Mk3 St Boost/gauge Pod Android (Completed)

[Preee]

Purchased a MK3 Turbo Pod , and yes i know the chance's of getting it working will be on the Minus scale , but for what i paid , i'm at least going to research and try :)

Is there anyone out there with a Mk 3 ST will to take a picture of the wiring for me :) ?

[salsheikh]

good news Paul - i take it you found a bargain?

do you currently have a dash pocket or are you going to butcher the dash!!!

[jimrex]

Doesn't the Titanium/Titanium X have the dash top speaker? I assume it sits in there?

That'll be an interesting mod if successful!

[Preee]

Hi Sal . Yes a bargain but does not come with the top grill. So im hoping my grill fits onto it.

Jim yes I have the speaker there at the moment.

This does not come with the wiring plug either so until I do some more research I have no where to go. Although I will see what I can get out of it on the bench.

[Preee]

It's going to be a long battle i can tell haha

Anyway Pod has arrived , minus the top section <_< , which i figured as much as the picture's never showed it , but it was a good buy.

So off to Ford and ordered the top section £58 for the £1.50 bit of plastic trim , rip off merchants lol.

I will have that by next friday as it has to come from Germany.

I tried the Pod in place , and i will have to cut away small sections where the speak cover clips in , not a problem. i will either have to move the centre speaker or leave it out as the dash pod only has a small place for a tweeter.

So for now i will test the Pod wiring connections to see if i can get it to light up at least while i search for any wiring diagrams for the ST which are like Hens teeth.

If that fails completly then at least i still will have the Pod for which a Scan gauge should fit in or some 35mm guage's perhaps , so not all is lost.

I have also thought of :P ,an Android phone loaded with torque pro and sit that inside the gauge. So even if i can't get it working as is , then at least i can investigate other possiblilties. :D

[Preee]

Update*

Boost pod arrived , i thought it was just the lid , but it was the whole part , but without the actual gauges , which save's me having to glue the lid on.

So here is my idea , i will need a 6" android tablet/phone , this will then fit into the viewable area of the pod , then set this to the gauges i want to have on to the top of the screen , i have set my phone up to demo this , using sleep mode and the screen set to POWER on via charging i can turn this on/off via ignition and not have to retro fit any buttons , i have limited control via the screen to move stuff about , but i can set any number of screens and then scroll through a selection of what i want to see.

I think this idea will keep me going until/if i can find a way to actually fit the gauges inside and have them working , i can fit the gauges in there already and light them up , but then its just for show!.

Sorry the video is not very clear it was on my works Nokia :) . Comments please :) good/bad

[jeebowhite]

a very creative answer preee! loving it!

[nazsky786]

Are you going to be using OBD2 bluetooth connection to the tablet to show the information or just use the Internal GPS? You could also have it to display any codes you have on the car if any display. I done this on my DVD player but using the pod good idea.

You could buy a old android phone take the screen out and hide the main board underneath the pod and extend the screen cables.

[Preee]

I have been looking at chinese 6" screen android phone's , about £135 , and researched them they look good enough for the money , also been looking at remote 6" screens with HDMI input which i could then use my phone , but i would rather have something that just works allt he time rather than use my phone.

It will have to be something like a phone rather than a Tab because the screen edge is too wide on a Tab

I'm using a bluetooth elm327 to send the data

[Lenny]

Look forward to this preee,

Great idea mate, top respect

[Preee]

Cheers Lenny.

I have fitted the Pod to the Dash , with the original gauges for the moment , tried all 6 connections and can't get it to light up though haha , never mind , looks good though lol

I'm bidding on a Chinese phone at the moment.

[Lenny]

Cheers Lenny.

I have fitted the Pod to the Dash , with the original gauges for the moment , tried all 6 connections and can't get it to light up though haha , never mind , looks good though lol

I'm bidding on a Chinese phone at the moment.

Take a picture when you get a minute mate,

Best of luck with the auction,

[Preee]

Here's a picture of it fitted

[Lenny]

Wow looks the business mate,

Nice angle too.

[Preee]

Wow looks the business mate,

Nice angle too.

Haha yes looks good pity it don't work :P , but saying that i prefer an android screen in there as i will be able to get 10x more information on it.

[jeebowhite]

Shame you cant drop the dashboard in front of it at an angle so that you can see more of the screen in the pod!

[Preee]

Shame you cant drop the dashboard in front of it at an angle so that you can see more of the screen in the pod!

Yes that would ge good , but i will be happy just to get the Torque Pro information in the tiny slot , i did try my phone behind the actual centre display and it looked cool , but then i would lose the center display haha.

Anyway , lost out on the eBay bidding due to the reserve not met , so i thought to hell with it and went and brought one £137

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290904018134?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Should arrive by the weekend ,so hopefully if it work's i will have an Android boost Pod :)

[salsheikh]

nice Paul, what are your plans for the phones in car holder?

[Preee]

Sal.

The phone will sit inside of the pod with only the top section visable how im going to secure it will be a learnig curve when it arrives.

[salsheikh]

looking forward to it Paul

[Stoney871]

B&Q do a mouldable rubber putty that you can shape and leave to harden.

May be of use to you?

http://m.diy.com/mt/www.diy.com/nav/decor/decorating-supplies/fillers-putty/self_setting_rubber/Sugru-Self-Setting-Rubber-Pack-of-5-Black-12888594?skuId=13399297&tab=rev&un_jtt_redirect

[jeebowhite]

looks like a good phone, but need to look at specs properly, but you havent half invested there! seems a hefty price tag IMHO?

[Preee]

B&Q do a mouldable rubber putty that you can shape and leave to harden.

May be of use to you?

http://m.diy.com/mt/www.diy.com/nav/decor/decorating-supplies/fillers-putty/self_setting_rubber/Sugru-Self-Setting-Rubber-Pack-of-5-Black-12888594?skuId=13399297&tab=rev&un_jtt_redirect

Good find there Stoney , looks interesting

looks like a good phone, but need to look at specs properly, but you havent half invested there! seems a hefty price tag IMHO?

It's not cheap , i guess around £200 when its finished , but doing it this way i need not have brought the Gauge off eBay , if i have just gone to FOrd and Brought a Pod i would have been £30 cheaper.But compared to some Mods it'ss cheap :)

[jeebowhite]

looking forward to the end result!

[Preee]

:) Phone has arrived , first impressions are very good , seems very good value for the money , i have been setting it up to work how i want it to when i fit it to the pod.

Torque Pro , as the screen is bigger than my phone i had to learn how to make and adjust themes , changing the overall size and layout options so it would fit better in the pod window , also setting it to sleep mode while not charging , so the screen does not stay on.

All done now , so , now its just a case of fitting it to the pod and securing it and sorting out a perm ignition feed for it.