Complete bolt in Screen/CPU/HD/PS - indash - Page 5

blk02si · 02-27-2006, 09:12 PM

Software update went very well. iGuidance is completly awesome. I migrated from S&T and this is 10x better. Now my computer turns down my jams a bit and tells me where to turn; if i type in a destination. The girls voice in iGuidance is crystal clear and it sounds like she is a hot english woman, lol. Ive also went with the CFX green skin to match my interior lighting. Seems much more at home than the Brushed metal skin i was running. Its very tricky to photograph these screens good and I was working with a few different lighting techniques in these shots. Im very happy overall with the super touchscreen, its bright enough to be seen even in the day. Maybe ill do some screen caps of the Nav, I did a lot of work on that program to make it run the way I liked. I also ran my 8 gauge today and hooked up the subwoofer I bought. 1 - 10" JL audio, its perfect not too loud but gives the system that solid bass sound. I still spend a lot of time tuning the audio but i've got to say, i've never had a headunit sound this good. . . Anyway here are the pics.What do you think?

nkotch · 02-27-2006, 09:40 PM

Looking very good. Yea, you'll be pleased with iGuidance. Used to use mapopolis on a pocketpc, and Delorme Street Atlas on a laptop. It doesn't have all the in depth options and configuration options those had but I find I don't miss them and it works very well with a touchscreen in a car environment.

What software are you using for DVD playback? The "builtin" media player classic? If so does it resume DVD's if you stop it or after switching to another screen?

mikeyr68 · 03-01-2006, 07:03 AM

Great job! Looking forward to getting mine started! So many ideas! Have you had any stability problems with Road Runner? Each time I've tried it on my laptop it seems to crap out after a while or just flipping throught the screens. Centrafuse has been rock steady but doesn't seem to have the support or the skins of Road Runner. Have you tried centrafuse or any other front ends before you decided on Road Runner? Thanks
Mike

blk02si · 03-01-2006, 10:30 AM

No stability issues at all with roadrunner. Im using winamp 2.95. RR will be a bit buggy/laggy if you for instance hit the 'FM' button but have no FM hardware or configuration present. Funny I tried out a few frontends before choosing and centrafuse was always buggy for me, even across different versions. Ill tell you though frodoplayer was a very very close second. I just never really got into windows media player and was always a winamp guy so RR just seemed to make sense. But yeah frodoplayer is just as stable and even faster when switching menus. Anyway this via board is perfect for what its doing, im glad i did not invest in faster harware as I see it to be very unnecessary to run music, GPS and a front end. The CFX skin im using now has a CPU % useage in the menu and even running all my apps and switching stuff I've never seen it go above 30%. Im glad Im running 512mb ram also, I would run at least 512mb. Good luck on your project mikey - if you need any help, have questions, of even need some metal fabrication service let me know.

mikeyr68 · 03-01-2006, 03:00 PM

Thanks! Hey let me know what you think of this? I'm building the system in the dash as you have done but I wanted to be sure to keep the wiring simple so here's what I came up with.

The 4 standard speakers will need power, so an amp was needed. I have an Alpine 4ch that I'm mounting in the trunk on the bottom of the rear deak between the two deck speakers. I called Alpine to make sure it would work upside down without going into thermal shutdown and they approved it. So hopefully that won't be a problem. Now since it will be right there by the deck speakers, I'll just run new wire to those. Leaving the front ones in need of service. I'm going to hook the amp's front speaker hook ups to the original factory wiring for the rear speakers. That will carry the signal to the stock connector located behind the factory deck location. I'm then going to connect the wires to the front speaker wires, in the same connector so I should have a factor installed, twisted-pair wire from the rear deck to the front speakers, all without running any NEW wire!

To get sound from the PC to the rear deck I'm going to use a USB soundcard, probably a M-Audio box since it will run from USB power. That way a digital signal will all that will be going from the PC to the sound box via USB. Very little chance to pickup any noise over that. Then I'm just going to use short phone jack to 2xRCA cables to connect the M-Audio box to the amp. Again, very short cables to minimize noise. So all in all, I should only have to run power and a USB cable to the trunk.

What cha think?
Mike

baudi · 03-01-2006, 03:24 PM

That sounds like a great idea! I wonder if there's an amp that would let you control volume, balance, and fade through a USB connection.

blk02si · 03-01-2006, 03:49 PM

I kept my wiring as simple as possible. I got an after market harness to plug into the OEM radio clip and actually used the stock radio power to run my m2-atx. It works perfect - its a 20 amp circuit and the m2 will draw 15 max. I mounted the amp that pushes my 4 speakers under my front driver seat and ran some RCA's to it and then ran speaker wiring back to the OEM harness. The center console has about as much room in it as the dash so wiring things is very easy in this car. I am also powering my 4 speaker amp off the OEM 20 amp cig lighter circuit that was mounted in the center console. Again the amp will draw 15 max so I used what was there from the factory. Everything works excellent so far. The only "power" wire Ive actually ran is an 8 gauge to my trunk for the sub amp. System sounds cleaner than the factory deck did. I like your idea for the remote mount soundcard. I am currently using my on-board audio with no issues. Im anxious to see some pix from your build/install mikey

Alvatune · 03-07-2006, 11:08 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by SnyperBob

that's cool - looks exactly like the Subaru drop in kit that was developed here as well. Will this drop directly into your Mustang?

Did you say you have another thread detailing how you made this case? More info/pics on this case would be appreciated. Do you have any pics or info of the 'trim kit' that you used for your car to make this?

Hi, I just wanna know where you downloaded your skin (subaru) from or did you make it yourself?

Thank you in advance!

Micv · 03-09-2006, 03:52 PM

Do you think it would fit other double din cars ? (the Metra Kit)

I'm thinking of using it in this car. A '94 Mazda Mx-3. But unfortuanetly it's seems impossible to get one here in Europe. Otherwise i just would have bought it to see if it was able to fit.

Maybe someone could help me ???

blk02si · 03-11-2006, 08:22 AM

Yes you should be able to build this for any double din. The trick is finding the aftermarket kit that bolts into the car. After that its smooth sailing. Good luck on the mazda! Try www.crutchfield.com if all else fails

Micv · 03-12-2006, 01:47 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by blk02si

Yes you should be able to build this for any double din. The trick is finding the aftermarket kit that bolts into the car. After that its smooth sailing. Good luck on the mazda! Try www.crutchfield.com if all else fails

Thanks. The only problem is that the aftermarket kit for the MX-3 is nothing like yours, it's more recessed. But i've actually bought the Metra 99-5807 kit, so in about a week i should know more about how it fits other double din cars. At least the Mazda Mx-3

Maybe i could have you meassure the outer dimensions of the kit ?

jetblack5spd · 03-23-2006, 12:38 PM

i have a 98 nissan maxima, i have a double din space on my dash, if im correct, double din is a standard unit of measure, every double din should have the same dimensions. in other words that metra kit should work on almost any car with little or no modification. is this true?? the metra kit you have, does it say what other vehicles it can be used for?, or is it specifically for the mustang?

blk02si · 03-23-2006, 01:36 PM

actually the metra kit i used is for a f150 and mustang. It is very generic though as you can see in the pictures above that it was 4 bolts that hold it in, and they are little "ears" on the side of the trim. Im sure it could be adopted to fit other cars, but I would look to see if a nissan specific double din kit is made. Then it would bolt right into your car. The real fab work here is gutting the screen housing and molding it into the aftermarket trim kit.

Legarcondemerde · 03-23-2006, 01:40 PM

You're probably going to have some trouble making that kit work in the Mazda. Mazda radios are based on the Ford style double din, which is quite different than the ones found in most other Japanese cars, like the Maxima. The Ford style uses clip one each side of the radio, and it just clips in, whereas the Japanese double dins (most Nissan, Toyota, some Isuzu and Honda) use factory brackets on each side of the radio to bolt into the dash. This is the same sort of mounting as shown on blko2si's car--it looks like he took the brackets off his factory radio and mounted them on the side of the kit. For the Maxima, you may want to consider the Mechatroniks Subaru kit, I made it work fine in my Toyota, with very minimal modifications.

samr7 · 03-27-2006, 12:05 AM

Question, if you have a chance: how big is the double-DIN bay in your Mustang? Is it a strict 7"x4" double-DIN or is it a little bit larger?

I can't figure out how the sizes add up here. In this thread, they talk about the Super monitor being built around the same Panasonic LCD module as the Xenarc, and in this thread, they claim that the module is 108mm tall. That's 4.25", and in addition to that you appear to have fitted it with a beefy bezel, how does this fit?