1991 Chevy Suburban Truckputer 10.4" Screen

Crawdaddy · 05-21-2008, 10:48 AM

This is my 1991 Chevy Suburban 1500 2WD:

It's going to be getting a new center console and carputer in it in the upcoming weeks. I just recieved my Shark 10.4" touchscreen. Here's a quick parts list outline what I'm planning on using. I'll update the list in following posts as I change my mind...

Parts:
Biostar nForce motherboard miniATX w/onboard GeForce 6100 graphics
AMD Sempron 3000+ mobile
1GB DDR RAM (not sure the speed)
Western Digital Caviar GP 1TB 5400 to 7200RPM (variable speed) drive 3.5" form factor (data)
Western Digital Caviar 80GB 5400RPM IDE hard drive (boot)
Slim laptop DVDROM/CD-RW tray-load (not sure if I'm going to use)
ATI TV Wonder TV Tuner
Linksys PCI wifi card (using this for the RP-SMA connector, which I can connect an external antenna to)
Shark 10.4" touchscreen (the $215 one)
DSATX power supply
20-24 pin ATX motherboard adapter
BU-353 GPS puck
Pioneer DEH-P880PRS reciever
Pioneer RCA input module (to be purchased)
Intel USB Camera (toying with using it as a reverse camera for night and hitching up to trailers)

I've been planning this truckputer for some time now, pretty much ever since I purchased this truck over a year ago. I'm building a custom wood center console to house everything in. I heartily invite questions and comments to my build, as I'm certainly no pro in mobile computing. I'm a Network Technician by day, and a hobbyist in MANY different subjects relating to automotives and electronics. Thanks for ya'll's support!!

TruckinMP3 · 05-21-2008, 11:06 AM

Cool, How are you going to pay for gas in that?

My 02 Suburban is mostly parked these days

Crawdaddy · 05-21-2008, 11:17 AM

It's a "Weekend Warrior", so fuel isn't as much of an issue for me, but it has a 40 gallon tank, so it takes $150 worth of gas easy. Between 13 and 16MPG usually...

Flatman · 05-23-2008, 12:27 PM

can't wait to see what you have in store...

Crawdaddy · 05-25-2008, 10:14 AM

Yesterday I decided to start working on building a case for the carputer equipment. Inside the center console that I'm building to house all this stuff I should have right at 10.5 inches of room to play with (width-wise). I've had the bare motherboard, a spare power supply, and all the hard drives sitting on my desk for some time, and never thought about how I'm going to mount it. So, I started hunting in my spare parts pile for a spare case that I could hack up that was already about the right size. I came upon an old IMB Aptiva case that had another project motherboard in.

So, I yanked the computer parts out of it and started planning how I was going to hack it up. It was conveniently riveted together..

Out came the rivets, and after yanking a couple chunks off (I don't own a dremel or a bandsaw

) I got to this...

I'm going to have to bring it over to my uncle's house to cut the bit chunk where the power supply used to be and some of the back of the motherboard tray off....

Crawdaddy · 05-30-2008, 08:41 AM

I got that chunk of case ground off of the case. I have also obtained all my parts and bench-tested them. So far, I have a cold-boot time of 40 seconds. I have not benchmarked resuming from hibernation yet, as with the desktop power supply I was using, I couldn't successfully hibernate the computer. The DSATX works great! I was worried that I wouldn't have enough power to run everything off the DSATX, but it seems like I have plenty of power. I still need to adjust the pots to reduce the shutdown time and increase the cutoff voltage. When I get home, I'll try to snap some pics of the completed set up on the bench.

Now, just to build the console...

Crawdaddy · 06-09-2008, 10:50 AM

Updated first post to reflect that I bought parts

stonestatue · 06-18-2008, 12:22 PM

Right on, man. I own a 1993 Chevrolet G20 conversion van and I plan on putting a 15" Planar touchscreen in there.

"It's a "Weekend Warrior", so fuel isn't as much of an issue for me, but it has a 40 gallon tank, so it takes $150 worth of gas easy. Between 13 and 16MPG usually..."

Dang, and I thought MY tank was big (30 gallons)...

Be sure and keep us posted.

stonestatue · 06-18-2008, 12:23 PM

***duplicate post deleted***

Crawdaddy · 03-23-2009, 12:32 AM

Well, as an update, I'm done the project. It's installed and working great. I'm working on covering the wood in black speaker box carpet to dress it up some. It looks great and really turns heads. I'll try to get some pics and details of the completed build up as soon as I can.

stonestatue · 03-23-2009, 09:12 PM

Did you go with the 17' monitor?

Crawdaddy · 03-23-2009, 09:18 PM

No, I went with that gooddeals18 Samsung 10.4" touchscreen. For all intensive purposes, it's pretty freaking huge, even in something as big as a suburban.

Crawdaddy · 03-23-2009, 09:19 PM

stonestatue · 03-31-2009, 12:03 AM

Looking good. Are you going to cover the wood with a fabric or vinyl?

Crawdaddy · 03-31-2009, 10:00 PM

Yeah, it's currently out of the truck and in pieces being carpeted with black speaker box carpet.

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