Motors Crazy Car Modding! The ideas -Zap

Ok, I have been driving a 2000 Mazda Protege DX that my wife had before we were married.
But soon we will be trading it in for a 2003 Protege LX with moonroof.
Not a huge upgrade, but it is an upgrade none the less.

But after reading many Mazda and other car modding forums I have a huge list of crazy ideas I want to mod into my new car.

The car will be Silver, with a dark grey/black interior.
I plan to add red highlights to the inside, and tons of electronics mods.
No mechanical or performance mods yet, too expensive just yet.

First some ideas that I don't think anyone has done before:
(Many I may never get to)

Temperature controled moonroof tilt
My car will be parked 8 hours a day in the Texas heat.
This means that the car gets VERY hot inside.
Why not monitor the temperature in the car and tilt the moon roof open when the car heats up too much.
Once the car reaches a temperature near the outside temp, the moonroof will close again.
There would be a rain detector to make sure it doesn't open when it is raining, and a battery monitor to make sure the system doesn't kill the battery.

LED Door lock status indicator
The car will have keyless entry. The remote locks the doors on the first press. If you want a confirmation that it is locked, you press the lock button again, and the car will honk it's horn.
But this is very bad in an apartment complex.
So I plan on installing a Red/Green, or Red/Blue LED facing out the front window that shows me that the doors are locked or not.

White Cold Cathodes in the trunk
No, not for show-off bling, but for function.
The little tiny 1/2-watt light bulbs that come standard as a trunk light is worthless.
I would rather light the whole trunk so I can see what I need.

Integrated Phone Charger
I want a slot that I can stick my cell phone into that will charge the phone, rather then have a chord to mess with.
I would make it semi-modular in case I change cell phones

Custom Carbon Fiber Trash Can and larger cup holders
The cup holders right near the dash on this car are too small, and often spill large cups. Plus hanging a bag or something else for trash sucks.
I want to make a carbon fiber piece that will be on the passanger side of the center console that will hold two cups of any size, and also a trash can.
Both the cup holders and trash can will be removable for cleaning.

Idea: I just though of while typing this....why not integrate a cooler into the cup holders?

Rear ground Laser
This is an idea I have been bouncing around for a while.
I want a line drawn onto the pavement as I travel down the road.
It will be a kind of "Do not cross" line.
It would have to be bright enough to be visible, and have rain detection so it doesn't reflect into other drivers eyes.
It could even be integrated into a ultrasonic distance meter mod, that would light up a "Back-Off" light at the rear of the car if the line is crossed.
The hard part is keeping the line stable while the car is moving.
A green laser would probably be bright enough for this.

Overdrive Off Button on steering wheel
I can drive a manual, but still prefer automatics.
Actualy I LOVE Sports Automatics, but can't get one yet.
Well Protege's have a "Overdrive off" button on the gear stick that diables the fourth gear, and shifts the car into third gear.
This is pretty handy when I need some extra power.
So I would like to duplicate this button onto the steering wheel for quicker access.

Steering wheel cooler
No matter what the tempature of the car, in Texas the sun can heat up the steering wheel to the point it is painful to touch.
I would like to create a cooling solution for the steering wheel.
Either tubes with air holes wrapped around the wheel, where air carrys the heat away.
Or water, kept cool in a insulated container, and pumped through when needed.
I am still trying to figure the best solution to this.

Second battery in trunk for multiple functions
I plan on installing a car PC later for GPS, DVD, and MP3 capabilities.
Since PC's take some time to boot, you can't get instant music out of your car when you get in.
So often time car computers boot off the car battery before the user starts the car.
But when the car starts the power fluctuates and can damage the car computer.
So other's choose to have their car computer boot After the car is started, further delaying the start of music play or other functions.

Well a 2nd battery could fix this.
I would install a 12volt motorcycle battery. The battery would charge off the existing car circuits after the car is started, but would provide power for the PC to boot up while the car is starting. (PC starts booting when I get in the car)
A bonus function would be that with a switch you could actualy jump start your main battery off the trunk battery if needed.

Backlit CD Slot
Similar to my DVD mod in the guides area

Remote start with heat venting
Great for here in Texas, starts engine, roles windows down an inch, opens sun roof, turns on A/C, switches air to pull in fresh air.
Once car reaches outside tempature, windows roll up, moonroof closes, air switches to Cycled, and A/C keeps running.


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Now for some ideas I saw on other forums, but many of them I have improvements that I want to add.

Red LED lit dash
Replaced the stock green with Red.
Red light also means better night vision while driving.

Red painted brake Calipers
This car has fron disk brakes that I want to paint the calipers.
The rear drum breaks will be painted black, as they are less desirable.

Disable switch on door chime
Allows you to disable the Door open alarm, and lets you run your stereo while cleaning or modding the car without that annoying Beep

Electric Windows Always On
Allows you to operate your power windows while the Car is off.
This is more convenient and safer.
No chance of theft as the windows have to be operated from the inside.

Blacked Out Headlights
This involves painting the unneeded chorme areas on the headlights black, for a sharper look.
Doesn't tint or deminish the headlight output.

LED turn signals and Brake Lights
Longer lasting, better looking, and faster reacting

Flush Door Locks
The door locks on this car stick up 3/4" when in the locked position.
This is annoying when you want to put your arm out the window.
Cutting out 3/4" of the locking rod allows for a flush lock.

Variable Speed Wipers
The car comes with a 3-speed wiper.
Replaceing it with a variable speed wiper is pretty easy. (Aparantly)
Requires some parts from other car models.

Mirror Turn signals (home made)
Involves some custom carbon fiber holders and LED lights.
They would attach to the bottom of the existing side mirrors.

Clear side repeater lights
Car comes with orange repeater lights.
Modding them with clear lights from a different car maker is pretty easy.

Disable Automatic A/C on defrost
I prefer to run my de-frost vents all the time, as the air from those vents does not dry my eyes out.
But most new cars automaticaly turn the AC on when you turn on these vents. (To de-humidify the air)
Disabling some micro switches is involved in this mod.
AC switch still works like normal

Head Light ON delay
Headlights stay on for 1 minute after you exit the car.
Can do this with a simple timer and relay.

Security system
I have tons of parts from a previously never built car security system.
I have a great car alarm horn, and even microwave perimiter sensors.

Red LED map lights, with switch to go back to white
My wife likes to read on long trips.
But the map lights annoy me, and I can't see well out the front.
Augmenting them with Red LEDs for her to read will with solve both problems.

Imobilizer
There are a few different options to disable the ignition.
I like the hidden magnetic switch idea's best.

Keyless car
Seems possible with power-everything.
It would be cool to have a car with no key needed.
Just a remote, and mabye a code system.

Auto-lock after 1 minute of driving
Great feature on some cars, would be an fairly easy timer/relay mod.

Voltage Guage
Some cars have them, I find it a great feature I would like to add to my car.

Carpeted trunk lid
I have seen this on a few sites. It looks great if done properly.

Remote start
I may use a product, or mod the existing keyless entry.

Audio Control Via steering wheel
Many new cars have this, and I find it helpful when you are driving.

Distance Meter and Car Dectector on Rear bumper
Would be a fun DIY project.
I would also integerate some sort of "Back off" indicator when a car got too close to me.


Dang, that was a huge list.
I may only get 25% of it done ever, but it is fun to dream too.

 

OK zap, i normally wouldn't do this, but i couldn't PM you or Email you, could you take a look at this post of mine?

i think that laser would be cool, have you ever seen those laser pointers with the interchangeable lenses? i've seen 'em that create a bird. not the flying kind, but the flipping kind... get my drift ? REALLY make people back off! burn their corneas with the almighty middle finger. i can see the headline now... "17 dead from blinded driver tailgating an unidentified pimpin' mazda, police have no leads"

 

two words: Ejection Seat.

if you have kids, a small, low power stungun switch can be steering wheel mounted, they give you crap, you give 'em a little of this -->
sorry, i couldn't resist the lightbulb pun.

oh and i was really kissing @$$ to you on that link up there. might want check it out if you're feeling blue /\

 

Keep things real please.

Using a holographic filter on the laser diminishes it's brightness so that is not a great option.

A halogen projector bulb may work though.

 

zap the 2nd battery is pretty well documented, few tips i can give you is use a sealed gel battery for the boot, spend the extra cash

nip along to www.talkaudio.co.uk and run a search for split charging, there should be everyithg from the relay construction to the actuall secure fiting thrown up

 

oh the voltage guages btw can be sourced from most car shops pretty easily

the audio controls, urm you have a few choices, your headunit will need te option to be remote controlled (not all do)

then if yoru car has the buttons on the wheel it should intigrate with the oem wheel (but were talkign dodgy units like sony here)

or you can spend the wodge on something liek a blaupunkt ( ) and just use the steering whell remote that clamps to the side

 

You mean kinda like this?


philth

 

Yes, philth.....show off....
I'll get there soon enough

Well I got my car!!!

Both my Dad, and me bought a car, and made them lower the price a ton.
In the end we got the lowest price for a 2003 Protege that the dealer has ever done, plus I got a good financing deal considering my credit rating.

Images, and modding coming soon.

 

On the top of the car you could make a rack of LEDs in a large grid. Have a stepper motor it so that the rack can either be perpendicular to the road or parallel to it, controlled by a rocker switch in the dash. Then there would be a controller and keypad in the dash, along with a small text LCD. You would enter text via the keypad. It would be displayed on the LCD. Then you would press the rocker and the LED rack would pivot form being flush with the roof to being perpendicular. Then the LED controller would light up the appropriate LEDs to display your text.

Far better than yelling and gesturing out the window.

 

Carbon Fiber stuff is nothing new - cooler is a good idea though
Ground Laser will get you pulled over - illegal for the same reason why neons are

 

zap, I don't know if you could legally do this, but the back off indicator should be wired to a red light in the back, simliar to the brake light. If they get close, it will look like you are braking and they will immediately back off before they realize what has happened

 

neons depend on state... some states they are legal, others they are not, check with your local police agency for more details... goes along the same lines as window tinting...



neons look dumb while driving down the road anyway.... they're supposed to be strictly for show purposes

 

That is the very last on my list:

Any added car lights I would have to check about whether it is legal or not, but it may not, as it would be a saftey device rather then just for looks.

 

I agree

 

Zap...visit MP3car.com for some hardcore car PC information. The DC-DC power supplies have a built in shutdown controller that makes the PC go into standby, using very little power from the battery, also makes it boot up as soon as the ignition wire is tripped. You can integrate a second switch into this so that the PC boots up strictly when you want it to. As far as a case...built it yourself. You will need a custom hard drive enclosure so that the hard drive sits on its side and is as resistant to shock as possible.

I'm sure you've already thought of this though. Just a thought.

 

I know, but I was just thinking of an evil way to do it

I reread your website's log of the car, great job so far

 

Just connect the indicator to your actual brake light circuit. I'm sure that's not illegal, and if anyone says anything then you can always say that you were riding the brake pedal

 

http://www.oselectronics.com/ose_p114.htm#Other Switches

bottom of the page has a cheap keypad

 

Thanks for the links guys.

The keypad that you linked wouldn't be good for a car, as it is not waterproof, and would take up a lot of space on the outside of the car.

I already have designs for a through-glass keypad, I just haven't had the time to do it.