Interior Exterior
Q:
I wish I could have got mine without AC.
You can always pull it out yourself. You should put gauges in the vents and a laptop in the passenger seat fast and furious style.
you should wire up an xbox in there too like west coast customs style.
An iMac (or micro PC) can play games, music, do GPS (with an antenna) and connect to your engine computer. And it doesn't weigh significantly more than your stock 1-din radio, especially once you eliminate the 110-to-12-volt transformer. A simple console made of sheet aluminum and skinned in leather wouldn't weigh much either. The whole thing shouldn't add more than 20-30 pounds.
A:
i really do not think you can fit yourself in there with that. - don't get me wrong, i think it looks great, but mock it up in cardboard and see if you can fit your lower half in the car. my right knee draps (very comfortably i might add) over the shifter housing
...besides than i wouldn't be able to hop back and forth from seat to seat!
A:
An iMac (or micro PC) can play games, music, do GPS (with an antenna) and connect to your engine computer. And it doesn't weigh significantly more than your stock 1-din radio, especially once you eliminate the 110-to-12-volt transformer.
So can the PalmOne Treo 650 phone, without wiring to the car at all(if you adapt a bluetooth dongle to the ECU). It weighs 178g. It can't play CDs, but who uses those anymore, anyway? I'm planning on deleting the stereo, wiring the speakers to a headphone type plug, and adding a mount (18g) to the console.
Oh, it also does email, Word, Excel, has voice-command calling, and oh, yeah, it's a phone.
Seriously, though, it looks nice, but I'm more inclined to go the Treo route. As long as it's not rediculously heavy or anything, I think that console will look great. I will say, though, that moving the A/C controls might be more difficult than it sounds.
A:
I'm planning on deleting the stereo, wiring the speakers to a headphone type plug, and adding a mount (18g) to the console.
You still need an amplifier so dont go ripping out the stereo just yet
A:
You still need an amplifier so dont go ripping out the stereo just yet
I was planning to strip the one out of the stock unit, and mount it behind the blank panel. I forgot how technical this board is! I just got a 2 gig SD card for the phone, that's good for like 400 songs or something, and I have the Navigation system add-on for it on the way. I think I'll try cannibalizing the amplifier this weekend.
Does anyone know if it is possible to buy the lightweight amplifier Kenwood designed for the McLaren F1?
A:
Some quick sketches of other possible configurations.
A:
I like B the best, but D is very cool
A:
I was planning to strip the one out of the stock unit, and mount it behind the blank panel.
Do post pics + process if you do - I guess there will be several people on this oard who might be interested
A:
B as well.
A:
Does anyone know if it is possible to buy the lightweight amplifier Kenwood designed for the McLaren F1?
the bulk of the weight of an amp is the aluminum heatsink/case. Just remove the heatsink/case and mount the amplifier directly onto the Elise aluminum frame.
A:
B then D... very nice!
A:
mount the amplifier directly onto the Elise aluminum frame.
Great idea! How do we mount it? Is there a glue we can use?
A:
Great idea! How do we mount it? Is there a glue we can use?
Unscrew the case of the amp.
Remove PCB board
I would clamp the transistors with copper on both sides. Also use heatsink paste. There should be holes for mounting posts on the PCB.
Use frontpanelexpress or just your trusty drill press and drill a large piece (but thin) piece of aluminum and mount the PCB on it.
You can then mount the entire structure to the frame.
In short, use the elise aluminum structure as heatsink. I read on seloc that some of the British guys are doing this. So, it is not an original idea. It has been done.
A:
Ok, but how do you mount the entire structure to the frame? What I mean is, do you have to drill? Where are they mounting it? What kind of airflow is needed? I imagine that the floorpans would probably be ideal because there's a lot of airflow beneath them.
A:
Ok, but how do you mount the entire structure to the frame? What I mean is, do you have to drill? Where are they mounting it? What kind of airflow is needed? I imagine that the floorpans would probably be ideal because there's a lot of airflow beneath them.
Whether you need to drill or not probably depends on where you mount it. I would think mounting a bracket, so you don't have to drill extra holes and use existing holes on the frame will be best.
Airflow should not be a problem, as all the heat will go to aluminum. Just make sure the copper used to clamp onto the transistors are flush mounted onto the aluminum frame.
Regarding where to mount, some possibilities that I have read are:
[1] the space underneath the dash on the passenger side.
[2] the space behind the seats where the plastic speaker box and storage area currently is.
A:
the bulk of the weight of an amp is the aluminum heatsink/case. Just remove the heatsink/case and mount the amplifier directly onto the Elise aluminum frame.
BRILLIANT!! You're totally right, with the huge pieces, the chassis would help dissapate the heat, possibly better than the fins. I'll probably use the amp out of the stock head unit, or if it gives me trouble, the one out of the stock unit we took out of our X5, but I'd love to see if anyone does this. I'm not looking for bumpin' tunes, just something comparable to stock without the head unit - I rarely use the thing anyway.
Those sketches look cool, by the way. I didn't mean for my earlier post to sound like I was knocking the idea, it's just that I look at the Elise as a pure creature, and personally don't want mine to be any less stripped. To each thier own, though, the only cars my opinion matters about are mine.
A:
I know I am going to get flamed... but here it goes anyway... except for those long trips to the tracks (closest track is 3 hrs away), I'd take my stereo and speakers out... I want to hear my engine and the tires screeching, not music!!! That is why I have a 2nd car...
That said, I like your first pic... it looks AWESOME! I am a Mac guy too....
A:
I like drawing B.
The first pic must completely cover the gas pedal.
A:
I test drove an S40 today. Some of your consoles look very much like that.