Thread: 2001 Mazda Protege

Originally Posted by dbzeag

I am a virgin to the carputer, so please be gentle

I have been wanting to build one for years. With the help of some friends and this wonderful site, my dream is coming to fruition.

I used an interest-free loan through work to fund the parts of the carputer. I felt this will help my credit rating (the payments come directly out of my paycheck) and I can get better parts. The loan was interest free only if you used the money for a computer purchase, so this sounded like the perfect excuse.

I had some goals for this installation:

I would like a bass you can feel for songs such as trance, heavy metal, and other bassy genres. This would then be an upgrade of the sound system.

The main goal was to not do any major fabrication work or permenant work on the car itself. Current useability of the car had to be maintained, such as large trunk space and full range of interior space and function.

Another goal was that the system had to be "portable". The system had to be relocatable for my next car so I wouldn't have to spend the money again. I think my next car, the Mazda3, has the same speaker hole sizes, and everything. I will just recycle this system into that car when that time comes.

The system will also have to last through wide ranges of temperature extremes (110F to -40F) as well as bumpy rides. I have upgraded my suspension so it rides a bit rough.

The hardest part of this whole thing was not the computer part, but the audio part. I had no experience in car audio so I was starting from scratch. This will be a lot of fun when I start building it up.

For construction ideas to realize my goals, I saw this for the sub and amp box in the back.

http://photos.imageevent.com/bullacu...ke/huge/02.jpg

Thanks for this great setup bullaculla of www.mazda3forums.com

This design is good because with sub grills, it is very durable if thigs are in the trunk, the fold dwon seats are still usable, and it looks very clean. There will be ample room in that box for the amp, sub enclosure, sound card, and the like.

Also on mp3car I saw Pudge's Tiberon install in its first permutation.

http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/5553/old19dw.jpg

http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/6831/oldoff2bp.jpg


This makes it easy to fabricate. No permenant marks to the car. The case can be tailored for my uses. Easy security with the removable monitor. Change angles on the monitor for sun. Very good starting plan.

Now onto my parts list.

I had a spreadsheet filled with parts and links to online stores on where to get them for ages. I kept refining and tweaking them as I found better deals or better part options. I think the final list I have come up with should suffice.

Car Audio ----

Kicker KX650.4 amp
Alpine SPX-177R Component front
DAYTON RSS265HF-4 sub
Clarion EQS744
Knukonceptz 4ga Amp Kit
Positive terminal
In-Line Waterproof ANL Fuse Holder
Fused Distrobution Block


Computer ----

pqi TURBO 1GB 2-3-2
Pioneer DVR-K05 DL Slim DVD+/-RW Drive
VIA EPIA SP13000
Fujitsu MHT2080BH
Lilliput 629GL-70NP
M2-ATX Power Supply
Slimline CD to IDE adapter
SATA Power Adapter
GlobalSat BU-353 Water-Proof USB Mouse GPS Receiver
4-port USB hub
USB extension

The total for the parts came to about $1728 after taxes and/or shipping. I am sure that's going to climb, but I feel the parts I have are quality.

How does that look to everyone? Any other thoughts or suggestions? Thanks for any input and thank you very much for all of your time and insight and help through these pages!

dbzeag :
I have a 99 protege and am in the same situation as you. I want to be able to remove the carputer and still use my trunk.

I'll be removing my stock head unit and using a dbl din mount kit to mount my screen. As for my trunk space, I am using both rear qtrs. The passenger side will hold the the carputer and the drivers side will hold my deep cycle battery. I built a new stronger floor for the trunk aswell.

I was able to run a pair of 4 awg under the carpet on the drivers side to fuel my 2 400wt rms amps aswell as my 600wt rms amp.

Let me know if you need any help or have any questions.
I'm a car audio installer and protege expert.

Originally Posted by 99blkprotegelx

dbzeag :
I have a 99 protege and am in the same situation as you. I want to be able to remove the carputer and still use my trunk.

I'll be removing my stock head unit and using a dbl din mount kit to mount my screen. As for my trunk space, I am using both rear qtrs. The passenger side will hold the the carputer and the drivers side will hold my deep cycle battery. I built a new stronger floor for the trunk aswell.

I was able to run a pair of 4 awg under the carpet on the drivers side to fuel my 2 400wt rms amps aswell as my 600wt rms amp.

Let me know if you need any help or have any questions.
I'm a car audio installer and protege expert.

I was wondering about that "venting" on the left side of teh car's trunk. I was afraid of covering that if that was important.

Thanks for the help, I know I will need it!

Also, could you tell me how to install the front speakers and speaker wires? Thanks!

PS - My computer will be mounted in the dash. The "case" is what the monitor is mounting on. Since our stereo bays are so shallow (thanks Mazda), the "case' will stick out a bit. Since the monitor will be on top of that, it shouldn't be too much of an issue. When will those nanos come in!!??!!?

How about "Proteputer" for the name of the project? I lack creativity.

I have a 2000 Mazda Protege, and successfully built a carputer inside. I had it resting in the trunk with wiring from the engine through the cabin, under the little plastic thingies that you can lift up near the door.

I had to sell it [carputer] a while back since my transmission went but I'm about to restart this project, so if you have questions, let me know.

So the online store I purchased the Alpines (sonicelectronix.com) has had them on backorder for so long they graciously gave me the opportunity to upgrade for free. I am going to try and see if they let me upgrade to MB Quart PCE126 set. These seem like great speakers and they will be cheaper to get down to the price level I was sold the Alpines.

I have picked up a replacement dash bezel and glovebox because of what I found out about the Lilli and my original plan.

I was originally planning on having a "case" that contained the mobo, PS, and HD in the dash and the Lilli mounting on the face of the "case". Since Via sucks in getting the nano boards out, I had to get the Eden board. The problem is that the Protege's dash is comparibly shallow. There is a support bar for the dash only 6" from the opening straight back. The "case" was going to construct was going to have to stick out about a half inch or more. Well when you add the mount for the Lilli on that, you are sticking the monitor out about 3" from the dash. At that point the monitor is interfering with me controlling the climate controls and the wiper stalk on the steering.

The beautiful but expensive and long way to fix is to embed the screen into the dash and put the computer in the glovebox. I am worried about the abuse the monitor will have when exposed to the extreme climates it will be exposed to.

Maybe I will make a false "case" and mount it in the dash as deep as I need, then house the computer parts in the glovebox anyway. Then I will ahve to functionality of the screen I want with the security of the computer locked in the glovebox. Hmmmmm......

Thoughts?


PS - I will be trying to get pics up here every so often.

PPS - Please answer with thoughts here. "Egg" question on Lilliput

A view after I got everything hooked up to test. This living room would be my "test lab" for the time being



Again, I am not the neatest houseguest


The inside of my test case


Closer on the inside. Holy cow that eden board is small!


OMG!! It booted!!!

Here is the "egg" for the Lilli. I am thinking about splicing the wire into a Moelx connector and sticking it right into the M2-ATX. Should provide me with the 12V I need to run it and it will power it with a fused, clean 12V.


Close up of the "egg"


Inside the "egg". This will just add another fuse to the line for safety


The underside of the "egg". My original idea was to unsolder one side of the wires, then solder the Molex connect to it, but that's too risky and too much work for the desired effect.


My portable DVD burner. It was the same price as the DVD Rom I wanted, so I decided why not.


Another view. This includes the adapter to fit a standard IDE cable.

Originally Posted by dbzeag

I am a virgin to the carputer..............

I hope you are.... I can tell you from experience, semen is not a good thing to be shot inside of computer......



Peace,

Rafster


P.S. Good start... looks like this will be a nice install.

Originally Posted by Rafster

I hope you are.... I can tell you from experience, semen is not a good thing to be shot inside of computer......



Peace,

Rafster


P.S. Good start... looks like this will be a nice install.

hehe, thanks. I will keep posting pics as the process goes on.

And I will keep that in mind and wear a rubber next time