My '86 GTI build

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walterclark
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Re: My '86 GTI build

Post by walterclark »

I have one of these coming: http://bestcasereview.com/shop/nexus-10 ... xus10-blk/

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It looks like I can mount this case to the backside of a new dash panel with angle aluminum (with the tablet looking thru a hole in the panel) and it will be secure and somewhat protected.

One thing I intend to do is hack into it to add a wired remote "power" switch that will mount on the dash. "Power" would be the only control I will need to reach that would be inaccessible when mounted this way.


11-25 Update:

Last night I opened up the Nexus and installed a pair of wires that parallel the power switch so I can mount a remote power switch on the dash panel. Wow. Small stuff and tight confines in there. Dont do this at home, kids. The switch I used is a small momentary switch like the ones I used on the KSCC and SCCNH headset PTT boxes. Works great.

I decided, after doing some power profiling of this tablet under various external power and tablet operational modes that I want to feed it a 5V 2A constant source (switchable to off when I know the car will not be in use for some days). The remote tablet switch will let me control when I just dim the display to conserve power and when I shut it down or reboot it.

The protective case arrived today. This is a GREAT product. It not only provides a secure, more rectangular housing that I can easily mount to the dash as I described above, it includes a protective screen and is virtually water-tight if you close all the port flaps. The case makes handling the tablet much easier as it is grippy with lots of "edges" in the design. The protective screen is part of the case and doesnt "apply" to the tablet screen with adhesive like many do but the screen touch sensitivity is hardly diminished at all. I highly recommend it if you need your tablet to take some abuse and dont mind adding some bulk.
The older I get the better I was.
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walterclark
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Re: My '86 GTI build

Post by walterclark »

For anyone parsing back thru the previous 54 pages of this thread and noting a bunch of previous pictures now just labeled "image"...

Comcast, my internet provider who for the last 15 years provided a personal web page and online storage as part of its package to its internet service subscribers, recently removed all such web pages and storage. While I still have all these pictures on my PC, the effort required to identify which went where, repost them to some other host and edit all my replies here with new links to restore them is not something I want to do.

I want to congratulate Comcast/Xfinity though. They finally found the straw that broke this camel's back. Way to keep trying.
The older I get the better I was.
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Super1303
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Re: My '86 GTI build

Post by Super1303 »

Oh, that sucks.
Why they got to do crap like that? They just removed it! Bunch of BS....
I just finished mine, not even half the length or as old, and it took months!
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Rabbit Farmer
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Re: My '86 GTI build

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

Is it any help to use 'way back' at least for the text? Images still don't seem to work.

For example: https://web.archive.org/web/20050321105 ... _web_4.htm

What about viewing your cached images in the browser?
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walterclark
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Re: My '86 GTI build

Post by walterclark »

Lucky for me I created and saved all the html on my own PC and just uploaded it to Comcast. So I have the complete web page, the images and the tools to do whatever I want with it. Heck, my web page and the images linked within the html I published arent even the largest part of the loss. I probably had 10 times those images just stored and linked on the Comcast server within my folders there. That is where I put about any pic I took that I wanted to show in a message or forum, except the few things I uploaded to my Facebook page first and just linked from there.
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walterclark
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Re: My '86 GTI build

Post by walterclark »

The virtual instrument cluster is done and tested.

This is what the gauges I settled on for the primary screen look like:

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I also have a secondary screen that contains other gauges, more useful for troubleshooting or tuning.

Here is a shot of the tablet propped up in front of the empty dash panel to check for visibility thru the steering wheel.

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This is after building a frame for the tablet and test fitting the new dash fascia. After this pic I painted the fascia flat black and finished the edges of the opening.

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I installed a dedicated dual USB charge port so both the tablet and the bluetooth adapter on the Megasquirt can be powered together. I ran 12V to the charge port from a dash switch and not the ignition. This allows me to do a couple things. I can boot up the tablet and connect via bluetooth the Megasquirt adapter before I turn on the ignition, which shortens the time needed to get to a fully function screen after the engine is started from about minute to about 6 seconds. It also solves a USB charger / tablet power up sequence issue on the tablet. When characterizing the tablets behavior in regards to how and when it charged, one of the things I discovered was that if USB power was present when the tablet was booted up, then it would draw well over 1.5A if the battery needed charging and after charged, continue to draw nearly an amp while the screen was on (the screen seems to need about 400ma when on full bright, and the rest of the tablet needs 400ma or less to operate) to power the tablet completely from the USB. However if I applied USB power after I booted up the tablet it would only draw 500ma, which is not enough to keep the battery from being drained when the screen is on.

For now at least, I am sticking with the bluetooth interface to the Megasquirt. There is hardly any noticable lag in things like the tach, and the tablet, at least in stock form, will not permit the USB port to simultaneously be both a charge port for the tablet AND host mode USB port for connection to the Megasquirt.

The Nexus10 does have another port called the Pogo port which includes a charge input but Samsung does not permit this input to accept a charge current either if the USB is in host (officially called OTG or "On The Go") mode.

Another issue is the fact that USB is not very noise immune which is important in an electrically noisy environment like a car. So even if I decide at some point to make a USB hardwire connection to the Megasquirt, I will need to add an adapter that sits physically very close to the tablet USB port to change over to something like CAN or RS-232 (both of which are supported by my Megasquirt setup).

If I decide I need the OTG along with tablet charge at some point, with the firmware unlocked (rooted), there are hacks that are reported to change this. I wanted to be able to keep the Android Kernel up to date and rooting it makes it impossible to do automatic OS updates so I have not done it though I have all the tools and I "tested" my ability to root the tablet when I first got it. Now that Google has announced that the Nexus10 is at the end of the line for major Android releases with Lollipop (5.x.x) and if probably close to the end of the line with bug fixes for this version, I feel less concerned about rooting the Kernel, so if I grow unhappy with the bluetooth interface, I will probably go forward with the charge/OTG hack and wire the USB to the Megasquirt.

Oh, another thing. When the tablet is mounted, as above, none of the buttons on the sides are accessible. I dont have any need for the volume buttons but the "power" button is another matter. I opened up the tablet and soldered 2 tiny wires on either side of the tablets "power" switch and led them out of the case to a small connector. I mounted a momentary pushbutton switch to the fascia and connected it to the little plug with the 2-wires out of the tablet. That lets me boot up, initiate a power off, and go to screen on/off manually. The only issue with a remote switch is that it is impossible to "feel" how long I need to hold the power button when booting up. It seemed like was tricky without it because a couple times the tablet went into odd modes when I was pressing the onboard power button for a few seconds, but when I created a circuit to electronically actuate a power switch nothing odd happened during power on for up to at least 15 seconds of switch on tme. So maybe I was also touching the volume up button on the tablet which is right next to the power button and easy to do. That WILL put it in odd modes... Should I choose, the little circuit I created to test the power modes could also be used in the car to automatically hold the "power " switch signal closed long enough to activate the boot-up or power down sequence with just a tap of a trigger button on the dash. But after characterizing the "power" switch operation under a number of conditions and durations, I found that if I just hold a remote switch down for 2-4 seconds it reliably boots up or initiates shutdown.
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walterclark
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Re: My '86 GTI build

Post by walterclark »

I started looking at some ways to reduce the amount of front tire exposed to the airstream, and hopefully gain some benefit of either lower drag or added downforce. I am going with a version of dive planes rather than end plates because the dive planes can just be added to what I have and are fairly well understood by me, whereas closed back end plates puzzle me and open end plates dont cover the tires so I would need to replace the splitter and lower front facia, then add the end plates.

This is what I came up with. I will be powdercoating them black.
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As a prize for being a runner-up winner of the Run-Cool photo contest (my hood louvers), I got a T-Shirt and nice discount coupon. I decided to use the coupon to bbut a pair of louvers for the front fenders. I have been meaning to come up with a way to vent the front wheel wells - other than the excess air pressure just passing under the car and this seemed like a good time to do this.

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sdwarf36
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Re: My '86 GTI build

Post by sdwarf36 »

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Translating road racing to hillclimbing:
Proper tire selection== nothing hooks up on moss or wet leaves.
Staying on the racing line==anything paved is considered good.
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walterclark
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Re: My '86 GTI build

Post by walterclark »

Roadmaster! That is what I was going for...

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Re: My '86 GTI build

Post by Rabbit Farmer »

All we care about is "function"..... if it does its job and makes you faster, then go for it.

Glad you won the contest..... do I get a cut?
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