Comvette diy infotainment system for early C4's released
 

Today I finally released my Comvette Infotainment software into the wild. If you are interested in building a Raspberry Pi based car computer infotainment system for your 1984-1989 Corvette that integrates both physically and aesthetically into your car without dash-hacking, take a few minutes and visit:

www.comvette.com

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...0a9ff7e74c.jpg

and download a ready-made Raspberry Pi image and/or the Xojo source code from the software page.This is a DIY project but I am happy to provide guidance if you decide to build a system for yourself.

-Wes

Wow, that looks really interesting. You've obviously put a lot of effort into this. :thumbs:

Thats pretty cool, I like it. Do you have any more pics of it, only see the one angled one on the main page. Im curious what the obd1 screen looks like especially.

I've been working on this project for two years. You wouldn't believe how many dead-end streets I've been down while working on this project. There's *always* something new to learn.

I'm posting more pictures as I have time.

The OBD1 portion is still under development. Since I need to be in the car with the engine running while writing the code, I had to stop work on that aspect of the project over the winter.

interesting site - :thumbs::thumbs:

A new page for C4 upgrades,, or nay car with wire adaptors. I like it,

I've added more information to the website. Below is a link to one of the new pages:

The Comvette Project

-Wes

I have a Bose that doesnt work. Will I need to but some kinda head unit for your unit to work. I will replace the speakers if that callws for. I could not find a price for your unit anywhere. Whaats it cost please?

What year is your car? The Comvette Project is for 1984 - 1989 C4's. It's all about a do-it-yourself replacement for the old BOSE head units. So, no you don't need to buy a head unit for Comvette to work... Comvette *is* a head unit.

I haven't posted any prices because I'm not selling anything. I'm just providing information to help others build a similar system for their car.

-Wes

Hey,
Saw your post on the facebook group and was very interested, but I have a 1990. You say this is for the 84-89 as designed but is that due to a change you know about for the 1990 model year or just due to the switch from the old to new style interior in 1990? Based off the blog it looks like you replace all but the speaker connections/amps/speakers, and while I know the early bose and late bose systems are not compatible, I would think that the incompatibility would arise somewhere before the speaker wire, which should make your system as plug and play as a DIY solution could be for later years.

Thoughts? Tidbits of knowledge I missed?

Most of that computer jargon is foreign to me, but the idea and the potential is pretty cool.

From what I've seen, the BOSE system in the later (C4L) cars is quite a bit different. I don't have access to one of these cars or any service manuals for them so I have say that my lack of familiarity is the primary reason I haven't tried to make my system work with the C4L cars.

Maybe someone else can chime in on what the differences are?

-Wes

I have to say this is really awesome information. Thank you. I may do something like this to my C4 at some future point

I have always thought about creating a system similar to this idea. I'm very impressed by the work you have done so far. I wanted to have selectable real time datalogging that would be running in the dash so I could monitor it if needed. I started my project a little more extreme though. Using a typical datalogging software run by a small computer that relays to a small screen in the dash. I ended up loosing track of what I was doing and scrapped the whole idea but I always thought of trying again. I will definitely be messing with this idea in the near future. Thanks for all your hard work. I know what it's like to do the leg work just to help a community out.

I was aimed primarily at datalogging but this is a great idea. Of course I don't know anything about those raspberry Pi computers. Always intrigued by them though. Keep us updated!

I can and have rebuilt engines but darn if I can build one of those units..and they are good looking units.

Nice of you to go open source/hardware, plan to build one eventually. Probably after Her engine is rebuilt. *sigh*

I've updated the Comvette website with some new pictures of the Comvette chassis:

Comvette chassis

The pictures should give you a better idea of what is behind the dashboard with the Comvette head unit.

-Wes

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...e95a5a5d4b.jpg
Comvette chassis

I noticed you used acrylic. Do you know if you could use Aluminum or would it cause a grounding issue? Reason is I got a friend with a plasma table who can cut the aluminum but not acrylic.

I don't think that the aluminum would cause any problems. But then I haven't given aluminum a lot of thought either.

What are the tolerances of his plasma cutter? Ponoko.com (who cut my parts) can provide accuracy down to around ten thousandths of an inch. Also, the material cost for acrylic is very inexpensive. The total cost for a baseplate, faceplate, and overlay was about $32.00 which includes shipping from Ponoko.

Do you think it would make sense for me to sell these chassis parts or even fully assembled chassis (chassis, touch-screen, volume control w/knob, and wiring harness)? Is that something you'd be interested in?