Mazda 2 Radio Mod - 7" Android Tablet Fitting...

[cosh68]

New to Mazdas247

Decided to post my mod....

My Mazda 2 Radio Mod - 7" Android Tablet Fitting....
Take one of these ( needs to have blue tooth if your going to connect to a bluetooth OBDII dongle...
I got the one with wifi & GPS so that I can use it as a satnav ( google maps & navigation ) & load
stuff on from the web when Iam at home or wifi hotspot or use the 3G on my HTC.... )

Running this....

Put the following app on.... use this on my HTC android phone aswell....

Gives you all the ECU OBD information in user selectable guages graphs etc....

Pair it up with one of these plugged into your diagnostic port.....

( be careful where you get it from, some of the cheap ones available don't work as well as others mines
a firmware rev 1.5a )

Get one of these.....

mod it ( hack it around like mad ) : to get this...... need to build up a back piece out of plastic
to sit the tablet in & hold the connectors to allow it to be angled & slid in to the dash like a phone
craddle.....

then you can run this.....

now you can enjoy large guages & readouts of all your useful ECU data....

Build a pocket in the modded facia out of PVC...

Glued together & .....

Slip the tablet in...

Needs the plugs mounting, a bit of filling & rubbing down, coat of paint then fitting time

Got the Mazda 2 to ISO lead.... fitted it to the amp & jack plug....

The right angle power plug finnaly arrived... the pair sit snuglgy in the side of the case....

Need the psu ( 12v to 9v adaptor ) & paint the facia....

Been looking at the OBDII adapter...

Sticking out like that its definately going to get knocked off.....
Time to abuse the adapter & probably void the warranty.... ;D

Four screws under the sticker.....

Some boards are better than others, not a bad design, usb adapter board fits where the bluetooth
board is....

You can see the adapter details in the software.....

The transformation is complete.....

From this.....

To this.....

The process if your interested in the following link......

http://s1082.photobucket.com/albums/j372/cosh68/Torque/

Instead of stuck out its now nice & snug......

The regulator for the 12v - 9v tablet power has arrived.....

A bit of wiring & soldering then we will have power from the radio feed to the tablet....

Was going to have a poll on the forum, but decided on RED.....

Thanx to Cal Locke Mazda 2 forum UK for his post on how to take the dash apart...

Now we have this....

The amp wouldn't fit in the gap behind the facia, so its in the glove box for now, there is space behind
it next to the bulkhead.... but the leads weren't long enough to go there... will make a new set & fit
properly when i get chance..... The electronic regulator seemed like a good idea at the time instead of
the old analog LM series regulator's.... the switch mode chip whistles like a "pig on heat" & comes over
the audio to the amp, so left that disconnected till I get an analog module.

Link for all the Torque pics....

http://s1082.photobucket.com/albums/j372/cosh68/Torque/

Tried the new analog regulator...... still buzzing & crackling....
think there is an ground loop problem or the internal electronics
of the MID charge circuit.... some more investigation needed....

Changed the theme on torque to suit the dials in the car....

Hope this gives a few ideas.... would be good to hear from similar modders... ;-)

What do you think..... ??????

 

[colonelangus]

kool build thread nicely detailed (drinks)

 

[AzteCypher]

Excellent build! Wouldn't mind adapting this to my Protege.

 

[dominoy2k1]

pretty cool.

 

[destineal]

Thumbs up

 

[PGTBrow]

Wow...

 

[shaowq]

so no radio then? it's obvious that you can use pandora and such when it's tethered to your cell phone and i guess you can use apps like IheartRadio or something...it's interesting...and you wouldn't need an ipod or anything since your tablet would be like a big usb flash drive that you could load music onto at your whim

 

[cosh68]

No radio gone, yea could use a web based one with tetherd to my HTC phone or they do a version of the tablet with 3G, the one I,ve got has the place on the PCB but not tried to see if the hardware is there..... tether it to use the sat nav so it can work out the route, but once calculated you can knock the wifi hot spot off....

Yea turn the wifi on the tablet on when on the drive to access the 2TB NAS in the house or web.... store my albums on the mem card & play using Winamp Pro ( gives you the graphic EQ ) that sits in the background whilst the Torque app runs in the front....

Used this app for a while on my HTC phone before going for the in car guages....

 

[shortfuse12]

i actually was planning to do this with my htc evo 3d. i think it was ur video that i saw on u tube. difference with mine is its going to sit on the dash and use speedview for gauges and navi. and at the sametime i can just remove it when im at work problem im having is how to convert the aux input without the use of my radio and and still use the volume control on my steering wheel. second issue would be relocation or adding a power from the ciggy power adaptor. more power to the ANDROID users.

 

[Font Motorsports]

Very nice!

 

[ajent420]

big props on the custom work and the finishing touches!

 

[shortfuse12]

u mentioned ur usng ur NAS via wfi/3g how are u able to do this? what app? im using MIUI rom and i cant figure out what port or protocol to use and reach my server (amd opteron 148 rig)

 

[cosh68]

Do it via wifi to home router, ftp to the NAS using DroidFTP.... other way is when I take the unit out plug it in as USB storage to a comp in the house & copy away... mp3 movies.. all the usual Android app stuff, even angry birds if your passenger gets bored.... ;-)

 

[joshb003]

Very cool & creative!

 

[ngd298]

nice!

 

[thebigted]

Best mod on here great stuff. Thumbs up

 

[cosh68]

Didn't realise that the right angle power connector was sticking & forcing
on the socket in the tablet... pushed the power plug in the other day
& the socket fell in to the tablet case.....

Was hoping it was a case mounted socket with wires to the board.... but it wasn't

Power & Audio connections

Well here goes, lets pop the lid off......

Socket has come off the board...

Looks like the screen would come out easily & fit in a 2Din chassis....

Carefully soldered the socket back on & cut the plug down a bit again....
All working again......

 

[Evan9999]

Wow this is a really good idea! I had a similar idea in the past with using my iPad, but it's too big to fit in a dash. You can find really cheap Android tablets so this project is probably much cheaper than buying a 2din touchscreen stereo unit!

 

[zoomerang2]

Wow, this is a cool mod ification and well written thread! Thanks for the info...good work! (thumb)

 

[cosh68]

Thanx for the comments.....

As per the start of the post, think about what you are going to use the tablet for before you buy.....

There is a large variation in specs, & prices, which android OS, wifi, bluetooth, GPS, 3G etc.....

I wanted same OS as as my HTC phone that I run the Torque app on, android 2.2, bluetooth, wifi, GPS for maps
& satnav.....