2000 Chevy Blazer - the long road ahead - *Pictures*

red_parchel · 08-07-2006, 11:06 PM

---------------------[ HARDWARE ] -------------------------
Mobo: VERSA-C7-1.5GHz w/ PCMCIA/CF daughterboard
RAM: 512mb ddr2
HDD: 160GB sata [3.5"]
CASE: m300 [from mini-box]
WIFI: Motorola pci 802.11g wnic
LCD: 10.4" lcd kit from earthlcd
TS: 10.4" touch screen from keytec
2nd LCD: 7" lcd [in rear deck]
8 serial controlled relays
PSU: Opus 120watt

------------------------ [ PLANS ] ---------------------------
* the computer resides in the back of my blazer w/ the amps under a "fake floor"
* the LCD/TS is going to replace the HU and HVAC controls
- HU is going to be moved below the dash
- HVAC controls are now in the glove compartment [a bit of a reach for me but worth it]

------------------------- [ AUDIO ] ----------------------------
* Floor is in
* Orion 4004 is in and wired to 2 sets of Memphis 6.5 components
- one set of components are in kick panels up front
- one set of components are in the rear doors
* Orion 2500D is in and wired
- waiting to build sub box - fiberglass'd quarter tube sealed enclosure for my 15" orion HCCA (ol' skool)

----------------------------[ WIRING ] --------------------------
computer:
*FRONT TO REAR
-VGA [need to reorder, first one went to my projector in my media room]
-USB
-AUDIO
-ACC
- 2 runs of cat5 for use later as 16 small wires running front to back, possibly for relays?
* Power 4awg to dist. block then to Opus
* ground to common ground

------------------------[ FABRICATION ] ---------------------
DASH:
* cut hole messured, awaiting fiberglass materials
* scared to do my first fiberglass job, might start with the sub box to get a feel for it
*hoping to have this done by mid july
GLOVE COMPARTMENT:
* DONE [may need a little cleaning up sometime later]
CONSOLE:
* still in planning have not decided all the parts needed in it so its hard to start building
LOWER CONSOLE [headunit location] :
* DONE

------------------------[ IMAGES ] ---------------------
[11/5/2007]
Havc relocation

ROUGHED in but WORKING 10.4" lcd

Back of the Truck - large unfinished sub box, i'm working on a smaller design

POWER- 0/2guage feeding 2 amps, one 12vdc-120vac inverter, and one carputer

messy but WORKING carputer - notes later in thread

offroad · 08-22-2006, 02:40 PM

Im about to use the M300 Case as well, with an M10000 board. I havent got it yet, but im curious to see how the M1ATX supply will fit in the case with everyting.

red_parchel · 08-22-2006, 05:42 PM

went to take a picture for ya and found out leaving your camera in the car isnt always the best thing .. ill see if i can barrow a freinds ... i'm not too sure if the M1 [or M2] will fit in the case if you've got all the goodies in there [as i do]

offroad · 08-22-2006, 06:22 PM

That would be great. Im only going to have one 2.5" hd in there (100GB), but I do want the ability to an extra PCI video card in there, because the onboard video isnt quite cutting it with street deck. I emailed Mini box before I bought it and they said for heat issues it would probably work, but would probably be best to mount it upside down next to the hard drives and PCI slot and attach it from the top of the case.

red_parchel · 08-24-2006, 06:42 PM

Here is some quick pix for the work so far [i seem to have shakey hands lately prob work gettin' the best of me

]

Ok here's the deck i built to hide things such as my amps and carputer

a lil fuzzy but you get the idea

the amps ... almost all wired again

carputer in all her glory also waiting for more wire [among other things]

and just nice corner shot [putting a 7" lcd here so that if im doing some work back there i dont have to use the screen up front

red_parchel · 08-24-2006, 07:06 PM

ok here are the pix i said id post of the case

its a tight fit

i still cant decide what to do for power .. any suggestions are welcome ... id love a dsatx .. but its just so much money ... but the features are practically endless .. but form a practical stand point how many features do i really need ... maybe an opus 120?

red_parchel · 08-26-2006, 09:26 AM

a few mor pix of the front of the car ... got LOTS of work to do here
i got an extra dash off ebay, and i've done a bit of work w/ it just some dremel shaping, so far so good ...

a/c controls goin' in the glove compartment, Head unit is going down below

my old carputer

red_parchel · 08-26-2006, 11:46 PM

well i've spent a great deal of time workin' on the stereo so i figured id write a quick blurp about it, it's a kenwood cda-7897 headunit, an orion 2500D pushing an Orion 15" HCCA sub, an orion 4004 running a pair of memphis 15-MSYNC6 components in kicks up front and a set in the rear doors ... simple but i like this set up, the dash and stock front door speakers are still stock but not used.

the sub is getting a new enclosure soon, a quarter tube fiberglass box, [4 boxes so far just cant find a happy medium between size and sound ]

red_parchel · 08-28-2006, 04:20 PM

just playin in photoshop ... thought this would be cool to put a dock in for my ipod, to charge, or for friends ipods to get music off/listen to if for some reason i dont have it on my carputer ... might make it so i dont HAVE to have the pc on use it ... might also splice the lineout into my head unit ... ill have to find some pin outs .. but this is a while away .. gotta finish up the dash first ...

before

photoshoped after

red_parchel · 09-10-2006, 10:27 PM

Opus 120 came in today .. now i just gotta make it fit in my m300 case :-\

thinkin' i could attatch it to the roof of the case and only run one 80gb 2.5 drive

we'll see .. more to come

red_parchel · 11-15-2006, 03:53 PM

HVAC controls in the glove box, and headunit fitted to the console, not just gotta bondo the console and paint , then rip up the carpet .. prob wont be dont for another 3 or 4 weeks ..

-red

red_parchel · 05-30-2007, 05:53 PM

well three to four weeks became 4-6 months, and i'm still not done, school got the best of me, and so did the lack of a garage during the winter in upstate new york, so now i'm on break, no money, but i'm working with what i got!

the PC itself has gentoo linux on it, runs fluxbox, iGuidance3, and nGhost, i'm working on writing scripts to make the touch screen the only interface to the pc [ie no mouse or keyboard] but this requires some careful planning, also i DO have hand writing recognition through an application called "xstroke" so if i get in a bind i can use my finger to write on the screen, or use the on screen keyboard. i made my motorola pci wifi card work using ndiswrapper.

still nothing is perminently mounted in the car, the lcd is litterally just stuck in the dash, the pc is in place but not wired. my plan looks like this

1) order the rest of the wiring needed
2) run wire through-out car so that i can just drop things inplace when ready
3) fabricate a Fibraglass sub box, so that i get used to working with fibraglass
4) fabricate a fibraglass dash modification for lcd(needs fibraglass for support)
5) install lcd
6) install PC
7) install other things - ie gps dongle, relay control, bluetooth.

red_parchel · 07-09-2007, 12:33 PM

ok july 9th, i rigged up everything i needed to make my pc functional for a trip to pennsylvania last week, the night before i left one of my 4 awg amp wires shorted, making power a bit of an issue, but after removing my sub for the trip i found i could use one of the extra power wires from the sub amp and all was good again. the vga, usb, audio, and other misc wires ran up the center of my blazer from the pc in the truck under the console and into the dash.

all in all the pc worked exactly as it should, a few problems with acpi events (i'll resolve that later) but using nghost (linux front end) we listened to some tunes and watched top gun (well the passengers did) all the way to PA. sadly though once we got to our destination my head unit finally died RIP four years old alpine 7897 and the mechanical parts to extend and retract the faceplate finally crapped out.

so now im in the market for a new headunit, and new power wire .. all needs to be in before august 5th (NE G2G, springfield MA)

shaggy_5420 · 10-13-2007, 10:56 PM

Looks like your project is coming along nicely. I am also working with a 2000 Blazer, and I am modeling my install after yours, I just wont be using a head-unit, I will be all amplifier. Do you have any pictures of the HVAC relocation? I am interested to see that, as I wasn't brave enough to relocate mine...not on this install anyhow. Did you happen to keep all your measurements and dimensions for your false floor or pictures of how you routed your power and other wiring?

Unit83 · 10-24-2007, 09:57 PM

I also have 2000 Chevy Blazer and love the back hatch box idea. How is it attached to the truck? Or does it just sit back there...held down by gravity? I was also wondering how you got it to look so snug to the profile of the interior? Any pointers are much appreciated. Dimensions would be increadible too! Thanks