuff.

I built just about the entire thing out of spare pieces I had lying around.

The computer:
1GHz Pentium III processor
384MB RAM
20GB hard drive (temporary)
4MB AGP video card
Aureal Vortex 4 channel sound card
TM-868 off-brand 8" touch screen

Sound:
MB Quart 6.5" components in front
Kenwood 320W 4-channel amp
Obcon 10" subwoofer in trunk
Jensen 300W 2-channel amp, bridged

Pictures

The car (slightly outdated):

The computer is a full-size ATX mounted in a custom wood case (again, I used parts I had lying around, this is not a perfect design by any means):

It sits in the corner of the trunk:

Power to the computer and inverter is controlled by switches in the dash until I can finish a startup/shutdown controller:

To mount the screen, I molded the casing from the screen into the stock radio bezel using epoxy putty and bondo:

And here it is mounted in the car:

Right now I'm using Roadrunner as a front end because I like to be able to customize it and it seems pretty stable, although I've been having annoying problems with the computer a lot so far (in the last two days, I guess it's not that bad

).

There's a ton more to come, but it's a slow process because I'm poor.

**ranpid** · 09-20-2006, 03:09 PM

nice! i drive an 05wrx and im so enthused by subarus in general, this one is lucky you love it enough for a carpc ^_^ keep it up man.

**jnorion** · 09-21-2006, 09:55 AM

Thanks!

**pepsibobby** · 09-21-2006, 06:29 PM

how much was the computer? how much is the bluebook on your car?

**jnorion** · 09-24-2006, 03:39 PM

I had most of the computer pieces already, so total invested from the start of this project is a little over $300. Book on the car is somewhere around $1700ish. Doesn't really matter to me though, the car's got a good 100k-200k miles of life left in it if I want to push it that far.

**pepsibobby** · 09-24-2006, 05:38 PM

lol yeah just messin with you. dosnt matter what the cars worth the computer is much more important.

**staggs** · 10-31-2006, 08:11 AM

looks good mate, im just about to start my car pc install in my 92 legacy (or as we call them in Australia, liberty )

just wondering how hard it was to fit that screen in the dash?

**jnorion** · 10-31-2006, 09:22 AM

It wasn't all that hard but it took a decent amount of custom work. Behind the stock bezel I had to cut away all the stock stereo mounting points to leave a smooth open hole for it to go in, and I still need to cut a little of the bottom of the cupholder area. The rest was just bondo and sanding after that. It would be a lot easier if you used a smaller screen.

I can get a picture of the area behind if you want.