Thread: Ford F6 Tornado Project Log

Hello Guys,
Finally a little more progress.

Well, on a recent trip to Bangkok, I deceided to pick up a Mac Mini, Core-Duo setup, 1.83gig, well, quite nifty for a Carputer.

The hardware a few posts up will be utilized for another project I am busy with, something for Industrial control-nodes

So, the Mini will have to do.

Here I have made the cutout in my Cubby, and glued a support brace in place, which will prevent the Mini from slipping back:



Testfit of the Puter....



and from behind....



Looking cosy in there, nice and level

Mounting the new VGA-CGA converter to drive the Ford stock color LCD screen, tested, and works like a charm....



And here is a close up of the Mini from behind, power- and on-control from the Carnetix fitted....



and a shot of the complete assembly from behind....



and lastly, from the front....



Just done a quick test of the unit in the UTE, works like a dream, shutdown controller functioning as claimed, all that remains now is routing of ignition control wire, and connection of LCD cable.

Let me know what you guys think.

I will post shots of it in action during the week.

Nice and stealthy, and if you do not open the Cubby, you won't know there is a very powerful and capable little computer fitted in there

Br,
MrBean.

a Small update:

I am not happy with the result from the stock Ford ICC LCD display, and yes, being able to use that would have made matters very easy, but the text quality is just to bad.

Using OBD tools, browsing the net to d/l updates etc is next to impossible, so I decided to temporary mount the Xenarc LCD in a convenient location.

Why temporary mount only? Well, it will be removed at a later point in time, when my dash is complete - I decided to embark on a project to built a complete TFT LCD-based dashboard, running of WinCE port on a Industrial based mainboard, eg Commell LV-677.

RPM and Speed will be dispalyed on there own LCD's, with a 3rd doing temp, oil press and turbo boost, as well as fuel level.

Anyway, that's a project on it's own, so here is what I did to fit the Xenarc.

Here is the standard Xenarc display stand:



remove the little screw in the head, like this......



and purchase a Nokia universal carmount kit.........on the left....



and fit the little screw in there...



and onto the back of the Xenarc LCD.....



and here.....



then mount the base of the Nokia stand in the UTE like this....take note that the original Nokia base had 4 holes, I removed the one to make it fit in a bit better from an aesthetics viewpoint....



and another angle.....



then bolt the 2 together.....



Making for a very easy to adjust, secure, vibration-free and safe/easy to read LCD.....



another one.....



I will post another few pics on the weekend with the door closed, and from another angle to show how viewable it is from the driverseat, and how easy and safe it is, being nicely in line with Instrument cluster.

Now to run the wiring to the MacMini located in the glovebox, then it's done

Well, I did not feel doing an indash mount of this LCD, when the next phase of the project will house everything in the original Instrument cluster.

Let me know what you think, I will post pics on the weekend of the setup operational.

PC have been working on the in-car ICC LCD, everything ready, just need rewire the Carnetix P1900 PSU 12V rail to the Xenarc, and connect the VGA cable

interesting location.. much safer than where mine is..

Micky, it looks bigger at this angle than it really is, I will post some better pics from the driversPOV on the weekend - or, better, I could pop over to you or vice-versa, so you can have a looky

It is in a very safe ;location though, as mentioned before, you only have to move your eyes, not tilt your whole head - less distraction, etc.....at least from my perspective.

I am curious about your progress to.

Lemme know if you have time, I can take a quick drive to you

Still owe you a spin too.....

Hello Guys,
Ok, finalized the installation today. Removed my Intrument Cluster and ICC to properly route all the cables, power to LCD, usb and signal to LCD, and the OBD-II usb cable.

Came out very nice, no hich-ups, and the screen works as expected. I powered the screen from the Carnetix P1900 Secondary Output, and all the noise on the LCD is gone - I had a similar issue with "noise" on the ICC LCD, and this is definately from the raw 12V (13.80V) from the battery, probably the alternator causing some ripple, picked up by the LCD.

Anyway, here;s a few shots from the driver's view, some with flash, others without, as it was getting dark outside, yes, only 17h15, but winter in Melbourne.

Instrument Cluster view......



LCD view, slightly off-center from Instrument Cluster...



and another one with camera flash on....



and a little further away, to give you a better perspective of how the LCD blends in" with the Instrument Cluster - I like it, very practical, easy to replace, do maintenance on, whatever, no bondo cracking etc....



ICC view, with stock Ford LCD.....



and here's a close-up of some datapoints I was reading on the OBD-interface to test functionality.....with the advanced Ford s/ware pack I bought from Autoenginuity, I can read a couple 100 sensors




Now to wait for Travroute to release Laptop Version 10 of Copilot SatNAv software, so I can upgrade my PDA's to use here - should be available already, will check in the week.

Let me know what you guys think.

Best regards,
Beanie.

looking good..

I got a bit of work done to mine the past few weekends, so i may have something to show soon..

i need to figure out how to power my screen too.. its running off the battery now and i am getting some bad flickering too..
I have to re wire everything anyway.. thats next weekends plan..
I don't think i can run mine off the power suply.. the 12v rail is pretty weak
May have to make some sort of inline filter.

Yep, it is definately the "raw" power in this case causing the ripple, I have confirmed this with both my Xenarc and the spare 8" LCD I have, as well as the ICC LCD.

Powering the 2 external LCD's of the Carnetix removes all traces of interference, which I am extremely happy about.

We could assemble you a filter circuit, made up of a regulator to keep voltage at 12V, and a few caps - that will take care of your issue, my solution was easy as the Carnetix have a secondary rail for that purpose.

I would luv to see your setup, keep me posted, we should meet up soon - you prolly doing exams at uni (at least my brother's son is), so I am assuming you too?

Keep me posted, would be nice to have a chat again.

Best regards,
MrBean

Ah, so finally my copy of CoPilot 10 for Laptop was delivered earlier in the week, Monday to be precise - thanx Andrew McGregor from Travroute, Kiew, Australia

I will now finalize the installation on the weekend, and start to design a decent aluminium-based docking bay for the MacMini - seems there is one or 2 out there, but none to my liking, so I will do my own.

Will keep you guys posted.

Br,
Beanie

Hey Beanie,

Keep up the good work mate. Impressive way you've mounted the screen using that bracket - very clever. Also like the glovebox install - it looks very neat as well. A coupla questions though....

Keen to hear how you've found the screen position after a few weeks of driving ? Also, would be good to see a photo that shows how visible the screen is from outside the car (i.e. looking in through the drivers side window with the door shut).

Originally Posted by mrbean_phillip

.....I am not happy with the result from the stock Ford ICC LCD display.......the text quality is just to bad.........Using OBD tools, browsing the net to d/l updates etc is next to impossible........

Lastly, referring to your comments above, I'm wondering if you have any photos of the PC running on the ford ICC via the VGA-CGA converter. I know you said it wasn't good enough, so I'd like to see some shots if you've got them....

Keep the updates coming mate.

Cheers,

Long.1