2001 Mustang

**cliffloehr** · 05-17-2006, 09:44 AM

You can make more room for the extra wires coming out the back of the PC by:

Cut the two plastic anchors
Remove the bracket (on the left side) and reinstall it, in front of the wire harness.

This gave me more then an inch of more space behind the PC.

**pyros** · 05-17-2006, 03:18 PM

Looking good.. can't wait to see that finished. I like the relocated defrost/fog/traction buttons and a/c.

You mounted your case (along with the fan) the same way I did... turned out great for me. Good luck

**tj!2k4** · 05-17-2006, 03:53 PM

Originally Posted by cliffloehr

You can make more room for the extra wires coming out the back of the PC by:

Cut the two plastic anchors
Remove the bracket (on the left side) and reinstall it, in front of the wire harness.

This gave me more then an inch of more space behind the PC.

Great tip!

**cliffloehr** · 05-18-2006, 03:40 AM

The screen came in today. It's an 8" 16:9 touchscreen (Provision PRTV805VT) off ebay The screen is thinner then most of the 7" screens and and has no odd shaped edges... all straight and square making it much easier to install. However... I made the stupid hole in the bezel too small and have to rework the whole thing. I also made the PC sit up too high and need to rework the mounting bracket.

Anyway, the screen is such a good fit and the extra inch makes a big difference! I'm SURE their will be more of you switching to this screen!!!

LESSON LEARNED:
Don't customize the bezel until ALL the components come in!

WARNING:
#1 While the screen is awesome! It is not with out some quirks! The VGA cable will not reach the back of the PC... and it is the wrong sex to plug directly into the computer anyway! It comes with a 6' extension, but I only need another 3 inches... (but thats another story)

#2 The screen had a bad connection (the red pin was not firing) after moving some wires around, I found the bad spot... it was inside the screen!

Since the connection was bad and the VGA cable needed a sex change operation anyway... I voided my warranty and copped it off!

#3 Two of the connectors (power and VGA) plug into jacks (inside the screen) that are the wrong size!!! The VGA uses 6 wires and has a 6 pin connector... but plugs into an 8 pin jack mounted on the main board! The power jack is the same way. I thought I'd never get the thing working again!

I finally did get it in the car for a silent run (no sound - just power) all is good (The screen fits and looks SO nice... I'll post some photos tomorrow.

**racerx3165** · 05-18-2006, 08:17 PM

Originally Posted by cliffloehr

I've been planning my CarPC for about 2 months and have already purchased all the hardware. Speciman inspired the design approach with his 94 Mustang. I'm in the process fabricating the case and hacking up my dashboard right now and thought it would be good to start a work log. The plan is to place the entire PC inside he dash where the radio was.

Hahahaha and i still havent got mine done

I need to get busy and find some money. Anyone have a money tree lying arond i can buy?

Looks great man im hoping this will get me back at it...

**tj!2k4** · 05-18-2006, 09:52 PM

When I saw the opening for the bezel's opening for the screen, I suspected that you were going with an 8", so I checked out the link to the screen you posted.

One of the things that would be of concern with that screen is the brightness of only 125 cd/m², especially when compared to the Xenarc's display brightness (w/ Touchscreen) of ~300 cd/m². From my experience in the coupe, the Xenarc leaves much to be desired in the way of visibility in the sunlight.

I realize that you are recessing the screen as far as possible, but even so I'd be very much concerned about how that particular 8" will pan out in a vert..

Edit: Interesting.. the first link you provided to the amamax.com site shows the brightness as 125 cd/m².. the eBay link shows the brightness as 350 cd/m2.. which is it now..? lol

**cliffloehr** · 05-18-2006, 11:56 PM

Originally Posted by tj!2k4

One of the things that would be of concern with that screen is the brightness of only 125 cd/m²

The manufacturer's website said brightness=350 and contrast=350 so I was not worried. After receiving the unit, the manual also agrees... Also, I was driving around today and it is fine. Of course on a sunny day, with the top down, any screen would wash out. In addition to recessing it in as far as I can, I was thinking of mounting it so it can tilt up-n-down.

With the top down, it reflects whatever is directly behind me.

After rebuilding the VGA connector inside the screen, I've been having some flickering problems today. So this evening I've been in-n-out of the screen several times trying to improve the connections... at the moment it won't get power at all. I'm so freaking mad about those stinking connectors being the wrong size! Why would a company do that in a "moble device"?!?

Uh Uh Uh, You didn't say the magic word !

Originally Posted by racerx3165

Hahahaha and i still havent got mine done

I've been pushing myself to finish. Actually I've had the VIA M10000 for over two years! I gave up on trying to build a MythTV (Tivo thingy) I've decided I am NOT a Linux man! So I eBay'ed most of the parts to convert the project to a car PC... I'm glad I did. if I can ever get the screen to work!

**racerx3165** · 05-19-2006, 10:52 PM

Well i got the power wire ran in my Suzuki and most of my time has been spent on that car

but i still plan on doing the Mustang PC for sure...

**cliffloehr** · 05-20-2006, 03:40 PM

After trying to fit it all together, I've determined the gap between the A/C controls and the DVD needs to be smaller. So I'll be redoing the mounting bracket when I return home.