Chrysler 300 Touring

Chairboy · 06-04-2008, 05:17 PM

Howdy all, long time no post. My Buick Regal was in a bad wreck a couple months ago, so I'm in a Chrysler 300 now. I salvaged most of my installed carputer from the Buick and will use it as a base.

I have a bunch of projects vying for my attention right now (not counting work) including:

1. Upgrading the control panel on my plane for instrument flight
2. Building patio cover
3. Getting my plane annualed
4. Painting the kids room
5. Building grappling hook gun
and so on.

Somewhere in there, I need to figure out where to fit this one.

Basic outline, I'll be re-using my Epia M10000 setup, which is a 1ghz low power motherboard (it has onboard video decoding, don't let the low speed fool ya) with a 250gig media drive, Opus DC-DC power supply (inverters generate a lot of heat, are inefficient, and don't know how to gracefully suspend your computer when the power disapears), OBD-II interface, bluetooth adapter, USB GPS, ShuttleXpress input device, Lilliput 7" VGA touchscreen (800x480), DVD burner, webcam(s) for recording video or time lapse. I'm probably forgetting some things, but this is the general outline.

I'll document my slow progress in this thread if anyone is interested, but weeks may go by without update if the other things on my plate intrude.

Tasks

1. Planning
- Basic hardware list done
- Will remove headunit and use an amplifier, to be picked
- Fabricating dash setup using Nav bezel as starter
2. Collecting
- Have motherboard, most of the rest
- Need replacement monitor adapter (specialized) from mp3car.com to replace one lost in the wreck of my previous car.
- Ordered DVD-R slot drive 6/3
- Have Nav bezel
3. Building
- Mock up dash - 6/4 prelim mockup
- Build PC enclosure for trunk
- Install amp for audio (includes running direct battery power to trunk)
- Install PC
- Install Dash
4. Testing
- Does the magic smoke stay in the wires?

To start with, I got the Nav bezel. Yesterday, I disassembled my touchscreen VGA so I can fabricate the dash setup I want. My plan is to have the touchscreen in the dash where the Nav radio might go and to run fully headless.

My preliminary plan is to epoxy the VGA touchscreen where shown above, mounting a slot-load DVD burner on its side next to it. I have more horizontal real estate to work with than vertical. I'm not sure what I'll do w/ the monitor controls yet, most of them are unneeded, so I'll have to puzzle that out. I plan on also fabricating a USB port in the bottom left corner. There will be a hub and ports available elsewhere near the driver seat, but having at least one exposed will be useful I expect.

I'll epoxy the touchscreen bezel into place (slightly recessed) then use bondoglass to fill in the cracks. Lots of sanding later, it should look like it's part of the bezel and was always there. Same technique for the USB port. I'll fab a slot for the DVD burner to slide into, probably using plexi for the flat surface then cutting.

Still not sure whether to keep the bottom of the Lilliput or not. The buttons aren't really used, but not sure what to do with the space. More plugs? Inputs? Buttons? Hmm...

Nermin · 06-04-2008, 05:26 PM

ah, such pleasant feeling to see another 300 owner - hope you enjoy your car and the project as much as I do

as to your plans for bazel work - I'm planing to post my pictures of how I did it with incorporating my 10.4' touchscreen in it

rdholtz · 06-04-2008, 05:50 PM

Have you considered a larger monitor, like a Nermin's? That's a nice big space to fill up.

Is your plane a homebuilt? Got pix?

Chairboy · 06-17-2008, 11:05 AM

My two rides, side by side.

Not homebuilt, but I'm building a Cozy Mk IV.

I have the 7" Lilliput in hand from my previous carputer, and it's a good size for me considering the space I have to work with, so I'll stick to it.

Nermin, I'm looking forward to seeing your install, I bet it'll be sweet!

Spent a couple hours on the project yesterday. I got a lot done, my focus was on fabricating the dash. I was still working with the Nav bezel, I built a recessed area for the monitor.

I cut some strips of plexiglass, a little over an inch wide. I epoxied them into the inside of the opening for the nav unit and together and, over about an hour or two, built a little backless plexi-box.

Next step will be to glue the bezel in and put in the plexiglass back under it with a square hole for the DVD-R drive. After that, bondooooooo!

BTW, since the last mail, I received:
1. The DVD-R drive
2. The GPS to replace the one I accidentally left in my wrecked Buick.

I'll post some pics here shortly of my work today.

One thing I'm not sure of is how hard it will be to wire an amp into the trunk to run all the existing speakers. Is there a wiring bundle back there, or do I need to run all the speaker wires back? Maybe this is a job to farm out to an expert, I seem to have avoided actually installing an amp except in friends cars that were pre-wired from previous projects.

Nermin · 06-17-2008, 04:17 PM

cool - just keep on adding pic's

I'm already done with my bazel - 10.4" though but it's definitely a kicker

I am currently waiting for cooling system upgrade and all of my components will be in one by one

you own Touring as well?

Chairboy · 06-17-2008, 06:12 PM

Yep! Who can afford the V8 in this gas price market?

Nermin · 06-17-2008, 09:22 PM

LOL - I know the feeling bro

Chairboy · 06-18-2008, 09:33 AM

Slow progress, I'm still juggling an airplane annual inspection in here while doing this. Last night, I cut down the bezel some more to make more room and get rid of an unneeded curve at the top. I epoxied it to the plexi top, then cut a couple of plexiglass strips and epoxied them in on either side. It is firmly mounted, no give or anything, and the project is looking good so far:

I don't know how clear the photo is above, that's one of the probs w/ plexiglass, it's too dang transparent. There's strips on either side of the LCD bezel holding it in. The only opening left is below the monitor. The DVD-R drive fits underneath, I'll just need to make a proper sized hole for it and maybe put in an aux-in jack and USB port, still figuring out what else I want visible. Then, as I mentioned before, BONDOOOOOOO!

Chairboy · 06-18-2008, 09:38 AM

Here it is from another angle to show how recessed the monitor is, I realized all my other shots didn't quite show it:

Chairboy · 06-19-2008, 09:17 AM

Another productive evening on ze project. I cut a shelf for the DVD-R drive to sit on and epoxied it in. The DVD-R drive will sit on the platform and be secured in place, plus I'll probably have a strain relief in the back of it to minimize movement (like bouncing) when driving on rough roads.

I cut and sanded some small plexi pieces to fit on either side of the drive, they should snug it into place nicely. I plan to use some plastic spruce or something similar to run across the opening (epoxied to the monitor bezel and the two plexi rectangles) as a stiffener, and will use the body filler (BONDOOOOOOO I say!) to smooth it all out.

MGD · 06-19-2008, 11:40 AM

Wellcome to the 300 Club

Here is my setup to give you some ideas. The screen is an 8" wide 16:9 build into a custom bezel and mounted to the original mounting holes in the dash. No modfication of the bezel needed. Also a custom joy stick controller for all the functions plus the touch screen.
Good Luck with your install.

Chairboy · 06-19-2008, 12:05 PM

Nice! I was looking at that same spot next to the shifter and thinking of putting controls there too. I used a ShuttleXpress last time around (jogdial w/ buttons) and loved it, but can't find a nice place to integrate it in this car. I'm thinking of maybe using the Nulooq as a replacement, with some other buttons, and mounting in that spot.

That's a nice clean monitor install, well done!

Nermin · 06-19-2008, 08:55 PM

glorius ...

MGD you just gave me an idea how to use that useless space besides the gear shift knob - thanks dude

Chairboy · 06-22-2008, 12:57 AM

Had a big day today, it was time for bondooooo! I sanded, then bondoed, then sanded, then bondoed, and so on about 5 times. Near the end of the work session, I switched to 220 grit w/ my finger and wished I had done that earlier, I did a lot of oversanding w/ the B&D Rabbit sander, heh, not to mention some of the dremel work. But it's really coming along, I think I'll be able to use some other light filler to finish tomorrow, then it'll be time to prime.

I drilled a hole on the left side there, I'll put an aux-in there. I ordered a USB port for the other side, that'll all go in after the paint. I ordered a 3Dconnexion SpaceNavigator Notebook (the smaller size is good) to try as the interface, we'll see.

Chairboy · 06-28-2008, 10:08 PM

Ok, I've been doing some work on and off this week, but other projects have held my attention, including assembling a Gazebo (where did that come from?), building a patio cover, work, work, more work, and working on the plane.

I filled in some big holes and sanded and sanded some more, but ran into some obstacles. Not sure I'll be able to get the perfect finish I need, but it's looking pretty good.

I primered it black, sanded, primered again, wet sanded, primered again, lightly sanded w/ 320 grit, and so on. I haven't put on a final paint coat, but here it is after a shot of primer:

It's coming along!