I'm not a Noob to cars or PC's...(I've rebuilt my own car from the ground up & I've been a PC tech for about 10 years) but to a combination of the two...well..hehe. Please forgive the novel. Got a lot rattling around in my head about this project.
I've been lurking around this website for over a year...Its finally come time where I'm planning my CarPC.
I've got an '87 Mustang GT. Since its a hatchback, space is at a premium. My other issue, is that it has T-Tops. So when they come out they get strapped down in the trunk and take up roughly half the space. The thing is, I have searched and searched on this forum for another Mustang of my vintage...and have not found ONE. So this will be a rarity.
I currently have a Pioneer Premiere 790MP head unit and 6½" front and 6x8 rear Infinity Kappa component sets. They sound great, but a sub would really seal the deal for me. Not something crazy, just a single 10" Infinity Kappa would be fine.
Since my trunk space is at a premium, I have pretty much resolved that the spare tire well is the solution. The plan is roughly this:
A fiberglass enclosure that will comprise both the sub and the PC mount. I haven't figured out the amp for the sub yet, but I'm flexible on that.
Thusfar, I've purchased the VroomPC2 (so I can have the optical drive and the extra USB ports) as well as the optical drive itself. I'm still up in the air about the MB/CPU combo, but preferably something Intel. As far as the screen goes, I'm pretty much set on a retractable 7" because I want to keep my head unit. I don't want the PC to do EVERYTHING. I mainly want it for SatNav, Internet (cell phone based), & diagnostics/telemetry. Since the head unit has an auxiliary input already, I'm just going to wire that up to the sound from the PC.
My primary question is: will I have a problem w/ the PC mounted essentially to the same material as the subwoofer? I'm not worried about vibes (going w/ a solid state hard drive), but just in general. Is there anything I need to worry about there?
The other option (possibly) is to make a 'glass box above the spare tire well on the opposite side away from where the T-Tops strap down, and put both the amp and the PC under the carpet in the spare tire well....but I don't know if that will work space wise.
I'll try and snap some pics of my hatch area in the next few days so I can get some better ideas from you (the professionals), but any criticism is welcome on my plans.
Cheers
-Prime
EDIT:
I'm also apparently retarded. Completely missed the "Newb" section. My apologies