Ford F6 Tornado Project Log - Page 3

mrbean_phillip · 02-28-2007, 08:34 AM

Over here the PSU is fitted - I have to admit that the finish on this case is superb, everything fits, no off-center holes, nada.....very decent....

Another angle...

Here's 2 shots of the optical drive, a slotload Panasonic DVR-K05

Here's a few shots with the motherboard, tray, and frontpanel seperate, and fitted.....

Here's a couple of shots showing the ArcadeVGA PCI-Express GFX card......necessitating the new case of course

mrbean_phillip · 02-28-2007, 08:35 AM

And a few shots showing a mockup of internals, without gfx - front:

From the rear.....

And here with the GFX fitted, to show where it goes....

Temporary atx cable, modified to supply SATA-and Optical drive power - please take note all these will be replaced with a special ATX "flatcable" I will make up, as that was the reason for mounting the M2-ATX upside down - the 2 connectors are opposite each other, I was quite lucky here, so the ATX -cable will be approximately 3-4cm long.....

and my little gas blowtorch for doing the heatshrink - yes, even on a temp cable

Temporary power- and signal cables connected - as mentioned, don't worry about the mess for now, it will be sorted...

As mentioned, Hoojum did a great job on the design of this case, and components - here is a collection of the little DC Power mounting plates that fits to the rear lid - you mount your DC receptacle here, and bolt it to the backlid....

mrbean_phillip · 02-28-2007, 08:36 AM

Again, this is a temporary one to accept the DC powerbrick I am using for setup, testing etc.....I will have an Industrial lockable unit that will go here when the unit goes into the car....here is a shot with the backlid fitted, without fan for now......

For those that wonder, here is a size comparison with an USB Skypephone - not to bad, double the hight, but close the the same dimensions as the Morex Cubid I was going to use earlier....

a Few shots from the front, with the lid fitted - I still need to fit the IR Filter to the left and above IO frontports, I have it, will go in during final assembly -

And here is a shot of the system running, WiFi Active, showing the Xenarc 700TSV which won't be used (for now) in this mod, and my Zippy aluminium keyboard, which may still be used....

Sorry for all the photos, but nowhere on the web could I find anything decent for this case, 1 review, but poor photos, so at least this should give people out there an idea if they consider this for CarPuter-, or HomeMedia/Entertainment system use.

Let me know what you think of the setup so far.

Kind regards,
Beanie.

long.1 · 02-28-2007, 10:26 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by mrbean_phillip

......Let me know what you think of the setup so far.

Hey Beanie,

Well I'll tell you what I think. I think you're an Absolute Legend.
You do your research, you make your purchases, you dive right in, you provide others with valuable info, and you keep us all updated every step of the way.
Can't ask for more than that. Congrats on the case.

Cheers,

Long.1

PS. I'm jealous of your carpc setup and your car modification's budget !!

mrbean_phillip · 03-12-2007, 06:25 AM

Hello Everyone,
I know that you can use the ArcadeGFX in a Carputer to drive your ICC Color LCD, as the PC outputs VGA (31khz) and the screen needs CGA(15khz) video signal.

Now, I have managed to assemble a very decent Carputer, then decided to go another route with a ArcadeVGA GFX card, driving the standard Ford ICC Color LCD directly, as can be seen in posts above somewhere....

Now, last week I spent in Bangkok, and stumbled upon a very decent Apple Mac-mini setup, Core Duo (Yonah) processor, 1.86gig dual-core goodness, small, very small indeed, very powerful - and you can use bootcamp to install WinXP, so you can dualboot with Mac OS X.

Only problem is that you have standard VGA output (via DVI+A), but....maybe there is a solution: VGA-CGA Converter to drive the Ford Falcon's color lcd directly....

Should work very well, exactly what we need, and the unit is quite small. Hardware converter, no software needed. And ability to adjust screensize/position etc......

So, I will order one tonight, and test on my Mac-mini, and let you know how it goes.

Should be a decent solution to a big problem.

Djmicky/Long.1 - should be helpful to your cause

Now you need to find space for a small Mac-mini, instead of a much larger normal carputer setup.

Br,
MrBean.

mrbean_phillip · 03-25-2007, 07:08 AM

Hello Guys,
Ok, a small update - took me a while to do properly though....

As mentioned, one of my early objectives were to keep the fitting of the Carputer as factory-looking as possible, and with that idea in mind, I prepped the powercables this afternoon.

I am using 12gauge cables for the Carputer, even though the current-draw from the system would onle be totalling 10A max of my 12V rail, I would still like to over-engineer a little in this department, as I would not like undersized cabling giving me problems later.

With that in mind, I found a spare "plug" close to my brake master cylinder, allowing me a pass-through from the engine compartment into the passenger compartment.

Here you can see it next to the master cylinder....

And here is a shot from next to the brake-pedal (footwell) on the inside.....

It will be properly routed and secured on the inside with a proper power-distribution block, similar to the ones the audiophiles use to tap off power for their amps....

Here you can see how I routed the cables over the brakebooster, inside the split-loom - 10mm x 2m tubing obtained from Jaycar.

And a close-up of the same, using saddles and cableties to secure the split-loom.

Here is how I routed the split-loom/cables into the fusebox.......see where I mounted the earth wire.....properly soldered into the correct 12-gauge lug, and secured with a bolt to the vehicle chassis - I checked resistance from this point to the std vehicle earth points, as well as to the battery negative, and the resistance is 0.1 ohms - good quality grounding

Here is another angle of the wiring, and the circles would indicate where the positive would be connected to - I will check my w/shhop manuals to see which of the 2 points are the best, but both seems to originate directly from the battery + pole. I may use the one with the least current-drain on based on info in the manuals.

Here is a last shot, showing with the water reservoir bolted down again, and the fusebox lid secured - you can hardly see that there is 2 new beefy 12-gauge cables running into the cabin.....

And in this area here is where the Carputer will be located - I will start fitting in the week after work hours

Can hardly wait.

Will keep you guys posted.

djmickyg · 03-25-2007, 10:02 AM

looking good..
I ran my power wire differently to that..
I screwed the battery end to the same bolt in the fuse box but then went down true the side guard and through a gromit thats located down in the foot well.
you way looks alot easier. mine was a tight squeeze

mrbean_phillip · 03-25-2007, 07:32 PM

Hey Micky,
Thanx for the feedback

I used this location, as the silly mech at Ford routed a cable for the alarm system through that rubber-grommet, not even sleeved or anything - just the bare cable

Bad workmanship, Ford!!

Anyway, now that cable is running within the split-loom too, so it looks a bit neater, and will prevent eventual damage to that bare cable.

Will be fitting the carnetix powersupply, as well as the vga-cga converter today. Took a day off......

Will keep you posted.

fire · 03-27-2007, 09:50 AM

nice worklog so far..
this project looks great..

where abouts did you get that split loom to cover the cables??... are there different sizes?... .. cost???.. need some for behind the TV in my room.. and also good for the car when i need to.

meddler · 03-27-2007, 06:05 PM

Jaycar and Dick Smith have a the split loom conduit.

mrbean_phillip · 03-28-2007, 05:14 AM

Yep, got this one at Jaycar - 2m length, 10mm dia, and something like either $2.50, or $5.00 - fairly cheap.

Thanx for the f/back

mrbean_phillip · 04-01-2007, 08:33 AM

Hello Guys,
Finally a little more progress.

Well, on a recent trip to Bangkok, I deceided to pick up a Mac Mini, Core-Duo setup, 1.83gig, well, quite nifty for a Carputer.

The hardware a few posts up will be utilized for another project I am busy with, something for Industrial control-nodes

So, the Mini will have to do.

Here I have made the cutout in my Cubby, and glued a support brace in place, which will prevent the Mini from slipping back:

Testfit of the Puter....

and from behind....

Looking cosy in there, nice and level

Mounting the new VGA-CGA converter to drive the Ford stock color LCD screen, tested, and works like a charm....

And here is a close up of the Mini from behind, power- and on-control from the Carnetix fitted....

and a shot of the complete assembly from behind....

and lastly, from the front....

Just done a quick test of the unit in the UTE, works like a dream, shutdown controller functioning as claimed, all that remains now is routing of ignition control wire, and connection of LCD cable.

Let me know what you guys think.

I will post shots of it in action during the week.

Nice and stealthy, and if you do not open the Cubby, you won't know there is a very powerful and capable little computer fitted in there

Br,
MrBean.

mrbean_phillip · 05-29-2007, 04:19 AM

a Small update:

I am not happy with the result from the stock Ford ICC LCD display, and yes, being able to use that would have made matters very easy, but the text quality is just to bad.

Using OBD tools, browsing the net to d/l updates etc is next to impossible, so I decided to temporary mount the Xenarc LCD in a convenient location.

Why temporary mount only? Well, it will be removed at a later point in time, when my dash is complete - I decided to embark on a project to built a complete TFT LCD-based dashboard, running of WinCE port on a Industrial based mainboard, eg Commell LV-677.

RPM and Speed will be dispalyed on there own LCD's, with a 3rd doing temp, oil press and turbo boost, as well as fuel level.

Anyway, that's a project on it's own, so here is what I did to fit the Xenarc.

Here is the standard Xenarc display stand:

remove the little screw in the head, like this......

and purchase a Nokia universal carmount kit.........on the left....

and fit the little screw in there...

and onto the back of the Xenarc LCD.....

and here.....

then mount the base of the Nokia stand in the UTE like this....take note that the original Nokia base had 4 holes, I removed the one to make it fit in a bit better from an aesthetics viewpoint....

and another angle.....

then bolt the 2 together.....

Making for a very easy to adjust, secure, vibration-free and safe/easy to read LCD.....

another one.....

I will post another few pics on the weekend with the door closed, and from another angle to show how viewable it is from the driverseat, and how easy and safe it is, being nicely in line with Instrument cluster.

Now to run the wiring to the MacMini located in the glovebox, then it's done

Well, I did not feel doing an indash mount of this LCD, when the next phase of the project will house everything in the original Instrument cluster.

Let me know what you think, I will post pics on the weekend of the setup operational.

PC have been working on the in-car ICC LCD, everything ready, just need rewire the Carnetix P1900 PSU 12V rail to the Xenarc, and connect the VGA cable

djmickyg · 05-29-2007, 09:03 AM

interesting location.. much safer than where mine is..

mrbean_phillip · 05-30-2007, 06:02 AM

Micky, it looks bigger at this angle than it really is, I will post some better pics from the driversPOV on the weekend - or, better, I could pop over to you or vice-versa, so you can have a looky

It is in a very safe ;location though, as mentioned before, you only have to move your eyes, not tilt your whole head - less distraction, etc.....at least from my perspective.

I am curious about your progress to.

Lemme know if you have time, I can take a quick drive to you

Still owe you a spin too.....

User Name		Remember Me?
Password