Not as exciting as you would have thought, but I figured it's time to update my pictures since I've cleaned alot of the bodywork up and removed things like the front license plate and created new badges.

 

Here's the rest of the batch:







Ok, and here's the fruit of my super-secret project:



It's car-puter! I'll post some details and a couple of pictures when I get all the bugs ironed out.

I'm still really happy with this car after ~3 months of ownership. It eats a little more gas then I'd like it too, but it's pretty fun and the rotary concept is ******* rad.

After all the fluids, carputer, body work materials, and a couple of misc parts, the total cost of ownership has been a mere $2,700, which is much cheaper then any of the other cool cars I was considering before I fell in love with FCs.

 

nice, clean

 

Not sure why, I expected to find a personals ad for an rx7:

Name: Mazda RX7
Hair color: red
Height: 49.8"
Bust: 13BT
Weight: 2850lbs (she's a bit husky)

Likes: Spendy partners, long walks by the beach, expensive oils
Dislikes: Cheap guys

Turn-On's: Long spirited runs in the mountains, orange safety cones
Turn-Off's: Vacuum leaks, Electrical gremlins, etc

Anyway, that was funnier in my head.

 

Very sexy dude, very clean. Looks like you put some work in her!

Just one thing.... GET THOSE DAMN WHEELS MOUNTED CORRECTLY

-redneck

 

pretty clean
wait till mines running

 

I assume you're talking about the driver's side. Hehe, for whatever reason it has a passenger side wheel on the front. I didn't notice it for an entire month and now it bugs me, but I don't really feel like shelling out the dough for another wheel. It just adds character.

 

thats the first time when i like the black moldings around the car. i painted mine. but that is one hell of a clean car!!!

 

Cool Pics

 

That is very ... uhh ... RED.

Nice clean car. I should take mine up to the lake and get a few portraits ... but i gotta install my bins first.

 

Very nice. Did you cut the vertical pieces on your front air dam? Do you have any issues with the shifter and the screen?

 

that is one clean interior

 

Glad everyone likes 'er. I've put alot of work into this puppy. The vertical peices are still there, but stealthed with vinyl dye. I was thinking about cutting them out completely, then removing that lone horizantal piece and fixing the gaps with some fiberglass, but I'm alergic to work at the moment.

I haven't hit the screen yet, and it's a decent distance away. I made a bracket from some milled aluminium that pulls it as close the the dash as possible, and if I have it in 1st, 3rd, or 5th, I can reach out with a finger and easily choose what I want while still chillin' on the shifter.

Here's the 800x600 version of the interface I made:


I got the screen from mp3car.com for $300 shipped and I'd definatly recommend them. Their prices are good, and it got here 2 days after ordering.

 

I scrounged up a pic of the computer mounting. It's kinda rinky-dink, but it works well for a heap of spare parts. When I kick this computer out when it's upgrade time, it'll migrate to the carputer. I do need to get a DC-DC power supply as well, the invertor makes too much electrical noise and it can be heard as a distinct buzzing when I have the volume cranked and no audio playing. In the meantime, do you guys know of a filter that I can make or purchase that will cut out alot of hissing?



Here's the current specs:
- Athlon 1.0ghz slot 1 processor
- 128mb PC133 RAM (I have alot more PC133 RAM laying around, just haven't tested it all yet)
- GeForce ti200 (won't run Doom3... bummer )
- 60gb Western Digital hard drive
- SoundBlaster Live 5.1
- 300w 1u server power supply connected to a 400w (800w peak) invertor
- Generic Compaq motherboard
- Lilliput 7" touchscreen (can be purchased from http://www.mp3car.com)

 

the only rim mounted right is the driver side front

 

Your carputer setup is AWESOME.

Does the athlon get enough air to cool properly?

 

Ah, so they're supposed to go the other way? I guess it's too late now. The tires were brand new when I bought it, so I have alot of rubber to burn before getting things switched. I'll just leave them and wait for aftermarket rims and such when I get my TII some day.

As far as cooling goes, it's ok. I've never seen it climb to a dangerous level. I have 1 80mm blowing in there from a hole I cut in front behind the passenger seat, and the rear of the lid cover has a decent gap, and you can feel warm air flowing out..

 

why is the rpm niddle sit kinda low?
maybe just the angle when take the pic?

 

Being my computer is located in my garage at times, i was reading this and i had actually been reading out loud and when i got done my 90 'vert's power antenna just went up... WeIrD.

Matt

 

sweet!!!

The interface is pimpin!

So how are you controlling the computer?

Are you running windows or something and then a program at startup or something?

Or redoing the whole shell/litestep style?

 

That interface is my pride and joy. As soon as I feel it's polished I definatly plan on sharing it with you guys. Having a carputer is the greatest. I'll have to make a couple of vids from the webcam I grabbed. I work at Best Buy and got a decent 640x480 30fps webcam for $10 and used the magnets from a dead hard drive to attach it to various places on the car and it's pretty slick. Hehe.

The program I'm using to tie everything together is at http://www.mediaengine.org/ .

It's pretty slick, and they're integrating Destinator GPS in a few releases, so that should be pretty bad ***. It's fun to play solitaire when you're stuck in non-moving traffic during rush hour as well.

 

I've been working on a few car interfaces using XP Embedded, now that's a great little OS. Boots in under 10 seconds from the turn of the key. I am kind of interested in some better pics of the screen.

 

I'll grab a couple when I get home tonight. I was worried about start-up times myself, but Media Engine gives you the option of placing the machine inhibernate when you hit it's power button, and that takes 10-15 seconds tops to come back up, and it leaves off where you were before you left it.

 

damn that is clean.
My car is never that clean.

 

DamnnI just came upon a 1.2 GHz // 20gig computer for free. Now I'm thinking this woudl be damn coo to do.