Hey Guys,
I've decided to go a different route with my quest for power out of the 350TPI.
I'm going to put the HP/TQ aspirations on hold and focus on something a little more "entertaining".
I'm wanting to put an ITX computer system into my 1985 TransAM to run/control the following:
EMS ECU for 300hp crate motor with TPI realtime tuning
Alpine 5.2 Audio System
GPS
DVD / Divx
Rear camera
Front night vision camera (just a cheap one more as a gimmick than anything else)
Internet access

So far I'm looking at these parts:
Intel ITX motherboard with 1.6AMD Atom processor with 5.1audio o/b video
2Gb DDR533 RAM
160Gb SATAII 2.5" hdd
USB/SATA slot loading DVD Burner
10.4" touchscreen LCD
bluetooth keyboard
GPS USB antenna
bluetooth Dongle
wireless network adapter
120watt DC/DC atx power adapter

I want to be able to control all aspects of my stereo system through the control panel on the computer, tune the car in realtime while sitting in it, have gps, be able to watch movies, use the reversing camera and anything else i can think of(or that kitt could do:P)
Later on I'll be looking at wiring the alarm system into the computer, webcam indash encase someone tries to steal it then i ahve a picutre of the basterd on my phone, and possibly voice recognition macro with something like dragon naturally speaking to control audio/video/gps

Most of this is pretty straight forward for me as I'm IT orientated as opposed to mechnically ascended, howver I do need help in finding a place for all this.
The computer case is about the size of a car amplifier which is good, and the ECU is about the same again.
Before I go any further the car has been converted to Right Hand Drive as I live in Australia, but it seems everything is in the same place only mirrored.

I haven't check yet but my first big question is:

How much space is there on the passenger side dash?
I know the air con/heater box is around there, but is there neough space to mount an ecu and car-amp equivilent box?
I'd put it in the boot except for 2 factors: a whole lot more wiring and would be very annoying ripping up carpet and laying new wires and having to buy extra usb extension cords, and 2, the boot section is occupied by V12 amp and 2x12" s-type alpine subs.

 

Here is a site for USB control relay card and other items to control from your computer

http://www.ar.com.au/~softmark/page32.html

 

Thanks for that.
I'll be looking into that later on for controlling window motors etc but for now gotta find out how much room i've got to play with.

 

Well when you get into it let us know how it goes. I'm wanting to do something like this with my maro but a bit less ambitious. Basically All I want is my lower end gaming rig with gps my 22' flat pan and maybe a camera or 2. Internet as well although I don't know how I'd get it without a wireless router being around somewhere..

 

That is insane!

I wish you luck! Post lots of pics!

 

Not sure about the TA but I know there is very little room behind the dash of camaros. You may be able to fit it towars the center, but there is a lot of ducting and wiring back there. A mini ITX may fit if you are clever enough.

 

lol yes please do, this sounds like really cool

 

You have a 22'(foot) flat pan?? That's crazy, don't see how you're going to fit it in your car. No but really, you don't need a monitor that big in the car.

I have also thought about an incar computer, but not control so many things with it.

 

lol yeah my bad. And you're right I don't need one that big I just think it would be nice to have. I may go with something like a 17 instead.

 

The reason I'm going with the 10.4" or 12" is because its a cheap touch screen at $250AU and also it fits perfectly over the last 2 gauges on the dash.
On mine (right hand drive) The screen will cover the battery gauge and oil pressure gauge, which doesn't bother me as the ECU software will be able to display them, and hopefully with a bit of photoshop magic and some mucking around i should be able to get them to display the gauges and make it look like the original dash.
Plus 17"-22" monitor in a car with a smaller than usual car cabin would just look too out of place.
The smaller monitor will still be bigger than the standard 7" but small enough to suit the car and not be an eyesore.

And I'll post pics as soon as I start.
April 11th will be when I install the computer system so I'll take pics of everything before it goes in and the whole process and final product and post them on here.
I'm pretty excited about it all, and can't wait to have it all done so I can start experimenting with voice recognition macros.

 

Yeah I have dragon naturally speaking 10 and its a pretty good program

 

having a computer by the heater ducts could cause over heating problems. unless your in a place to rock ac then it would be beneficial. and if your not willing to run wire under the carpet which wasn't hard to do with my sub wires and put it behind where the spare is or under the opposite panel. the best bet would be under a seat or size depending it could fit in the extra space in the center consul. or bolt it up above yours or the passengers feet. what are the dimensions on this case your jamming it into?

 

the case is only slightly bigger than the itx board, bout the same size as a car amp.
The reason for not wiring under the carpet isnt because of the distance, but having to do that again whenever i have to add additional features to the car.
I want to be able to do some of the stuff in stages like device control of lights etc later and will need to wire in relay boards etc.
The heater pipes aren't connected so no hot air will be passing the air con box, and the cpu doesn't require a fan to operate, just aluminium heatsink.
centerconsole isn't an option for the computer, not enough room and don't want the box to be visible.
Australia doesn't really need heaters :P
not in Queensland anyway.

 

Just a quick update,
Now have ECU, 12" touchscreen monitor and computer parts, minus the casing and motherboard.
The DIN mounting bracket for the monitor is meant to arrive this week, and i'll get the motherboard as soon as it does.
I'll take pics of everything before and after its installed and any pics of troublesome spots.

I've had a look at the dash setup after the conversion to right hand drive and there is sufficient space near the blower fan on the passanger side to mount both the ECU and ITX computer.

The monitor will be mounted just above the first DIN slot with a mounting bracke that will slide into the top DIN slot, only covering the air con controls, which doesnt matter that much as its not working properly anyway. Also the heater pipes have been d/c'd to stop any overheating of the computer.

This may take longer than I thought to finish as I've now discovered I need to purcahse a new dual exhaust system, and also find a place that can rip apart and recondition my TPI setup.
$$$

 

Hey guys, been a while.
Computer has been running for a while, but hit some problems.
Firstly i decided to go slightly bigger with the computer and overkill a bit. AMD64 x2 5200, 4gb ram, 300gb hard drive, onboard video etc etc, which is a micro ATX board.
Secondly i tried purchasing a bracket to hold the monitor in place but it ended up just looking really out of place and awqward.
And lastly, my targa roof decided to leak and fill the car with water during a few days of storm....
computer survived, touch screen did not.... so the plans have extended.

Just purchased all the parts to fix the roof.
And a 2006 Holden Commodore dash that i'm going to transplant into the car. It would be almost identical to your 2004-2006 pontiac GTO


And as you can see from the right hand drive conversion done by whoever imported it, they did a dodgy job and the air con has just been turned upside down and not lined up.


So on top of the computer project i now have targa repairs, dash conversion, air con mods, rewiring and interior upholestering.
will keep you updated but the best thing about getting rid of the air con unit for a much smaller one is i'll be able to mount the in-car pc above the air con unit and use the air con as a colling system.

 

I also have a right hand drive Trans Am, and I'm curious to know about the smaller air con unit you intend to use as I'm in the market for something similar.

 

http://speedyairspares.com.au/produc..._Unit-2-4.html
AU$260
you can't go wrong.

 

I'd love to see pictures of one of these units installed in your car if you have them.

 

Great little project you've got going there. May have said it before, but you've got almost the mirror image of my G8's dash.

as for the computer, looks like you should have plenty of room to mount it where the factory passenger airbag was on that dash.

with a system like that, you should be able to have all the goodies without too much investment or headache; GPS, backup camera, wifi, etc. If you ever jump over to a newer engine setup that uses OBDII or megasquirt, you're options would be endless for engine tweaking.

 

yeah, I'm looking at an aftermarket ecu, i like the holley 950 but it seems to have a lot of defective units, otherwise there's a fantastic one in australia made by a company called Haltech, they're pretty well known over here, and they have the E6GMX unit which plugs directly into the factory harness with fully programmable ecu and multiple tune hard switch. real tinme all the usual stuff but its only $1200AU

 

I saw the E6GMX on Haltech's website and it definitely seemed like it would run a TPI so I contacted a sales person (called Paul) who said he didn't know if it would run TPI or not. I have to admit being slightly confused by this, seems perfect for the job to me. It doesn't have provision for a knock sensor or EGR which is a bit of a bother though.

 

It will definately run TPI, EGR-not too sure on, but I'd just dummy rig it so it looks ok, and not sure on knock sensor either, if it doesn't have knock sensor, how does it know to retard the timing and whatnot?

 

I've downloaded the manual for that ECM from Haltech's website and manually gone through every page, and also searched for knock sensor and there's no mention of it or EGR. There are controls in this ECM to control everything else under the sun though, Nitrous, turbo timers, torque converter clutch etc.

I wouldn't have a clue how they check for knock, I suppose that's meant to be taken care of when the engine is tuned. But that's just a guess.