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This just in, still alive. Given that my last update was 03/27/07, there was quite a bit
of updating that needed to be done on the site, some of which is still happening. Worked a bit on the back end of the site to
incorporate more php to allow any future cars to be added to the site with minimal work.
In other news, got a new car. Had the fender side weld on the front passenger side strut
tower of the 1993 Volkswagen Passat (MP35i) break back in August 2007, so I decided that it was finally time for a new car. The new
car is a 2006 Volkswagen Passat (shocking, I know). It's a package 0+cold weather car with a 6 speed manual, so it's got the 2.0T
FSI engine, which is quite enjoyable, even coming from a VR6. Should be a bit more fun when I get around to chipping it.
Most things on the site are now split between the two cars, MP35i being the 1993 Passat, and MP3B6 is the 2006 Passat.
As far as MP3B6 goes, the new Passat's factory stereo could read MP3 CDs, so that held me
over until I could start working on a new carpc project. Turns out the new project is the old project. Figured out that
with a new, smaller case, the old carpc would fit in the glove box of the new car. The new car also has an oversized double din head
unit, so that meant 7" screen in the dash finally. That left me with the question of where to mount an aftermarket head unit.
Turns out the car has a spot for a 6 disc CD changer above the glove box, so with a little work (and a LOT of Dremeling), the Alpine head
unit tucks out of sight. Since the head unit is hidden away in the dash, I installed a IR repeater so that it could still be controlled
when closed away. Given that there were no long wire runs to the trunk this time, only a small amount of the interior of the car
had to be dismantled this time, and given that I had done this all before, it went together fairly quickly as well. The only
thing left to do is to fiberglass the screen into the DIN adapter kit so that it looks "factory." As it is, the DIN adapter
has been cut down so that the screen will fit, it's just not as clean as it could be. So at some point in the near future,
there should be pictures of the new setup on the site.
So what's become of MP35i? It's still around, even after the weld broke the car sits
normally and still tracks straight, so it's now become the slightly neglected weekend car. And since the new carpc is the old
carpc, and I left all the wiring and a majority of the peripherals in tact, the carpc can simply be shifted from one car to the
other. At this point, the car isn't worth anything, and I've got way too much invested in it in aftermarket parts, so it'll
stick around until I have the time to find another 35i Passat and swap the aftermarket parts over, or simply part it out. In
the period of time between the last update and getting a new car, I managed to damage the glove box lid, so I decided since it was
already messed up that I might as well drive around with a 15" Dell monitor bolted to my dash. Which other than looking a bit
odd from the outside (and inventing the new game of "Not shotgun!") it worked fairly well, especially for a stop gap solution that
cost me all of $20 for the LCD mount.
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