Project λ (Lambda) AKA Tech Van: 1994 Chevrolet G20 Conversion Van/56K WARNING!

**freeflashstuff** · 03-26-2010, 12:50 AM

Well, Project Turtle is dead. It was a great year and a half, but now a moment of silence... *Taps plays*

OK! Enough of that! It's time to move on.

My friends were throwing all kinds of names out into the open for this new(er) vehicle. I chose to call the project Project λ (Lambda) and the actual vehicle The Tech Van because:

They both sound like good/cool names to me.
I have been playing the Half-Life series A LOT lately. (λ (Lambda) comes from there)
It will eventually have AT LEAST two computers and a test bench in it. (The tech part comes in here. )

On to the pictures!

Turtle vs. the Van

Stereo moved from the Turtle to the Van

What I have to work with (in the front, anyway

)

Mockups

So, initial impressions anyone?

**HiJackZX1** · 03-26-2010, 10:14 AM

I had a dream about your setup........ Here is my input, you may like it.

This has to do with screen placement. First off get rid of the wooden cup holders, they look ultra ancient and tacky. Plus you will need the room for your screen. Basically sell the Lilliput and buy the VM70. Picture is below:

Now you may ask, why go to that screen? Well because it also comes with this:

So rather then having a hard time putting the EBY701 in, you would pop the headrest cover into the dash, it would hide any cuts because it has a lip and I think it would look alot more stock and maintain the interior. I would just sell the EBY701 for $145.00, which is the cost of the VM70 with free shipping.

I use the headrest covers in my install and they made it so easy to put the sceens. Here is a picture of mine.

See how it sits OK in the seats. Now because the area under the cup holders is flat, it will sit 100% flat.

Here is a picture of someone with it installed in the front, he just doesnt have a bezel though, you wouldnt need a bezel, just cut a perfect hole for the back of the cover to fall into.

The screen looks similar to the EBY701 performance wise. Also if you worried about loosing cup holders, you can always buy a center console made for vans with cup holders. They are pretty cheap.

**HiJackZX1** · 03-26-2010, 10:33 AM

Decided to play with photoshop so you know what I am trying to explain.

Now cool thing is, you can order just the headrest part from Short-Circuit.com. That way you can test and see if it fits. Infact I am going to ask them if they can send it to you for free, since they owe me a favor and its only $1.95 for the headrest cover. Just let me know if interested so I can email them to try to send it to you.

**merkj** · 03-26-2010, 11:07 AM

Wow, sad to see the Turtle go. Nice van, though. The extra space will make things much easier.

**TFCommanderBob** · 03-26-2010, 11:21 AM

Forgot how huge those shaggin' wagons were

Dwarfs the poor turtle. Good luck with the new designs!

**freeflashstuff** · 03-26-2010, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by ZX1Cruizer

Decided to play with photoshop so you know what I am trying to explain.

Now cool thing is, you can order just the headrest part from Short-Circuit.com. That way you can test and see if it fits. Infact I am going to ask them if they can send it to you for free, since they owe me a favor and its only $1.95 for the headrest cover. Just let me know if interested so I can email them to try to send it to you.

I don't know if there is actually that much room there. I guess worst should worst come to worst, I could put the HU there and the screen where the HU is now... I'll check dimensions and post them if I get a chance today after school. I have to work tonight, so it may not happen until midnight, but IT WILL HAPPEN!

Originally Posted by merkj

Wow, sad to see the Turtle go. Nice van, though. The extra space will make things much easier.

I like the extra space, but I HATE the blind spots...

Originally Posted by TFCommanderBob

Forgot how huge those shaggin' wagons were

Dwarfs the poor turtle. Good luck with the new designs!

I am going to take my time as much as possible this time. I screwed so much up on the Turtle that I think I know what I need to avoid this time.

**HiJackZX1** · 03-26-2010, 12:15 PM

Well Im glad you know your mistakes from the Turtle....... The screen will fit there, trust me. You cant put the headunit there because it will hit the engine, lol. The headrest shroud isnt deep.

Another idea, if you want to keep the Lilliput, is simply put a hole so you can use the mount on the back of the Lilliput, then make a bezel that makes it flush with the dash. I do think though that it will fit in the cup holder area. Take the cupholders off and try to place the Lilliput there. Its better to just see then to assume it doesnt fit.

PS: Make sure you really clear out that back area.... i have this strange feeling that the back has seen alot of bodily fluids, lol.

**freeflashstuff** · 03-27-2010, 12:05 AM

Originally Posted by ZX1Cruizer

Well Im glad you know your mistakes from the Turtle....... The screen will fit there, trust me. You cant put the headunit there because it will hit the engine, lol. The headrest shroud isnt deep.

Another idea, if you want to keep the Lilliput, is simply put a hole so you can use the mount on the back of the Lilliput, then make a bezel that makes it flush with the dash. I do think though that it will fit in the cup holder area. Take the cupholders off and try to place the Lilliput there. Its better to just see then to assume it doesnt fit.

The cupholders were held in by 4 wood screws. Apparently, they ARE stock, but the bolts stripped out, so the owner at that time put some wood underneath the cupholders and screwed through the plastic to hold it in.

Originally Posted by ZX1Cruizer

PS: Make sure you really clear out that back area.... i have this strange feeling that the back has seen alot of bodily fluids, lol.

That's the first thing my friends said: "There's no telling how many people have

in that thing!" To which I replied I DON'T WANNA THINK ABOUT THAT!

But that is in the plans.

**freeflashstuff** · 03-27-2010, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by ZX1Cruizer

Well Im glad you know your mistakes from the Turtle....... The screen will fit there, trust me. You cant put the headunit there because it will hit the engine, lol. The headrest shroud isnt deep.

Another idea, if you want to keep the Lilliput, is simply put a hole so you can use the mount on the back of the Lilliput, then make a bezel that makes it flush with the dash. I do think though that it will fit in the cup holder area. Take the cupholders off and try to place the Lilliput there. Its better to just see then to assume it doesnt fit.

This is where the cupholders were:

The area behind that:

The Lilliput "guess-timating" shot:

It'll fit, I'll just need to do a teeny bit of shaving.

ZX1Cruizer, you were right! You ARE good at eyeballing things.

**HiJackZX1** · 03-27-2010, 11:33 AM

I never was into measuring, all though on certain things I do measure. Now that I see the Lilliput there, I take back my comments on the VM70, it will not fit. The VM70 is a bit taller.

I dont think you have to mod the car or the screen. What I would do is build a bezel to pop in over the Lilliput sides. It will be able to be screwed into the cup holder screw area, then you can also have a screw in each top corner, that should secure it. I wish I could explain it better but its hard for me to explain fabrication since im kinda new to it.

Here is yet another crude drawing.

The two little squares are USB ports, then the big square to the right is a dock for you iPhone. You have lots of space so alot can go below the screen.

Now getting the Lilliput to stay is easy, Simple make a small hole and use the desktop bracket on the back of the Lilliput to hold the screen on. Here is a picture of how I did mine.