Thread: 1996 Chevy C1500 - Many years of Modifying (and still not done)

Thanks ZX1. I did everythinig but the shaved tailgate. Well, I had somebody paint the front bumper and grille, tailgate, and rollpan for me--so I guess not the painting either. The alarm/remote start, exhaust system, and window tint installations are things I never want to do again. They all came out good and have lasted well, but dang they were huge headaches. Oh and I had a guy do my seats, but when I got them the fabric was loose, so I took it off and tightend it and glued it better to the foam on the seat frame. Can't believe I paid that guy $750 to just stitch vinyl replacements for the existing seats and I even let him borrow the passenger seat to copy the pattern....

I am the one who would have loved the alarm/remote start, exhaust, engine mod's, car audio, tinting, fabrication, bolt-on accessories, wiring, etc! That's my thing...the Pro-audio is something I have always understood but never acted on (in a car anyway) and the PC thing is something I have never understood until recently. I guess I would definitely consider myself a newbie!!

I used to love this stuff. I think i'm just getting old and tired and easily frustrated--Granted i'm only 27 (28 next month). I think a lot of it has to do with working full time, taking night classes, having a girlfriend, two dogs, and being a home owner...

I cut up the touchscreen portion of my center console monitor housing to see if I can fit it flush into the lower dash. What a *&^%^&% pain. Now I wish I had never done it, but I'm going to keep pressing on as I have free time. I really don't know the trick but I cut smaller strips of mdf, and routed and cut angles with a jig saw so I could get them all to fit into the curve and then screwed them together to make a template for a new side panel for the monitor house. So far it has not been fun!

my 15" monitor mod worked!!! I am going to use it in portrait mode. I did not want a screen that large but free is, well, FREE! I think I am going to miss the touchscreen aspect of it but it is really for testing purposes only anyway. We will see. I really want my screen in the dash and not the console but the 15" will not work for that. I also ordered my M4-ATX, yee haw...one less thing to power with an inverter!

1996...do you have any problems with glare where your monitor is/was? BTW...I know what you mean about time, a full time job, kids, wife, and automobile hobby...where are we supposed to find time? IT'S HARD!!! But I did manage to get about two hours in the shop last night...first time in about three months!

Originally Posted by Darkhorse972

my 15" monitor mod worked!!! I am going to use it in portrait mode. I did not want a screen that large but free is, well, FREE! I think I am going to miss the touchscreen aspect of it but it is really for testing purposes only anyway. We will see. I really want my screen in the dash and not the console but the 15" will not work for that. I also ordered my M4-ATX, yee haw...one less thing to power with an inverter!

1996...do you have any problems with glare where your monitor is/was? BTW...I know what you mean about time, a full time job, kids, wife, and automobile hobby...where are we supposed to find time? IT'S HARD!!! But I did manage to get about two hours in the shop last night...first time in about three months!

You could always buy a 7 inch touchscreen and build it into the armrest and use it to control the 15 inch.

I think we all have that issue. This hobby eats a lot of time, and money. I don't have kids, but I have 4 dogs (2 which are old and need constant care), they eat alot of my time. Then I have 2 jobs, my main job, then a second job to pay my dogs health insurance (yes my dogs have health insurance and I don't, lol), and their very expensive food (my dogs eat better then I do). I've always been a loner, I have f#(k buddies, anything else like emotional stuff is just useless baggage. Plus Summer time is always draining on financials.

I too have started work again, but very slow. I decided to wire up all the cameras to the DQP, but I broke and lost the front panel so I could program it, so I am bidding for one on ebay. Then once that is done I can buy the 2 final cameras and buy the black box recorder. I at least want to get that aspect of my install up.

Originally Posted by Darkhorse972

my 15" monitor mod worked!!! I am going to use it in portrait mode. I did not want a screen that large but free is, well, FREE! I think I am going to miss the touchscreen aspect of it but it is really for testing purposes only anyway. We will see. I really want my screen in the dash and not the console but the 15" will not work for that. I also ordered my M4-ATX, yee haw...one less thing to power with an inverter!

1996...do you have any problems with glare where your monitor is/was? BTW...I know what you mean about time, a full time job, kids, wife, and automobile hobby...where are we supposed to find time? IT'S HARD!!! But I did manage to get about two hours in the shop last night...first time in about three months!

I mentioned before to somebody I used a 15" touchscreen monitor. It was serial touch, which broke, then I installed a usb touschreen controller and panel and it worked again. I had it mounted to the transmission hump and it worked pretty good there. I never have too many issues with glare becuase of the angle it was facing. I went with the 10.4" becuase it's width was perfect for my center console build. I modeled the console in such a way the angle of the screen was facing upward to keep window glare and sunlight off.

The other day I temporarily mounted my 10.4" to the front dash and put the 15" back where it was. I drove around some to compare the quality, glare, etc. my gf couldnt see the 10.4" well from the passenger seat sometimes because of glare and sun if my window was down, but it looked best for me. I could see the 15" fine where it was, and so could she. So i think i'll stray away from any major dash bezel mods right now to fit the 10.4" and keep it in the center with my newly in-process housing that will fit flush to the dash. Shame my 15" is so wide, i'd make that in the console lol. But man, when I have to 10.4" in the dash and the 15" on the tranny hump, that 15 looked so damn huge it was ridiculous!!!

I just passed my summer A term art class, and still taking differential equations that will last the rest of the summer, but I dropped my humanities summber B that would normally start this thursday term, so now i'll be in class just 2 nights a week instead of 4. so that should give me more time to relax and work on project. Guess my degree willl take that much longer though.... always a trade off i suppose...

Originally Posted by ZX1Cruizer

You could always buy a 7 inch touchscreen and build it into the armrest and use it to control the 15 inch.

I think we all have that issue. This hobby eats a lot of time, and money. I don't have kids, but I have 4 dogs (2 which are old and need constant care), they eat alot of my time. Then I have 2 jobs, my main job, then a second job to pay my dogs health insurance (yes my dogs have health insurance and I don't, lol), and their very expensive food (my dogs eat better then I do). I've always been a loner, I have f#(k buddies, anything else like emotional stuff is just useless baggage. Plus Summer time is always draining on financials.

I too have started work again, but very slow. I decided to wire up all the cameras to the DQP, but I broke and lost the front panel so I could program it, so I am bidding for one on ebay. Then once that is done I can buy the 2 final cameras and buy the black box recorder. I at least want to get that aspect of my install up.

Yeah it does suck, I mean if we did this stuff everyday I'm sure we'd be experts, but then again I think i'd rather not becuase I might stop being fun. That's why if anyone ever needs help installing amps or head units I don't charge and just help. I'd hate to deal with customers becuase I know how many people can be jack@$$es or morons. So i like it just a hobby, i just hate how I have to let the projects sit around for long periods of time or drive around with a ripped up dash or big *** MDF box in the center of my truck lol.

Damn two jobs man... that's just nuts. I kind of have two jobs if you consider college course. I always try to go at least half time so I can draw some extra money from my G.I. Bill becuase I know I need it! especially for hobbies like this.

I know what your saying about the dogs. I have just two that my gf and I adopted from shelters and we love them to death and gotta make sure when spend lots of time with them. They are both pretty young. One is about 2 and the other is a little over 1 now. Maybe I'll throw up some pics sometime. And the gf thing I'm always kind of torn on. Sometimes I wish I was single again becuase I'd have more time for **** and if I wanna get some, i'll just go to the club or call somebody up. Any other time I wouldnt have to worry about the bull****. I can be pretty selfish and she knows it lol... but some some reason she stays with me. But enough about girls let's talk about HARDWARE lol...

BTW the a DQP?

Nice console! The pix look like the project is coming along great!
I'm kind of thinking about doing something similar to what you did for my 1988 C1500.

I figured I'd start adding pictures on my center console here since I't turning more into a worklog and less of a finished product haha. I'll just pick up where I left off...

I was getting discourage from finsihing the product becuase after the fiberglass, filler, and sanding I wasn't getting a flat surface. It felt flat, but when I sprayed it with high build primer it looked like cottage cheese...

So... I let it sit for a while and then did some research on sanders. I was using a palm grip and i felt like i needed something more powerful. I went out and bought an adjustable random orbital sander and a 40 pack of 50 grit paper. WOW what a difference. Definitely knocked it down so much better. In fact, i got anxious to see how it looked since it felt smooth and hit it up with a little high build primer. I took some pics as it was drying, but damn it looks so much better. My motivation returned and I can't wait to get back to it tonight and start on the other sides.

I was also thinking about rounding out the edges with a router so it doesnt look so square. But anyway, here's the pics! it was late, the lighting isn't great, and the paint is still a little wet, but you can see it looks much much better now.