Dezined

EDIT: I've since updated this after getting a new car. Version 2.0 starts at post #26


I was gonna go the carputer route, but with how awesome android tablets are these days, I decided to integrate one into my radio area. The PO already butchered the middle dash vents, and moved the stereo up there, so I just had to get the HVAC controls moved.

It took a lot of finessing, but here's what it looks like. I was lucky and didn't have to extend anything. The electrical wires, vacuum lines, and hot/cold cable had enough slack. I did have to sacrifice the light socket to get the faceplate skinny enough, but I will remedy that with an LED strip soon enough. I'm also going to fold the sides of the hood to be flush with the HVAC faceplate, add some texture and repaint.



This is the bracket that holds up the whole unit. I originally used velcro to attach to the bracket, and liked it, so left it there.



Onto the tablet mount. Here is the stock radio bezel cut down to allow a piece of ABS to be flush mounted to the back.



I took a piece of 1/8" ABS and cut it down to fit flush to the back of the radio bezel. After a lot of measuring, I got the cutout for the tablet done, and attached a piece of felt to the back with some 3M adhesive, since the tablet will be against it.



Here is the ABS and bezel attached and ready for the tablet cage.



I spent a lot of time walking stores trying to find something to make the sleeve for the tablet out of, but wasn't very successful. I had a spare tower face for my desktop that had black perforated steel fan covers, so I grabbed one of those, and it was the perfect size. Here it is cut down and folded with help from some steel and a vice.



Since I didn't want my tablet rubbing against the perforated steel, I took a hard plastic file container thing (I have no idea what it's called) and cut it up to provide soft edges where the cage would touch the tablet. The plastic wasn't taking the adhesive, so the various pieces are held together with maskers tape. I wanted the bolts to be uniform when looking at it from the front, so I used the holes in the steel to line them up.



Here is everything put together. You can see a bulge in the top of the radio bezel from the screws being too high. That has since been remedied. The cage with the plastic in it along with the felt hold the tablet nice and firm. I cut holes in the plastic for the power/volume buttons so they wouldn't be constantly pressed, as well as at the headphone jack so I had room for the plug.



And finally, here is a picture of it in the car. The screws will be painted red to match the ongoing theme in the car. The tablet is powered by a cigarette adapter. I had to get the official Samsung one since it would charge like it was plugged into AC power, instead of trickle charging like most car power adapters. Only set me back 13 bucks. Since I can't get to the power and volume buttons, I've setup everything using an app called Tasker. It will allow you to set up actions based off of different events. Root is needed I believe. Also I have GMD Gesture Control which gives me system wide gesture capability so I don't have to try and touch some of those small icons for things like going back, searching, or launching apps.



Well, anyway, this is it. It's still a little rough, and needs finishing touches. I'm thinking about beveling the edges of the ABS where the tablet cutout is. Maybe some other things...need to drive around with it for a while, see how it does.

soul.justice

Nice fab work.

jaybdaboat

I need mine to be able to ****** out when I get out. But this is niceeeee.

Dezined

I hear ya. I was looking for a mostly permanent route. If need be, I can still take it out with only 4 screws.

Thanks for the compliments fellas.

G-LOW-13

That sure is one hell of a job, really nice work. Pretty good idea might I add.

BigKeg

Nice fab ...can you put more pics of the thing you made for the HVAC...and I know your radio was done by the PO ...but can you put pics of that up too...

Panther1

Good job! What kind of tablet did you wind up using? As BigKeg said we need more pics. Even if the po hacked up the dash (and not saying he/she did) the radio has to be moved somewhere for this install. Measurements, at least on the hvac hood would be greatly appreciated also and again Good Job man.

lunati397

im doing the same thing just for my dash instead it beats buying 10 gauges and I can data log and ajust my tune with it also

yours looks very clean

Dezined

Thanks for the compliments. The tablet is a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0. I thought it was going to be small at first, but after making the cage, and dealing with the radio bezel, I think it's the best size. I imagine any 7 to 9 in tablet will work fine, just have to get the height and width of the viewable screen, as well as the unit itself, and make sure it will fit behind the bezel.

I will get some more pics up this week. I thought the original pics I put up was overkill, but I guess not. As far as factory parts I had to hack up, the radio bezel got cut, the shift plate did as well, and upper and lower console pieces had to be trimmed down. This wasn't hard to do since just about all of the plastics inside the car have been messed up by the PO at one point or another.

I'll also put a shot up of the radio location. It's mildly embarrassing because I haven't gotten to that yet to clean it up, and he hacked it pretty bad. But maybe I'll get some ideas from you guys once you see the pics.

Here's what she looked like before I started. This is how I bought it. You can see the center vents cut out and the deck put in there.

BigKeg

My idea was to run with a tablet like you......But I was trying find out, if I could use the tablet to control the HVAC...and in the center vents put my pioneer EQ ...I would run the head phone jack from tablet to the in put of the EQ..The EQ has 2 channel in and 6 out with a separate one for bass...sents its passive, all speakers would need a amp...With the EQ I would have front/back & side to side. ( bal/fad )...The EQ is also half den..so it might fit better in the vent location...

Another idea was to take the rear view mirror down and put a GPS uint on instead of mirror/glass..but I haven't seen one with a input..I want to be able to hook a rear view camera up to it...I know with the tablet I could get GPS on it ...I just dont want to look down at a map on the screen ...by having it up on the mirror mount, I wont have to take my eyes off the road...

travis401

iTrader: (1)

im lovin the placement of the HVAC controls. ive been brainstorming ideas of ways to get the radio up higher and i think i just found the way to go. do you have any interference problems with the HVAC controls and the stick shift?

Dezined

BigKeg, I wanted to do the same thing, lose my deck and run off an eq. That's one of the reasons my tablet isn't centered vertically in the radio bezel. I was going to put an eq under it, or at the very least the name of my car. With mounting and everything, it works better higher because it gives me just a little more clearance for the HVAC.

The HVAC is actually nicer I think where the ashtray was. It's more natural to reach to it. And no, the stick doesn't get in the way. You adjust them so little, you either reach to the left of the shifter or the right. It's no burden at all.

I looked into running the HVAC with the tablet, and there just wasn't a way to do it that wasn't super involved. If I were to go that route, I'd just build a carputer with a rasperry pi or the like, and do it that way. One of the reasons I like these cars is if something goes out, you're not checking 12 different systems to find the problem. So manual heater controls will work great for me.

Putting the deck in where the center vents are is a good idea in my opinion. There's enough room if you are willing to trim back the air conduits. The PO in my car hacked them up, and tried to cover them with dynamat (he used dynamat to repair most things he broke in the car...sigh). Also, being in the dash like that, I have had no issues with a bouncing dash messing up like cd play. Once I find a new dash tho, it's going out, and I'm getting my vents back. Will just run my tablet off another amp since my tablet is my media library too.

jaybdaboat

How can I get a plastic tray like the one you used to hold your tablet?

N_da_Mood

Wow that looks real nice, good job. I like the idea of using a tablet in the console. Now if we could just use it as a car radio itself. But good job it looks great

Dezined

The black cage is actually perforated metal. The clear plastic piece I have inside the cage is plastic file keeper I found at Office Depot. This isn't the exact one, but it's close enough to give an idea http://www.officedepot.com/a/product...t-Case-Letter/ If you take your time with the measurements and bending, you can get the metal cage dimensions close enough to the tablet that you wouldn't need the plastic, you could just use another piece of felt.

Dezined

Thank you. What do you mean car radio itself? With an EQ and a 4 channel amp to run the speakers, you wouldn't even need a deck. As far as an actual FM/AM radio, that would take some work to figure out. But as soon as I find a new dash, I'm planning on getting rid of my stereo all together.

I know I said I'd get more pics. Weather has been crazy up here, and this weekend I installed a taillight sequencing unit. Maybe this weekend I'll get things torn down a bit for better pics.

BigKeg

I have an older 80gig. Zune ...and it has a fm tuner...my Eq has a head phone jack on the front..I don't remember if it's a out or input...either way it doesn't matter...I could always get a headphone jack to rca and plug it in to the back of the EQ....

neeb_usmc

iTrader: (2)

Looks good

Dezined

This is true. I have an HTC EVO that has a tuner in it. My guess it that your 3.5 jack is input. I like having the added input so if someone gets in the car or I have music I haven't put on the tablet yet, I can just hook something up to it real quick.

N_da_Mood

I have the taillight sequencing unit on my Camaro. You will be very happy with the results.

Tibo

iTrader: (15)

Had you thought about using rivets instead of the screws?

jaybdaboat

I'm trying to come up with a way to slide my ipad in, it take a beating from my subs, get out and slide out.

But I gotta push my radio back somehow since it sticks out, and find a way to make it look stock.

My speakers ripped up my last case (how my ipad hung in my car)
So it's plan b

jaybdaboat

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Scosche-fi...Pad-2/20627889

I'm gonna try this. And slide it in the vents. Looks like its subwoofer proof too

Jim85IROC

iTrader: (2)

I can't believe I never thought of moving the HVAC controls there to make more room. That was a great idea!

Fordvette

love the work

Dezined

I realized I hadn't updated this thread in a while. I bought a new car, a 91 B4C RS, and decided to change a few things about my tablet install. I'll post more pics tomorrow night once I get in the garage and get dug into it again tomorrow.

I did the HVAC relocation again, but this time I grabbed the controls out of a bird because those have 3 lights instead of one that my two Camaros had. There was a little bit of an issue when I trimmed the sides down, the blower speed **** had to lose a mounting tab. I fixed that with a little JB weld.

They look better than the stock ones in my car. Also grabbed the shifter handle lol



Also, I decided to take this chance to NOT use a head unit. I finally had center vents again, and didn't want to lose them. I picked up a 4 channel amp, and a buddy of mine game me an old EQ he had. The EQ has a remote face (you can see it mounted with velcro above the radio bezel) and a 25ft cord. Once I find an overhead console wide enough, it's being run up the A pillar and mounted up there. Since my amp only has input for analog sound, I just used the headphone jack and an adapter to get sound into the EQ. From there, EQ takes care of my 2 amps. One for the 4 speakers in the stock locations, and another one for my sub.

Thanks to how the dash is, you can't see the cable coming from the EQ face


I had a real problem with the automation and ignition syncing. You can't just plug it in a cigarette lighter charger and call it done. One of my requirements of this was to turn on and off just like a head unit would. I solved this by making a custom charger that trickle charges the tablet when the car is off, and fast charges when the ignition is on. That was huge to do, as the tablet is really picky about switching power on the fly, needs to think it's been unplugged between each change. Had a friend help me on that one ; )

It's a mess, but it works perfectly. Also added a second USB plug for my phone.


Had to bleep a part of the photo just to keep my secret weapon a secret


After that, I added a permanent mount for my phone that hooks into the same charger. This was more for my convenience, and the fact that I really really hate cell phone car mounts. Since this picture was taken, I've added an NFC sticker to the inside of the mount, which as soon as I slide my phone into it, it sets off automation on my phone to provide a hotspot for the tablet and sync up calls and texts to the tablet. The tablet picks up on this automatically. I litterally have to do nothing besides slide the phone in the mount. I also set up a switch task with the NFC sticker so that when I pull the phone out, everything reverts back to normal.

Here's some shots of the mount. I get pics of it in the car tomorrow.



Ok ladies, that's it for tonight. Like I said, I'll be tearing it apart tomorrow to install an adapter I had to make today to add an external mic. I'm setting up tablet for full voice control. Then tomorrow night I'll post better about what I did with the HVAC and such. I know some of you were asking for measurements and more detailed pictures. I'll also post the amp rack and sub. They're both stealth installs, and I know someone will ask. I put them in a thread somewhere, but it's changed since then.

sidwyz

Can't wait for the finished product. Nice set up!!

Dezined

Ok, so here's a shot just to show I didn't have to cut anything other than the radio bezel and the shifter plate. Center vents are whole!



To do the HVAC relocation, there were only 2 things I had to do. The vacuum lines are glued up behind the heater vents above the bezel. To get enough slack to pull it out, I had to pull the lines off the adhesive. The second thing is the hot/cold door cable. This is a 91 I'm working on. The cable was too short to reach. Was nothing I could do. However, on my 88 sport coupe, the cable was longer by quite a few inches. I went ahead and swapped out the cables. I have no idea what other years it's like this on, so if you plan to do this project, keep that in mind.

As far as measurements for trimming down the HVAC, I can't really give any help on that. Since I have an automatic, the cable brackets for the shifter really take away any options for the angles I can set the controls at. You have a little more freedom on a manual. Decide what you will use as a hood to cover the top of the controls, then decide how much you want to trim down.

At first I used some flashing from the hardware store. No matter what I did though, I couldn't get paint not to chip. I've heard you have to treat it first, so I decided to go a different route.

Here's how I did the hood the first time.



To make the hood, I made a template out of cardboard first


Here are some shots of where I trimmed the HVAC for the hood. Right now I'm working on making a hood from a project box, and that required me to take even more off. Pics of that will have to wait until I'm done with it.






Last thing for tonight is just an update I did to the bezel. Redid the mounting with just 6 torx that match factory instead of that mess of bolts I had before. Also beveled the inside edge of my ABS to finish the look. I plan on taking the 2 middle screws out, and doing something with the space. Maybe cut out a camaro logo or bowtie, and backlight it with an electroluminescent panel. Haven't decided yet.


Alright, that's it for today. Making this new hood is still strung all over my dining room table, so more update will have to wait till tomorrow.

As always, if anyone has any questions, or want me to cover something I haven't yet, just lemme know.

ringo234

How big is the screen? Looks good does, it get the internet can it make phone calls?
what do you for a radio?
I have a 7" appradio in mine that is essentially my galaxy S4 phone which I have complete control of with it multi-touch screen.

Dezined

I gave up my radio. Never listen to it. My whole MP3 library is on the tablet. There are ways to add an FM receiver to the tablet, but I probably won't do it. 7 inch screen. I use an app to sync up my phone with my tablet, so I get my texts on the tablet. Calls show up on the tablet, I can dial out and answer them from it, but it still uses the phone for audio. Need either a bluetooth headset or car kit, or just pull the phone out to talk. I do the latter as I hardly get phone calls. Been tossing around making an adapter that feeds audio into the EQ from my phone so it is true handsfree. Just haven't seen the need yet.

Also yes, there's internet on the tablet. I use a NFC sticker in my cell phone mount to trigger it's hotspot function, and the tablet automatically connects to it when I turn the key on.

ringo234

I know what you mean about listening to the radio, the only time I use to mine is to listen to a ball game. If you plug your phone into the headphone jack you could make or receive calls using the the cars speakers.

Is your tablet easily removed, so you could take in the house to connect to your PC to add songs or movies. How much ram does it have, and can you add an SD memory card?

Dezined

My particular tablet has 8 gig onboard memory and a 32 gig card in it. It's a permanent installation, but with 3 screws I can take it out. Since it's a permanent install, I can't be unplugging and plugging stuff in. I thought about getting audio out of the charge port, but the benefits don't outweigh the cost.

BigKeg

Well ...I put my Escalade in the shop..and the dealership put me in a 2014 Cadillac SLR...and I thought you guys would like the dash..

Dezined

Not bad...I really wish I could pull off that kind of fabrication/engineering on my own. I wanted to see about plastic injection or vacuum forming, but I think I'll have to be happy with my Dremel and files.

BigKeg

It would be cool..to do in a 3rd gen...I just thought sents there no radio ..you have space in the dash, for somekind of glove box behind the tablet. .

Cadaver_Puncher

You should think about making kits for the hvac relocation . You could make some decent $$$ if you get it close to plug and play

Dezined

It's a good idea. But I haven't even finished mine yet. I'm still not satisfied with the hood for the HVAC. The trimming is different depending on what version of the HVAC you have, the hot/cold cable is longer in different years of cars. It's doable though. The only custom thing really is the hood, everything else is just cutting and trimming.

Dezined

I'm still playing around with how to do the hood for the HVAC. I really didn't like the metal hood, was too flimsy, and the paint didn't want to stick to it. I decided to go with a plastic project box for 4 bucks from Radio Shack. Same kind I used for my charger. I think I'll go this route for the final version, I like how it turned out. I WILL have to reinforce the plastic however, because over time it starts to bow a tad, and that changes the alignment of everything. Here are a few pics during the process. I was attaching the hood to the shift plate with moldable epoxy.



Another


Another

Dezined

Here are some pictures painted. Also, replaced the EQ with a slimmer unit with a preamp, which helped the sound coming from the tablet a LOT.

Here's with the project box. You can see the bow in the middle. I'll have to reinforce the top


Another


There is the new EQ. It's thin enough that I may try and put it in the radio bezel with the tablet. If I do that, I'll have to redo the cage that holds the tablet. I'm unsure what route I'll go. All the lights in my car are red, excluding the dome which is white, but the EQ shines bright blue. I'm gonna take it apart and see if I can't replace the LED/s inside it with red ones to match everything up.

sidwyz

did you connect the equalizer with the headphone jack from the tablet?

Dezined

Yup. I have a custom splitter I made that plugs into tablet. It's a 4 pole 3.5mm plug that splits to 2 3 pole plugs. One for cable to EQ, other for mic that's up in the visor for voice control on tablet.

aaron7

iTrader: (7)

So freakin cool, always thought about something like this in my other car but never saw it done!

What about deleting the HVAC and using solenoids or something to control it through the tablet? And your power seat controls? And headlights... ...

NufNuffZ28

iTrader: (10)

One question, as I have been thinking of doing this a while!

How can I power my 4 car speakers with this? I have 4 speakers(no sub or amps)

Would it have to be some headphone plug and then split?

Thanks for any help

aaron7

iTrader: (7)

You have to run an amp.

Dezined

aaron7 is right, you need an amp to power everything. No portable device like that will put out enough power to run the speakers adequately.

topj

sick thread indeed, wish i could fab something up like you but im thinking bout getting some kinda bracket or something above my ac controls to put my tablet, mayb a little swivel action too. you def inspired me tho that hvac relocation is sick!

Dezined

Share with us what you come up with.

Cadaver_Puncher

Love the hvac relocation.

Dezined

Thank you. One of these days I'll get off my duff and finish it.