Stage Two
A few months on and we've managed to get a fair bit done in the AV department. We've done the new dash with the integrated webcam, 7" touch screen, USB hub, an RJ45 jack and the car PC going into the glove box. We've also go the stereo, some amps, and nearly got all the speakers. Nick is finishing off the door trims that wil have speaker mounts in them and the rear parcel shelf is complete ready for the second webcam.
As you can see above the new dash is pretty much ready, Nick has integrated the touchscreen into an area that has a litttle storage area and more gauges plus air vents, he's just stripped that whole place and put the screen here along with a 4 port USB hub and a RJ45 wall socket which will go into the network switch that'll be installed in the glovebox with the PC.
Here's the stereo, the KD-BT22 from JVC, there's of course no fancy screen as I have the carPC, but this baby is feature packed, it has iPod connectivity, but still allows control via the iPod, it's got bluetooth so you can pair your phone, plays MP3s burnt to a CD and has lots of connection holes in the back!
I got a bargain on some Alpine type R 6.5 splits, so I bought 3 pairs. See the goal here is to reproduce the incredible sound that the C70 puts out via it's factory stereo, so I'm going with 1 pair in the rear and 2 pairs in the doors, here you can see the cool fibreglass moulding Nick made for the rear parcel shelf, you can see more of it in the interior section. I haven't heard them yet, but hey, they're Alpine, they gotta sound decent.
Two of these beasts will be installed to power the splits, they're both 4 channel but I thought I'd get two of them so I have the same equipment, I got one of them below cost at JB Hifi in Chatswood coz they we're closing the car audio section down, something that's happening at alot of them, so that was cool and the other from ebay. I'm pretty happy with the components so far and confident I'll be pleased with the sound output. Hopefully I'll be able to put up pictures of the installed system soon enough, so stay tuned...
Stage One Finally we've started work on some entertainment aspects of the car. While I still haven't managed to get a headunit, or speakers I have made progress on the lower range of the spectrum. The subs I got off Hassam are in the car, well one of them anyway. After going around to a few different car radio install places I couldn't find a pre-made box that would fit both 12" Kicker subs and fit into the space in the boot I wanted to use, which is right below the rear parcel shelf in the cabin, that way most of the boot space is still usable if need be.
Then one fine day I was at Auto Ignition in Alexandria with the C70 discussing some stuff, the boys there are quite familar with the 242 and the work going on, when I mentioned this particular dilemma, Jamie mentioned this custom subwoofer place around the corner. www.karatan.com.au was what I found. Nick, a top bloke who is very trustworthy and extremely good with his prices.
After a quick discussion about my needs, I brought the car to see him as quick as possible, he took a few measurements and basically told me to forget about two subs and stick with one. I didn't like the idea at first, after all I had two already and was always pumped about having both installed, but I had to listen to what he had to say, after all it's what he does, every day. He was telling me, where I wanted the subs to go there simply wasn't enough room, the box had to be quite big to give the two 12" Kickers room to breath, and on top of that even if I had not listened and demanded two fit in the spot there wouldn't have been any room for speakers on the rear parcel shelf. So in the end I went with the one sub...
Nick told me he would make the custom made box for $150!! It was hard for me to contain my surprise at how cheap the quote was, after all I had had quotes ranging from $350 - $700, then after discussing a few more things and taking measurements, he turns to me and says he would do it for $140!! It actually got cheaper! Anyway I haven't heard it yet coz there's no stereo....yet.
