F-Body Ideas - Camaro and Firebird - Page 4

meissenation · 02-18-2006, 09:15 AM

Side note to Jason, if you remember in the LS1Tech thread about all the battery drainage I was having. Well we measured the amps everything was drawing, the Opus's power supply was drawing 1/4th an amp every hour while the car was off. We thought that was the main problem, but then after uninstalling everything from my interior to install the new carpet, the battery died again.. so I think I have more going on than just a powersupply that draws too much, my dad thinks the alternator's shorting out and draining too when I only move my car around in the driveway and not drive it for more than 5-10 minutes.

Well, I've already smoothed out the entire gauge cluster, the knee bolster, and the passenger side dash, so the glossy smooth finish will blend with the rest of the dash, and the way I'm doing it, it definitely won't look factory stock.

Hard to tell from these pics, but you get the idea...

The carPC's bezel, and the glovebox are all going to be painted red straight across. It should look something like this, just different shade:

JasonWW · 02-19-2006, 12:20 AM

If you have an amp meter then measure the current draw and then start pulling one fuse at a time. Start with the most likely ones until you see the current drop. You never know, it could be the glove box light staying on or something.

meissenation · 02-19-2006, 02:01 AM

That's what my dad and I did, measured with each and every fuse under the hood and in the fuse block on the driver's side, measured the cap, and the carPC. carPC was the only one that made any difference. If I ever get some free time on the weekend I'm going to gank the alternator out and take it to the autostore and have them test it, see if it's bad or not.

JasonWW · 02-19-2006, 04:27 AM

I don't know if Autozone can do it, but you can test the alternator on the car. My dealership has a machine that can put a load on the electrical system and an ammeter is clamped around the alternator output wire. The current is then measured. I did this to my car the other day. Measured 85 amps and tested good.

I've rebuilt many alternators back in the day and never heard of one causing a small short and running the battery down. What makes you think yours is doing that?

When you were testing, did you unplug the GPS fron the PC and see if that made a difference?

NoTicketsPlease · 02-22-2006, 07:45 PM

Got my m2atx installed in my car. Took a long time but im a wiring newbie. Had to tap in to the yellow line that goes to the radio for my boot signal, I couldnt figure out wiring from the fuse box. Ran my + straight from the battery then under center console along with the other wire to the carpc in back seat. One smart thing I did was to leave a string through the passenger side firewall so I can pull other wires through in the future. The pc booted just fine

JasonWW · 02-23-2006, 03:10 AM

I got my M2 monday, but it doesn't work.

Have to send it back and get it replaced. Bummer, I have to keep turning the inverter on and off a while longer.

redls1bird · 02-23-2006, 10:11 PM

Hey guys, im new to the carpc world, and im trying to piece together a hypothetical system to know if i can afford it. basically, if you have a f body with the monsoon sys, then you already know what a pain in the *** it is to upgrade. what kind of options do i have to continue use of the monsoon sys? what kind of mods have you guys made to your sound systems to go along with your carpcs? if i put the money out, i want really clear and realistic sound. what about surround sound? possible? anyway, i know this is alot, but i tried to find the proper post, and im sure this info will help out other future fboy modders. TIA.

NoTicketsPlease · 02-23-2006, 11:53 PM

hey red, I dont know much about high quality sound systems but if you get a carpc you can probably get a very good sound card to meet your needs. you could also sell your monsoon head unit(125$ or so for cd player) and cd changer(175$ or so) if you have one to help pay for your carpc. for the pc you could spend 300$ + 90$ for power supply(m2atx) + 250$ for lilliput touchscreen = 650$+ for a decent budget system. assuming you do all the installation and pc building. then maybe 100$ extra for your sound card? I probably missed a few items too but it shouldnt be much more than that.

Magnezium · 02-24-2006, 01:35 PM

Hey... Glad you guys started this thread. I've got an '02 WS.6. I'm getting ready to start working on my CarPC and this has already helped greatly. I'd like to put in that monitor in the first thread... the 10.4. But I see that it was put in a 93-94 (I believe) because of the center pannel config. It would be a little more difficult to do with a 95 and up. However, it can still be done.

When I'm finished building my new transmission (which you guys are going to wonder wtf it is - it's not manual or auto) I'm going to put in the carputer.

Any word on prefab monitor bezzels for F-Bodies?

JasonWW · 02-24-2006, 10:34 PM

There's no prefab bezels, there're all going to be custom depending on the LCD you want to use.

The PC part is mainly just replacing the source unit, like the CD player. So the rest of the sound system can be stock or custom depending on what you can afford or prefer.

Surround sound is possible, but why would you want it? It's also very difficult to get a good center channel in the dash. I think 2 channel stereo is the best choice. Sounds awesome.

I can't really comment of making the monsoon sound good as I think they suck. I pulled mine out and replaced everything with high end components. That's probably your best bet if you want good sound quality. Get good amps and good speakers, maybe an Alpine H700/701 if you want to get competition level serious.

Here's a handy little pic to give you a rough idea of CarPC expenses. It's really handy if you already have a used PC laying around. A 700Mhz or so and up CPU is all you need. It sounds expensive at first, but once you start to compare the PC source to an aftermarket touchscreen DVD player, you'll see that the PC is way cheaper and can a lot more stuff.

redls1bird · 02-24-2006, 10:55 PM

the reason why i suggested surround sound is if im going to have a dvd capable sys. and a computer running it, why not use it to its potential? im not looking to get competition crazy with my car, i just want to be pleased with the sound. when you say 2 channel, do you mean front and rear? or left and right? or did i miss the bigger picture? thanks for the picture.

Curiosity · 02-25-2006, 12:49 AM

I totally agree with Jason. The delco speakers just don't cut it for quality sound, and converting line level to speaker level audio doesn't really sound great either. Replacing 10 speakers and running wires to the new amps can cost you some time and money, but I think it's worth it. I also didn't like surround. I had a 4.1 setup for a while but switched back to 2-channel stereo. The Audigy2 NX I had sounded like it was designed for tiny satalite speakers like you get for an in-home setup. Like a lot of midrange was missing. I like having the full signal go to a crossover that I can adjust for my taste.

JasonWW · 02-25-2006, 03:03 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by redls1bird

the reason why i suggested surround sound is if im going to have a dvd capable sys. and a computer running it, why not use it to its potential? im not looking to get competition crazy with my car, i just want to be pleased with the sound. when you say 2 channel, do you mean front and rear? or left and right? or did i miss the bigger picture? thanks for the picture.

2 channel, as in the way music has been recorded for the last 80+? something years (it's not that long is it? Maybe 40 years). Surround sound is OK in the home where you have a big screen, but come on, 5.1 on a 7" or so screen? It doesn't work so well. I assume you want to mix the center channel into the front left and right because there is no room for a proper center channel in our cars. Even then, your only going to hear the surround sound when you play a DVD movie. How often is that going to be? Your not going to be able to play any 5.1 music CD's, either. I've checked on that. If you've made it this far, then you need to keep in mind that the surround channels need to be digitally delayed to sound right. Do you have a delay device? I've got the Alpine H700 which is a 5.1 DTS decoder and it has 31 bands of EQ for each of the 5 channels and 10 for the sub as well as digital delays for all of these channels. I could could easily add some rear speakers and another amp to make my setup 4.1, but I still don't think it would be worth it. Good old 2 channel will blow you away when done properly.

If you want realism keep in mind that you don't go to a live performance and face the back of the room. The music is always coming from in front of you. I've never liked rear channels, they always sound unatural to me. It's a good jesture to fully use the capabilities of your equipment, but having 5.1 in the car just doesn't make sense to me. I would much rather focus on creating a good stage up front with good speakers and amps then to divide up my money for extra rear speakers and extra rear amps. I don't have a lot of spare money so I put it to best use always.

You can also search for other threads about having 5.1 in the car. You'll see most people dont care for it either.

redls1bird · 02-25-2006, 10:45 PM

i understand what you are saying. i just didnt ralize that it would be that much of a pain to install in a car. i am familiar with the delays needed to make your s.s. system work correctly, but it didnt cross my mind at all when i thought about it in my car. so how many speakers are you using in your car? (besides subs if you are using them?) i assume from your comments that they are only around the front area? doors and dash? it does make sense, but the concept of only 2 channel sound in a car is so foriegn to me it makes me unwary. im gonna look into it on this forum and some other sound forums. i dont doubt that it can be amazing, only that i dont know enough about it.

Magnezium · 02-26-2006, 04:33 AM

I agree.. I'm not going surround. I'm going to remove the monsoon system. I'm going to put good components in the doors and mid pannels. I'll be replacing the 2 speaker-sets in the back pannels with single 6x9s. And then I'm going to use an Alpine 5 chan. amp. I'm going to use the 1/250 for my stealth box.

I'm not going for competition sound, but I agree, the monsoon sounds like ***. However, the speakers are setup in pretty good spots... Kind of a good platform to start with.

I would like to put in the 10.4 inch screen, but we'll see how far my money goes. Sounds is more important then the screen since I'm not going to be watching the screen while I'm driving.