2003 Pontiac Vibe GT, as done by a n00b.

Grimoire · 05-27-2006, 04:36 PM

Definatly a beginner here....
JUST bought my Vibe and decided I wanted to play my music through my MP3 player. I think my initial problem is posted on here somewhere >.<

Anyway, I have a Dell Laptop which is going to be raped.
Im going to put it into the glove box and have the power either behind the glove box (if there is room) or under the car seat. The power cord will reach. Im also getting a simple hub and the mini keyboard and a touch pad. Im thinking Ill intergrate the touchpad into the handrest somehow...
The Lilliput will be Mounted with that setup. Granted I havnt gotten it yet, Im moving and I asked him to hold the setup till I have my new addie. I figure this will be fine until my spare dash comes in and I can work on my mad fabrication skilz! [/sarcasim]
And finnaly my HeadUnit. I dont have any amps or special speakers, I really dont need them as of right now. I also have WiFi such. Ill probably use roadrunner as my frontend with Winamp. I figure for a first run, this cant be too bad.
Pictures to follow!
And Im WAY open to suggestions!

[Edit] Thought of something. If I wired the PS into the ignition of the car, would it start and stop with the car? Is that even possible with that power supply?

Grimoire · 07-12-2006, 08:34 PM

Alright, its installed and all set up. Ive done some more to it since these pictures were taken. Mostly put a switch in there for the Inverter because always having it on killed my battery quick! So, here they are.

First pic is the Car itself......and my old neighborhood.
Second pic: My couch...er...bench. And tools used.
Third Pic: Raped laptop, and switch wired in.
Fourth Pic: Monitor bench test.
Fifth Pic: Monitor Switch wiring.

Grimoire · 07-12-2006, 08:41 PM

6th Pic: Front of monitor with button
7th Pic: Installed and booting.
8th Pic: Installed monitor
9th Pic: Radio's New home
10th Pic: Night shot.

So....what do you think? Im going to redo the monitor face to look better and more origional, but that works.

You can also see the Inverter in the last picture. Ive got that hooked up under the dash now so its out of the way. Going to wire in some lights so I know when its on and off, other than just using the switch position to find out.

ppgt94 · 07-12-2006, 10:04 PM

Wow very nice dash and center console fab work. But, those choice of switches... :/ sort of spoils it all a bit.

Grimoire · 07-12-2006, 10:06 PM

I know, Im looking for a nicer push button style, havin a hard time finding a good push button that fits though. Im not done yet! If you have any suggestions, Im open for any.
The dash someone else made, Im making a new one now, sanding and sanding, I'll post that when its done.

Grimoire · 07-30-2006, 08:21 PM

Everything has been redone. Including the buttons....Pictures to follow.

breaker021 · 08-10-2006, 11:12 AM

damn ur couch and ur uber n00b carputer skills!

what i mean to say is - awesome job man. very smart using a laptop, rather than building a machine with half the capability but double the cost. and i'm also thinking of integrating a touch pad somewhere around my arm rest too... just trying to find a usb touch pad, used, for like $10 somewhere.... ;]

major props.
- sh00k

Redian · 08-20-2006, 12:42 AM

breaker... use ebay lol

as for the install, amazing.

Grimoire · 10-10-2006, 11:44 PM

Aaaaaaaand, Im done.
For now.
Ive completely scrapped the previous idea. THIS is the new one.

I have a P4M80-M4 Biostar board with a 2.8 Ghz Celeron, 512MB Ram, 80GB HDD.I have a DVD player as well, but I failed to take a pic of that, its intergrated in my armrest. I threw it all in my glove box. NOW, first things first. The camera shows ALL my flaws. The paint job actually blends alot better in real life, but the flash is not very forgiving. As you can see, the bondo is already starting to crack, Need to find something more firm. Also, theres alot of dust and everything is cluttered. At that time, now everything is a bit more cleaned up. The cables are a bit more hidden, but this is the RAW pics of my install. Ill put some pics up of the system running, its running MobileImpact, a great front end!

Grimoire · 10-10-2006, 11:47 PM

Last of the pics. Like I said. RAW. When I clean things up, Ill post those. But Im so excited, I just had to post!

blackedoutxb · 11-21-2006, 02:32 PM

hey man nice install. Yeah bondo cracks easily i would suggest using bondo-glass or marine tex. you can find marine tex at any marine supply store and the bondo glass is basically bondo with strands of fiberglass in it. very strong material, i would say the strongest of the two would be the marine tex.

PontiacGA · 12-29-2006, 08:59 AM

Nice install. Glad to see another Vibe GT owner on here.

McAND · 12-30-2006, 06:49 AM

I have a pc car with old lap top me too, maked 2 years ago.(mediacar--roadrunner)
I have a question, for turn on pc I have seen the switch, but with my laptop, I have a problem of resolution of the lilliput, When i turn on pc, I need to press 2 times the keys: FN-F5
How have you resolved thi point ?
Thank you,

P.s.:Sorry for my bad english

Grimoire · 12-30-2006, 09:33 AM

Yeah, sounds like your switching between VGA settings. Meaning your laptop is defaulting to "projector" or "Laptop Screen" instead of external monitor. Check in the Bios and Windows settings to change that.

Oh, and update on me car. I gots into a small accident. (4 cars is small right?) and now have some body damage. I blew some fuses and had to remove my entire Carputer. BUT, with a 400w inverter and a 350w ATX power supply, Im back in action. Ive also gotten an SDC. Both of these I have GenesisFactor to thank for! So, thats it in a nutshell, pics to follow.

PontiacGA · 12-31-2006, 09:57 AM

Ouch. Sorry about the accident. I take it you're ok? (Besides having your ride dented)