23 June 2006

Acura ITX dashboard touch screen installation complete

Written by Yours Truly ( )
Published on June 23rd, 2006 @ 06:35:34 pm, using 431 words, 4180 views

Categories: Acura ITX Car Computer, installation overview, the headunit

The dashboard installation of the Acura ITX mobile system is now complete. I've reinstalled the rear seats, as well as the entire dashboard and center console, reversing the procedure outlined in the original dashboard removal thread. The reinstallation went pretty smoothly, and once it was complete I removed the protective plastic sheeting over the burlwood woodgrain trim and the touchscreen. (Some of the photos show some remnants of the adhesive layer of the protective plastic sheet which covered the burlwood woodgrain. I've been trying to remove it all but it's pretty tenacious, so any little surface distortions or smudges you may see in the woodgrain panel can be attributed to that. Rest assured they'll be dealt with).

With the mini-itx system installed in the trunk, and the wires run from the battery to the trunk, the system is ready to run (at last!).

Here's an overview shot of the finished installation, showing the screen in a closed position.

If you'd like to see actual captures of the Acura ITX skin, you can see them in the Acura ITX Front-End Design for Roadrunner post, or read the full text of this post to see additional photos of the installed system.

UPDATE: Additional photos have now been added.

This photo shows the main menu screen of the Acura ITX skin I designed for RoadRunner:

[Continued...]

Another shot of the main menu screen. I think the burlwood sheet I used for the faceplate is a very good match to the stock dashboard trim color under all lighting conditions except UV lighting. In natural sunlight the difference in shade is hardly noticeable.

And another, with slightly less flash exposure:

This one shows the audio player screen:

And another shot of the audio player screen at a slightly greater distance:

With that I'm hittin' the road to put the system to the test. (Alright, alright, it's probably pretty obvious that I've already done that... it's not like I'd wait to actually give the system a road test until after I posted this blog entry, right?) I am anxious, though, to take a short road trip to really test out the GPS mapping. So far I've only had opportunity to test it locally, on streets and routes with which I'm familiar, but with summer here hopefully I can go adventuring soon...

Let me know what you think of the finished project and leave some feedback...

This post is the creative work of Yours Truly and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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CarPC, Carputer, mobile computing, mini-ITX, Acura, touchscreen, gps

Permanent Link2 comments  •  Trackback (0)

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Comment from: Brett Watson

I am going to purchase the same MTSVO-SC touchscreen VGA LCD.. its a very clean design and looks great... I need to know before I buy it, if I can set up a custom tilt angle, because I am not going to mount it straight but at a 30 degree angle so i'll need to tilt the monitor forward each time it opens. can you please tell me if this is possible? and how the custom tilt angle is set? thanks Brett.

brett.watson@mac.com

Permanent Link 06/27/06 @ 10:27

Comment from: Yours Truly [Member]

You can set the angle of the screen using the up/down buttons on the front-panel. The screen has a memory, so the next time it opens it will open to the same position as you set it the previous time.

However, the first time you turn it on, it's going to extend to its maximum angle, so you should probably set the custom angle before you put it in the car. That way you'll make sure it doesn't extend too far and strip the gears the first time you turn the car on.

Permanent Link 06/27/06 @ 19:10

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