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Loading ...Custom Car PC - Astra Coupe
davemark
The Car
OK where do i start , i have been with car PCs since 2000 but back then they were very basic custom made power supplies and bodged wiring and simple MP3 play back. Now in 2007 new products are constantly coming out for in car design. My Friend James started a forum called www.digital-car.co.uk which become a quick success, with now over 4000 Members dedicated to In Car Computers if you are thinking of going ahead with a car pc, the community at digital car will surely be able to help.
OK so what area did i look at first? Well the main area i wanted to get right was the dash, i wanted something that looked stock yet looked different , hard balance i know but i think i got there.
So first things first i went to source a spare dash for my car (i don’t recommend chopping up a decent looking one), i cut out the approx screen size. Mean wile i had taken apart a 8″ Touchscreen (www.linitx.com) I glued the front bezel into the dash ready for custom molding.
Next Came the filler, this is a very time consuming task but keeping at it i got somewhere eventually, Also i decided that i wanted the curve of console to match the dash so i filled in the standard clock display.
After Several hours of work, Sanding/Filling/Sanding Filling the dash started to look like something that i had in mind.
Mean Wile why the dash was drying, i started to think of PC location, i decided i wanted to keep everything up front to save running cables down to the boot so i started to look closely at my glove box which had this handy removable tray
I placed out some components, a 1.5 Ghz Jet way (Linix.com) M2 DC PSU (Linitx.com)
My first plan was to actually mount a Voom2 Enclosure in my glove box but as soon as i removed my glove box it was apparent that i did not have the depth needed, This did not stop me having that funky Voom2 Front, i custom mounted the front/drive caddy’s
OK the PC was complete, had a quick test fit in the glove box, notice on the above pictures i used the easy connector lead that comes with the Voom2 for easy removal from the car if needed.
The Next job was to blank of the whole to the right of the PC , i decided to do a bit of a custom mod there with a Blue LED Fan
Mean Wile my amplifier had turned up and it was to much of a temptation when i saw that it fitted in the bottom half of the glove box
OK so we are getting there now , PC is in amp secured in glove box , this glove box was getting heavy !!!!
I then started to finish of the wood pannels , i added one to block of the bottom amp and a quick test fit in the car.
I tryed to paint the wood panels but i never really like the finish of paint so i decided to cover them both in black speaker cloth which had a great result (WARNING STAPLE GUNS HURT IF USED WRONG!!!!)
It was defiantly coming along, mean wile the dash had a bit of a change, i decided i wanted to use the bottem din slot for a Volt meter + some extra switches so the bottem din got blocked of with a bit of ply
Time to get it all in the car , wireing wireing wireing
Ok then comes finished item , i added a grill to the 40mm Fan and painted the dash silver, added volt meters + spare buttons and it looked ok i even added a griffin power mate under the handbrake.
How ever i was not completely happy, the dash had started to show imperfections and looked a bit tacky, i decided to cover the dash in alacantra material which was the best move i could do , dash looks much more stock/classy, added some aluminum dials and job done.
Finial Pictures
Finial Thoughts
On the whole im very happy with the way the build has gone , theres a few hardware issues to sort out and some software troubbles but nothing majour the dash is due to be re done soon. im upgrading the bottom buttons to savage style but unfortuanly this will mean a full re trim. Only other future change maybe will be screen as in direct sunlight it can be hard to read.
Specs
Jetway 1.5 Ghz Mini ITX - Lintix.com
512 MB RAM - Linitx.com
80GB Laptop Harddrive - Linitx.com
M2 DC-DC CAR PSU - Linitx.com
DVD/CDRW Laptop Combo Drive - Linitx.com
Voom2 Case (hacked apart lol) - Linitx.com
8″ LCD VGA Touch Scree - Linitx.com
Tanks to -
www.digital-car.co.uk - UK Car PC Forum
www.linitx.com - UK based car pc parts suppler
Regards
DaveMark
Love the mod! Now if only I had a car…
Saw this on fleabay and thought of you http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Astra-G-Mk4-Car-Computer-CAR-PC-GPS-Satnav-MP3-carpc_W0QQitemZ280152345268QQihZ018QQcategoryZ1498QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Not a bad little earner
Hi Dave,
I’m planning to do some customising on my centre dash, too (no PC as for now). I’m hesitating between normal paint and leather cover. I love the way you had it covered with alcantara. Could you send me photos of that phase of the work? My specialist said it’s almost impossible to cover the centre dash with leather, since the fittings are so tight. Thanks for your help. Write to my email, please.
Peter
WOW, i find it amazing a simple mod to a PC so into a car its out of this world! Great job, patience and idea! Now do drive safe and sober to apreciate your mod ;).
Hi Dave
How much would you charge to do this for my Astra. Ill can supply the pc.
Regards
Greg
Hey People , Cheers for all the comments , please check out the new update blog , with a few changes i have made to the system
I got some great news , Custom PC are featuring this PC in the January issue of the magazine (Out End of November, odd i know lol)
So im really looking forward to that , i already had the photographer round which was great.
Cheers for All the comments
DaveMark
DUDE YOU GOT MY KEYBOARD IN PIC 6!
From the screenshots, it looks like you’ve got it set up as a SatNav. How is this done?
David
It used a USB GPS device unit that plugs into the computer , then useing gps software/front end on the pc , bingo you have sat nav
Regards
DaveMark
Very nice, and detailed tutorial. Lovin the install and the car, by the way, are you on MVOC.co.uk? For modified vauxhalls, there are one or two people there looking to sort out an in car pc. 
feel free to take a look on the site and again, nice job
which USB GPS Receiver did you use and which software?
Sup G!
Glad to see you stuck with Astra’s since you pranged your other one a few years ago.
What front end software are you using now?
hopefully not mediacar as that one gave me a right headache when I used it.
Just a couple of q’s left.
1: Why put the amp below the mobo? Surely when its blasting out the windows ur gona cook the HD and MOBO.
2: Why ain’t you doing this for a living lol. Seriously there is major monies in doin this stuff.
Frontend = Centrafuse
1. becasue it fitted, and had no issues with heat so far even blasting out full vol for a hour or so
2.i tryed but big companys can just buy bits in bulk, i dont have the money to start up
Regards
Dave
Love the mod. Very smart way of mounting the screen. Would you mind telling me how you get the center console out and what is the name of the filler you used to smooth out the dash?
How much to get one fitted in the same Vauxhall Astra Coupe?
07899951456
TO anser that question … i would have to say alot
parts alone are about £500 . then for me to do the custom dash your looking at £300 approx full fitting charge would be about £250 … but that depennds what ice you have at the moment as i have a amp and speakers that go with this system that cost about another £200, then last little tidy up bits , gps device etc cablest etc about £100
so total would be around £1500 for a same system … as theres so much custom work !
Regards
DaveMark