Need Input for New project...Shoulda Been A Vette..

[Deadbot1_1973]

http://www.msnusers.com/ShouldabeenaVette/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1

http://www.msnusers.com/ShouldabeenaVette/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=2

http://www.msnusers.com/ShouldabeenaVette/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=3

http://www.msnusers.com/ShouldabeenaVette/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=4

http://www.msnusers.com/ShouldabeenaVette/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=5

Ok, so here is the story. Saturday night I was coming home from a tractor pull in our area. My stereo died out and I could smell hot copper...thinking the obvious I yanked the stereo and continued driving. Within 2 miles I had flames coming from the dash in the area of the headlight switch. Ah the joys of the old '85 Chevette.

Today I spent the majority of the day sripping out burnt wiring and the ruined dash. No biggie as a friend of mine and i have been discussing Ricing it out for around a year now. I seem to have the perfect excuse. We will be building a custom fiberglass and polycarb dash in the next few weeks(on the weekends when I have free time).

The above links show the blank slate of a bare dash. I have a used mATX board with a semprom 2800+ and can buy enough parts to build a Carputer. I have no experience building one. I have built dozens of plain vanilla boxes and modded a few of my personal systems. I am asking for 2 types of input....

Style....do we go aircraft cockpit or do we go industrial?

Technical knowledge....any suggestions as far as the carputer system would be greatly appreciated..I really am at a loss as far as what type of hard drive, mounting systems for said hard drive, and so on. Also...am I better off buying one of the 12v atx power supplies or a power inverter to run a standard 110v one?


Thanks for your input and look forward to project: Shoulda Been A Vette.

[Captain Slug]

You need an automative DC-DC power supply that can regulate a spiking supply. It will protect the computer hardware from surges in the automotive wiring and will also automatically shut the computer down when the supply voltage is low (so that your computer won't eat you battery power when the ignition is turned off.)
http://www.logicsupply.com/default.php/cPath/40_63

You really don't need much in the way of hardware to play MP3 or even DVDs. Even a meager 600mhz socket 370 Pentium III will be plenty.

[Deadbot1_1973]

Thanks CS. Any suggestions as far as the dash itself? I'm leaning toward a wrap around style, integrating the center council into the dash. We are looking at a wire frame with a fiberglass shell. I'd kind of like to integrate the lighting and switches into a flat cluster. Thinking micro switches hidden behind a printed panel of polycarb would work. Are cold cathodes good with vibration? I can get them cheap and I think they would make good interior lighting.

As far as draining the battery, no worries. I plan on TOTALLY rewiring the car. there will be a main bus in from the battery that will spilt into a constant on and switched on bar. Most anything that could drain the battery will be tied into that switched bar. this includes the lights and anything I decide to do for stereo equip. No more forgetting the headlights on on those slightly rainy days.

[MechaWyvern]

I like the ideas! My first car was a Chevette, so I'm interested in seeing the final result. CC should do fine in a car, just make sure you bolt or mount them to something in the car so they dont flop around. What color is the car BTW?

[Deadbot1_1973]

It's currently the factory silver. It's getting a 3 part system with ghost flames in a silver base/blue top coat. I plan on getting custom vinyl graphics to use as stencils. Where the chromed chevette logo was will be filled and replaced with a painted "Shoulda Been A 'Vette" logo. I am talking with our shop mechanic about what needs to be done to reduce it to a one wire distributor and alternater, as well as the changes required for a small bit of turbocharger action...this is going to be the most pimped/riced out chevette ever.

Cap'n if you look in here again...I need to know what the best glue for joining polycarb is...we are going to make a custom folded stereo rack on the roof...cardboard first, then flatten and cut from one piece of poly.