2001 GMC Sonoma - Carputer, Fiberglass, and more!

**megalomania** · 02-28-2012, 03:29 AM

So I believe the time has finally come for me to show off the projects I've been working on. The truck is a 2001 GMC Sonoma, with plans for a full active (possibly passive) 4 way setup consisting of a 15" FI Q subwoofer in a glassed box, 10" midbass glassed into the doors, 5" midranges glassed into the kicks, and tweets glassed into the a pillars, all powered by some Memphis amps.

The computer setup consists of an Asus E35M1-I mobo, 8 gigs of ram, a 500gig hybrid drive, and a DSATX DC-DC power supply. A USB BU-353 GPS receiver paired with Iguidance 4.0 takes care of the GPS abilities, a Lilliput 12.1" touchscreen is used as the main input device, and in the future plans are to add HD Radio as well as some form of OBD2 scanning.

Anyways, I'll start off with the pictures that I'm sure everyone is waiting for!

First I started off by laying down 25 sq. ft. of Audiotechnix sound deadener in the back.

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Then began the task of building these two boxes to contain the two batteries as well as the computer system. They were made out of 3/4" MDF and painted using Duplicolors bedliner for a durable black textured finish.

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Originally the plan was for the boxes to be part of a false floor and to use the front face of the boxes as a spot to mount fuseholders/distribution blocks for everything and have them displayed via a cutout in the front panel. I realized shortly after that the 0ga wire I was using wasn't going to be as cooperative with that as I had hoped so these boxes were never finished and left to be later revised. They remained in the truck for the time being however as they provided a nice spot to mount everything temporarily.

Next on the agenda was glassing the stock dash bezel to accomodate the 12.1" Lilliput as well as a spot for 3 air gauges used to monitor the air ride. The dash bezel had a wooden frame built and spandex stretched across before layers of glass were added.

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Hours of sanding later the bezel was ready and shot with a hi build primer.

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Some studs were epoxied into the back of the bezel, and the monitor was bolted in and finally installed into the truck!

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**Dluvr22** · 02-28-2012, 04:07 PM

This is exactly what I've wanted to do with my install however I do not have the skills in fiberglassing to put my 12 inch Lilliput in the dash.
Hint: Can someone help me out or offer some pointers?
I would really appreciate it.
thanks
EDC

**megalomania** · 02-28-2012, 08:37 PM

Originally Posted by Dluvr22

This is exactly what I've wanted to do with my install however I do not have the skills in fiberglassing to put my 12 inch Lilliput in the dash.
Hint: Can someone help me out or offer some pointers?
I would really appreciate it.
thanks
EDC

A good majority of the techniques used in building my dash bezel were picked up off of this thread on s10forum: http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f26/te...nd-two-208071/

I had to use fiberglass to create my bezel due to the many curves, and the size of the screen. In a fullsize truck like an Avalanche I'd personally suggest using something like Fusor to bond the plastic bezel of the screen into the dash bezel. In the end it would be much simpler for you, and much less work in my opinion. Without knowing exactly what it is you are trying to do though it's hard to suggest exactly which route I'd take. Perhaps you could show a few pictures of how you want everything? I'll be glad to offer some insight!

**Dluvr22** · 02-29-2012, 04:32 PM

Here's the link to my worklog.
It is still a work in progress but I am getting there.
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/work...avalanche.html
The 12.1 Lilliput monitor you are using. Where did you get that?
Is it the one that used to be in the mp3car store
does it have a case or did it come without one?

**Randallflagg** · 03-25-2012, 12:21 AM

Looks great in the dash, you can always tell when it's that clean that you really did spend hours sanding and painting it. How about some day shots of the dash, and where are you at now?