Carputer on a Budget: 2002 WRX ver. 2.0

**SnowDrift** · 11-11-2006, 03:12 AM

After selling a pda on ebay, I ordered my touch screen. It's a basic lowend 7" lilliput. Does the job. I wished to go bigger, at least 8" wide screen, but wrx dashes are pretty cramped and a higher skill level would be needed. So it was decided to stick to the fundamentals for my first build.

While waiting for the screen to arrive, I relocated my head unit to the Subaru optional gauge pod on top of the dash. I bought this last summer hoping to get some gauges, but, you know, funding and all that. I should mention now that ALL my dash parts were bought on eBay. It's such a great resource for other people junk parts. When ever possible, I get extra parts in case I mess up, or need to return the car to stock form.

Relocation was a snap. I pulled all the wires of the hu down so they hang below the opening of the pod. Even the short radio ant. cable made it to the opposite side of the hu. I just need to go back when I'm done and adjust the high of the hu because I can see a gap on top, and the pod cover isn't exactly seated right. Plus, I got to do something about the unsightly gaps around the faceplate...

The second picture shows my vain attempts to hide those gaps around the edges of the faceplate. I've tried 3 times, and can't get it just right yet. I want to paint the trim bezel silver to blend in with the rest of the dash. That little thing alone has cost me lots of time and frustration. IF I can get it to fit, I thing it will pay off and look a lot better.

I plan(keyword here: plan) on putting a dvd drive where the factory cup holder is(behind and hidden). It'll be a shame to lose the only good cup holder, but with a screen just below there, I ain't gonna wanna have any liquids near there anyways. And the front usb hub may go in(behind and hidden) the blank piece next to the cup holder.

**SnowDrift** · 11-11-2006, 03:48 AM

Also in waiting for the screen to arrive, I dug out all my spare dash parts. The bottom of the center console was bought a long time ago. I don't know why, maybe I got a good deal? Might, might not need it here. You can see in one of the pics that I'm stripping the blue paint off of some parts I plan on using. I bought them blue from an ebayer I'm guessing didn't like it anymore. Got a decent deal for all that, and since it will all be sanded and painted, it all works out.

In the meantime, I'm also working on the computer. I removed the useless floppy drive, took the plastic panels off the case and installed windows xp. For a long while, I debated on the size of the hard drive. 10 gigs would probably be fine, but I have over 50 gigs of music. Not that I would need to listen to that much music at any one time, but what if I suddenly feel the urge to listen to Savage Garden? It's happened. Who knows what I or my passengers might feel like listen to. So I tried looking for one around 60-100gb, laptop or desktop. I ended up dismantling an external one I really don't use, just to cut cost. It will be replace later. The carputer on the other hand needed one now.

**LaxPlaya8513** · 11-11-2006, 10:05 AM

hey, An, i have 2 extra 80gb laptop 2.5" HDDs, with the 3.5" conversion wires to make it work with a standard PC... why didn't yah tell me you needed one? i'll prolly talk to you later anyhow

*edit*
and oh, why were you posting at 4am anyways?

**SnowDrift** · 11-11-2006, 10:35 AM

Originally Posted by LaxPlaya8513

and oh, why were you posting at 4am anyways?

Sorry. It was the geek side of me coming out(sorry if I offend any geeks out there). If you only knew...

**LaxPlaya8513** · 11-11-2006, 07:30 PM

lol, nice

**SnowDrift** · 11-12-2006, 01:56 AM

Next step for me was to run the wires and cables. The screen still hadn't arrived yet. I already had a 4 gauge power wire, rca wires and ground in my car left over from my subs so all I needed to run was a vga cable, 2 usb cables and the wires for my "back-up camera."

I stripped and removed most of the car's interior. Wrx's are pretty easy to work on. Nothing fancy holding things together, things just pop off. Plus mines a wagon which makes things even easier.

**SnowDrift** · 11-12-2006, 02:13 AM

The vga was a 20 footer I bought at a local computer shop for $16.99+tax, that went along the passenger side of my car. The back-up cam wire ran alone the same side. It's really a security camera I picked up at BJ's a few years back for like $40. It doesn't have a very wide viewing angle, but it does have night vision. It even has a mic so I can hear the screams of people I back up over. I've test mounted it in a few places, but haven't decided on a final location yet because of its limited viewing angle.

**SnowDrift** · 11-12-2006, 03:05 AM

The usb cables weren't quite as long as the others, so I ran those straight down the middle of the car. I regret buying them because they have 2 male ends so to connect my monitor or usb hub, I will need a male to male adapter. More $ spent. Later on, I ordered a 10ft usb extension from ebay, which cost less than each usb cable and won't need an adapter. 10ft would've been plenty long to go straight down the middle. I even ran my front keyboard wire through the middle too. I might need a short extension, but I have plenty of those lying around.

**SnowDrift** · 11-12-2006, 03:24 AM

Later on, I will need to run the 10ft extension(trying to decide if I should/need to order another one or find the m-m adapter) along with a serial-to-usb adapter with a short extension. The serial connects to my utec computer. While under there, I decided to move my utec remote wire too. It use to be on the center console but is now in a safer home on the dash where it can't be accidentally pushed. I also finally removed my sirus sportster antenna.

And that completes this wire running episode. Hope to see you again next time.