Reaver

iTrader: (1)

So I purchased an 04 rx8 a few days ago and I absolutely love it! However, there has obviously been some modifications to the car that I have very little idea what they are. Perhaps just as important if not more so than figuring out what it is, is actually the question of how do I fix it? And when I say fix I mean that loosely because everything works as it should in the car, but either a) how would I return the car to stock or b) how would I utilize the connections and wiring already made?

You can see in the pictures, there's a couple pictures from the trunk of the car, I haven't a clue of what any of this is other than the obvious usb plug, and I know that one connection is an older PC connection I believe I've seen used to connect monitors.

http://postimage.org/image/9a21agh0/



http://postimage.org/image/9ap6tbdw/


here you can see where one of the connections ends up, the rear seat console of the car:

http://postimage.org/image/9ashw0dg/

and finally here is the dash, I don't even know where to begin with this plastic piece..it pops out if i pull on it a bit but otherwise it fits surprisingly well, however when I pull it out its pretty obvious he did this freehand because it's not a perfect shape or anything like that...

http://postimage.org/image/9b919hb8/

http://postimage.org/image/9bhay7s4/


and here it is with that plastic piece out:


and this is the plug that is in there, there might have been another plug in there but i didnt look thoroughly...

http://postimage.org/image/9c2sxq78/


So I don't really know much about this sort of thing but has he done the hard work to get some sort of carputer going in my car or something similar? Your help is greatly appreciated!

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Looks like a car PC setup to me. post some pics of your car, maybe they were a member here at some point.

Reaver

iTrader: (1)

Oh I'd rather not hehe...it has a primered bumper and a crappy CF hood on it, it needs to be sanded, a little bit of bondo and painted. I could do a shot from the driver side if you really want to see it :p

firebirdude

iTrader: (3)

CarPC for sure. Has he done all the hard work for you? Eh not really. You'd have about the same amount of work ahead even if you were going right from stock. The connections in the trunk are a VGA monitor cable, USB cable, and headphone minijack. Nothing special. Looks like S-video up in the dash. Nothing special. He probably had a cheap monitor with built-in stand placed up there.

Looks like he took the wires he needed with him. No power ran to the rear PC area. No power ran to the front dash. They probably had special connectors on the wires, so he needed to take them.

So what problems are you having? Nothing? Tape up the exposed wires at the Bose amp and let er eat. Doesn't look like you have to do anything to get it back to stock. Remove the wires if you want.

Reaver

iTrader: (1)

Well, what solutions do i have for that plastic piece on the dash, it just sits up and is sort of distracting.

firebirdude

iTrader: (3)

Replace the dash hood with a factory one, one that holds gauges, or just cover it up with a carpet dash cover.

Reaver

iTrader: (1)

Thanks, an ebay search doesn't give any results so I guess I'll just lurk the for sale section on rx8club for a while.

firebirdude

iTrader: (3)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MAZDA...s#ht_500wt_975

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/DASHM...ht_5875wt_1078

Reaver

iTrader: (1)

Thank you sir, much appreciated. I guess my search was pretty crappy :x

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Any junk yard will have the top center piece, it's no biggie to replace. Check out www.mazmart.com, www.partsgroup.com, and www.revvinsevens.com.

Reaver

iTrader: (1)

all bookmarked for future part searching, thanks !