I've only seen three other Camaros have this done, so I was wondering if anyone else has seen any other cases of this? I'm almost finished with the "Get it working" stage, then I need to entirely revamp and make it look good instead of ghetto, but this is the jist of the project:

The hardware:
1ghz Via Epia ME6000 Motherboard
256MB RAM
6gig HD (Upgrading after I know this all works flawlessly)
10.5" Touch Screen LCD Screen

The Capabilities:
Entire MP3 Collection Playback (No More CD's, No More Skipping!)
GPS Navigation Software
Wireless Internet ( drive through a neighborhood and chat with friends )
Cell Phone Integration
Voice Recognition
DVD-rom ( Movies, anyone? )
Games ( Halo 2, maybe? )

Capabilities that I'm not using:
OBD-I/OBD-II Interface ( can't find software for a OBD-I v6 )
Car Alarm Integration (certain alarms actually interface with Windows OS)
Rear Backup Video Camera ( no need.. )

And lastly, the pictures... before I show them, please PLEASE understand this is NOT the final version and NOT the "show" version. This is the "get it working to make sure this will even work" version, I'm just excited and want to show the work off a little bit. Everything was done to get it done, after it's been running for a few months it'll be redone to look good. And now, the pictures:

The computer:
http://mifbody.com/files/p4290750.jpg

The touchscreen's bezel:
http://carpc.meissenation.com/bezel_painted1.jpg
http://carpc.meissenation.com/bezel_painted2.jpg
http://carpc.meissenation.com/bezel_painted3.jpg
http://carpc.meissenation.com/bezel_painted4.jpg

So if the touchscreen is going where the radio goes, where is the radio?
http://carpc.meissenation.com/drivers_view2.jpg
http://carpc.meissenation.com/faceplate_installed3.jpg
Custom wired a 9 foot extension cord for the faceplate of the headunit. The faceplate is mounted in the sunvisor, while the rest of the headunit is in the glovebox bolted down.

For more pictures of the progress along the way, check out http://carpc.meissenation.com/

So what do you guys think? PLEASE NO FLAMES, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ONLY PLEASE!

 

That's awesome. I have personally never seen one in a camaro, but I'll be getting my first one soon, and I'll be putting one definately. I'm a big computer lover. I have a friend who installed one in his truck though. If anyone wants a short video showing you a little bit of how to do some of it, go over to www.infonomicon.org, go under video and it's in there. He's the host of an internet radio show (as am I, just a different one).

 

just a note, I had a car-puter in my 92 Iroc Z... when you have the head unit running the sound for the computer, you are losing sound quality, it is best to get a high quality sound card such as a sound blaster audigy 2 and run the 5.1 or 6.1 directly to an amp and directly to the speakers, you'll notice a MUCH higher sound quality... but good work!!! I like it!

 

i'll definitely keep that in mind, I want to do that but right now I'm doing it the cheap way to make sure it works, once it's up and running for a few months I'm gonna revamp it and finish it all up.

 

After you get it put in, you can run a tuner or diagnostic program on it also. I am working on this same set up also.

 

Well, if I had a v8 or an OBDII, it'd be a lot easier. Unfortunately, finding a diagnostic program made for an OBD-I v6 is either a lot harder to find, or much more expensive. Otherwise I'd be all for it, definitely.

 

I hear that.
That is one of the reasons I am doing it. No need for the laptop in the car.

 

Finally found the painted pictures that I had taken awhile ago...

http://carpc.meissenation.com/bezel_painted3.jpg
http://carpc.meissenation.com/bezel_painted1.jpg

 

Thats pretty damn awesome man, Id love to have somethingl ike that in my car and run diagostics software, GPS and other things, Great job on the head unit also, I have no idea how to even do a project like that. If you dont mind, how much did this cost?

 

did you use a small form factor board? are u puttin all the pc stuff behind the screen?

 

As far as cost goes, it's hard to pinpoint exactly how much because I'm on my second motherboard already, but here's the basic run down that I spent thus far:

First motherboard's system:
- $170 for 10.5" touchscreen kiosk system [motherboard, components, & touchscreen] (was used in madison square garden)
- $30 for PCMCIA wireless ethernet card
- $30 for USB to IDE adapter kit (to plug a DVDrom in via USB)
- $30 USB 4 port hub

New motherboard's system, only using the harddrive and touchscreen LCD from old:
- $180 for new motherboard, Via Epia Mini ITX ME6000 motherboard
- $30 for USB wireless ethernet adapter
- $5 for a 1.5" to 3.5" IDE adapter plug (to connect the laptop harddrive to a desktop IDE plug)

As for the headunit, I spent maybe $20 total, that I'm not too sure about. I used 9 feet of ethernet cat-5 cable, 4 RJ-45 jacks, and two male to male adapter plugs so I could plug it all together. The fun part about the headunit is that to eject a CD (normally) you have to press a button for the faceplate to flip down (thus unplugging) and then press the eject button. In this case, since the faceplate is not in place, I had to krazy glue a piece of wood to cover the pin that detects the faceplate being in the flipped down position, and I to eject a CD I have to unplug the faceplate (as it would if it flipped down). Otherwise, all the sensors the headunit has thinks that the faceplate is plugged in and faceup.

The board is a Mini-ITX, 6" by 6", tiny. Since it's such a small system, I'm probably going to mount it to the back of the screen. There's not much space in that little hole I created, I had to cut the plastic support away that the stock radio would've bolted to just to create more room.

Thanks for the kind compliments guys.

 

bumpin'.

 

Aye, if Mike by chance reads this, hit me up on here. I'm having email issues recently, so I can't reply to your message about carPCs, and I don't know what your username is on cz28.

 

if you get a sound card it will be a hassle to keep the card in the pci slot wont it, you can just get a usb sound card.

 

Well, at the moment the sound card that I have is built right into the Via Epia motherboard that i'm using. We'll see how that works, and if it doesn't work that well I can always upgrade to a USB card.