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So a lot has been going on but nothing car related. Now COVID-19 is putting a damper on everything.
I took the opportunity to give the Camaro a wash. (I’m not lying, this is probably 1.5 years overdue.) I’ve also since got the lift installed which is really nice. I can fix so much stuff without crawling around on the floor. I’m so close to being able to put some real wrench time on the Camaro. The end of April I’ll be done with my bachelors and will have more time that I can remember ever having to put into projects. The house is done. School is done. All I have are things I want to do. OperationX is back on the schedule! I hope everyone reading stays safe and healthy during this time of crisis in the world. I had hoped that this year was going to be a good year considering I would be done with both classes and the house. I still have high ambitions, despite COVID-19. I expect that I will be making a lot of progress on the many things I had planned for this year. Lets see where this year takes us.
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None of my installed equipment, other than the more recent things, has been powered on since more than a year ago. First is to figure out all the wiring I’ve added over the years and then power up everything. Its a bit overwhelming. Once I got in there I remembered a lot. It also helps that I made a wiring diagram of a lot of it.
I had to start modifying things to be direct wired. I tried alternative power sources and this was the only one that worked. So I got to hacking. Not prettiest thing I’ve made, probably not the worst either. I added more wiring to the already massive amount above the windshield. There is only a phone charger, mirror power, mirror camera wire, and factory wires shown here. They just add up. The pillar is going to be pain. I’ll have to do something to enlarge the space. It doesn’t fit anymore. Then on to the, probably over complicated, relay stack that controls all my Push Button start, auto-locking, Immobilizer, and the power relays for accessories. This is where the diagram was my savior. I’m so happy past me didn’t get lazy on this. Here, I’ve made a short clip of the start up inside the car. Lots of stuff going on. The image is a large GIF file. I don’t know how well it will show here. Give it time to load. The other thing I’ve started is the console. I have to start fabricating in order to fit the required electronics.
This is most of the stuff that has to fit. I mocked up the dimensions related to the car so I can start fab-ing brackets and a console frame. This also is based on how comfortable it is to drive. There will be many parts to this console for various functions. But rest assured, it will have a functional cup holder. I have a bit more work to do before I see any head way. There is more equipment tests I have to run on stereo, push button start, auto-locks, and the immobilizer system. hopefully that will get hashed out this next weekend.
Day 3597 "At first I hated the look... I still do"
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I’m moving on to a few things that are in my way to clean up the area for the new console frame. The main thing is the HVAC controls. I didn’t know if I could relocate them to somewhere else and it fit my clean look. I tried and I hate it so much that I jumped on plan B immediately. I wanted to do “Plan B” to begin with but My programming skills are mediocre at best. I thought I would could mount them somewhere to have time to work on the “Plan B”
First Task is getting the controls mounted to something I can use instead of the factory controls. I 3d modeled all the mounting points and 3d printed a prototype plate. first prototype works well. Now making the factory harness long enough to reach where I need it to. ( a lot of people have reloated the HVAC controls to the glove box, this was not new territory) I temporarily mounted it next to the radio just to compare the size needed to fit the controls around my other stuff. It looks so annoying. It makes everything look crap to me. I immediately got on I got amazon and ordered these. I’m going to mount the controls in the dash hidden and use stepper motors to turn the knobs for me. The challenge is how do I tell the motors where to go. I have 2 ideas.
#1 I could make buttons that are simple to make and mount. They would signal a Rasp Pi or Arduino to move the steppers to where I want it. Or #2 a cooler idea would be to make an app that installed on the Tablet to be my HVAC controls. #1 I know I can do and it may make things much easier for me, but #2 is just worth a try.
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Originally Posted by Bonemaro
Insane...
Originally Posted by IDCamaro1994
Effing next level, man! I'm speechless beyond that for now.
Frank went crazy a while back.
Im going for the Madmax edition Tesla look
Once I organize all my junk i'll put together a list of projects that i'm doing on the car because its quite a few.
The list includes the sub enclosures that are half finished, this HVAC thing, the Center console, rewiring all the push button and autolock controls, Supercharger install, a fan to extract the heat during the day powered by Solar. redesign the headlights... and probably more when I start running out of projects i've started already.
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haha, yeah that just isn't an option.
I've realized that have an real interest in automation. Once my eletronics are back wired up my car will be mostly automated. My house got the whole smart home treatment. I've got automation everywhere in the house too. I didn't realize just how much until I started doing it on teh house.
I have a problem lol. is there a rehab for tech junkies with an addiction to automation?
stay tuned for more. I got some pretty cool shop updates that will become reality soon.
Day 3577 "Clean and Airborne"
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Originally Posted by Bonemaro
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