Carputer Project

[Guest EGOXRT]

One single coat of plastic primer is all you need, then paint.

[MrBean]

Thanx Mate.

I will post a few pics later- it's prepped and ready for primer

[MrBean]

Hello Everyone,

@Egoxrt: I've dropped the fascia off at a bloke just down from our Office in Rooks Rd, Vermont - very amiable, and friendly - knows his stuff too. I asked him to shoot adhesion promoter, and 2 layers of primer, and I will then finalize prepping ready for color - well, he told me it was best his bloke did everything from hereon in - they are the Pros, which I readily concede to, and I should have it by Friday arvo.

Once they apply the promoter, and primer, and I should sand and break through on any of the multitude of edges, we'll have a problem, and will need to start from scratch - so best those that know better deal with it - one of my intitial goals was a factory-like finish on this project - so be it. A bit exxie at the quoted $150-$180, but I will not be able to do it myself for a lot less, with no guaranteed results.

Spraypainting is an art, and I do not have a decent compressor to start with, so....one of those things I will acquire over the next year.....

I've asked him to do the color in high-gloss enamel, as it would be a lot more durable than that damn waterpaint Ford used on the silver interior bits. I will have all those bits and pieces redone in high-gloss - should look pretty decent too.

Anyway, small update: It's 04h00 in Melbourne - we had a scorcher yesterday, with the temp hovering on 43 deg Celsius - and it is still only below 30deg C - damn, me can no sleepy :(

So, small update instead:

Ages ago, I've managed to win this very neat industrial stainless steel trackball/mouse on Ebay - if memory serves, I think I paid a total of $39 AUD including shipping - what a nice bargain. It is pretty heavy, I would estimate close to 1kg - maybe slightly less, 850grams or so.

The reason I need this as a controller - well, as you know from reading some of my earlier comments, I hate fingerprints all over an LCD, and would therefore not use a touchscreen. Another good reason is the additional glare introduced when adding this layer in fron of your LCD panel - no use having a very expensive transflective panel just to negate all the benefits with a touchscreen.

So, here we are - this will be used in conjunction with my dual-rotary encoder and Ultimarc U-HID device, to ease navigating around Centrafuse, and other applications in general should I so wish. I also have a Logitech Dinovo mini.......

Anyway, thos efamiliar with the high-end Falcons here in Land Down Under will know that they come with a cupholder with a spring-loaded lid - I have somewhat modified mine (ok, it's a spare one I had) to accommodate this mouse.

Had to glue the parts together firmly (here I could use ABS/Acetone) as it worked pretty well - the cupholder is some exotic mixture of plastics, so I had to use some bondo after, and a bit of spot-putty - looking good - at least to me it does, from where I started....

and

and

Below, just a few shots of the prelimanary fitting of the mouse - I should be able to finish this off on the weekend (after getting my fascia from painting-house) and drop it off with them on Monday next.

and

For those that don't know, this cupholder is very conveniently located between the gearlever on my ZF 6-speed, and the console lid - so, if I rest my arm (normal driving position) on the console-lid, my hand naturally is located on the trackball.

I will take a few pics on the weekend with it test-fitted (and before painting) to show what I mean.

Feedback/critisism as always welcome.

Talk later.

Edited 11/01/10 05:28 PM by MrBean

[MrBean]

Hello Guys,

Well, I'm a happy man. After lots of effort, thinking, skimming and planning, my fascia for the UTE is ready!

What made this particular bezel so difficult to mod to fit my 8.4" LCD is simply it's not ABS, nor any (other) friendly engineering plastic that will take the normal glue/acetone/plastic welding that is the standard nowadays.

I have received it back from the Paintshop, and the result is amazing - also, I had them paint it in the exact same high-gloss enamel as my UTE's exterior, as opposed to the (money-saving) cheaper matt-finished factory silver unit - the result is a much more durable/tougher finish, and will not simply wash-off if you apply a little acetone, like the factory paintjob did.

Before I post a few pics, just 2 shots of how my LCD is fitted to a custom frame I made for the bare NEC LCD panel I picked up a while back - it's transflective, industrial quality, and very good, and the best size you can possibly fit to the Ford Falcon fascia while retaining good OEM-finish appearance. I did fit a 10.4" earlier, but the end result was crappy, flimsy, and non-transflective.

So, I got the 8.4" and made a custom frame, and very good mounting system - I can remove it in uder a minute, and refit in the same time - and you can literally rip the bezel apart, but you won't dislodge the LCD

Good, and much better than those hot-glued rush-jobs - yes, sometimes there's no other option, but still.....

Here you go:

and

And now, a few shots of the fascia, completely bare, then with buttons fitted, and finally with LCD bolted in place - please don't think the "artifacts" defects - with the high-gloss finish, light is playing all sorts of tricks from reflections et al - this bezel is the best I've seen yet on any modded Falcon fascia.

and

and

and

Now, next is a few with the 2 button-panel boards and buttons fitted, as in the default factory config:

and

and

and

and then next, a last one showing the LCD snug and cosey:

Be honest in your feedback and critisism, do you guys reckon this looks OEM, or not? In real life, it looks stunning, with very little (highly invisible) defects - the finish is actually better than my OEM unit, and has to be seen in real life to be appreciated.

I may attempt another one down the line, maybe with a 12.1" transflective in portrait mode, and that will be after I complete the AVR micro that will then replace the Interior Command Center (ICC) unit, and free up that space for the carputer and LVDS-connected LCD.

Let's see how it goes.

Next to follow, will be finalizing preparation of the "cupholder-turned-mouse-holder" and having it painted early next week.

Feedback appreciated!

Kind regards,

Beanie.

[scar]

Wow, that looks amazing. If I didnt know any better I would take it to be OEM.

[speaktobrett]

That looks awesome dude!!

Professional job! Love it

[MrBean]

Thanx for the feedback, guys, appreciated

Anyway, herewith a comparison shot with the original, and new fascias. Please do not worry about the small bits of LCD aluminium frame sticking out - I will properly center the LCD in the fascia, and those bits will be modified slightly too!

Edited 13/01/10 10:22 AM by MrBean

[tab]

Be honest in your feedback and critisism, do you guys reckon this looks OEM, or not?

lol...far better than anything OEM, looks pretty farkin schmiko

Inspirational stuff Mr Bean - keep up the awesomeness!

[Panda Eyes]

ive done my fair share of modding, cutting/ shutting, adding, painting etc with interior/ boot stuff- mainly for car audio, but what has been acheived here is above and beyond anything ive seen- amateur or professional. a precedent for anyone wanting to mod interior parts in the future.

awesome work

[MrBean]

Heya Guys,

Thanx for your kind words - hey, just remember, I only did up to the final prep-stage, a paintshop shot the paint I wish it was my skillzzzz.....hehe.....

But, let's see once we have the cupholder and gear-surround finished and in the same color, I think this mod would have been worth all the effort. I can see the finish-line now.

I just wished there were someone out there willing to take this fascia and use it as a template to make a nice carbon-fiber part from it - not just a layer over it, but a complete bezel - would look so good and pro in our cars.