Car2PC Adapter

Last week, I ordered a Car2PC adapter from InDashPC (link). The shipping time was quoted at between 7 and 10 working days.
I thought I had a week or so to get the rest of the components in order...
Alas no.

The Car2PC adapter I ordered arrived about a week ahead of schedule. :D

From Car2PC Delivered

The Car2PC adapter provides a USB and stereo interface to the head unit in the MX-5 (many other vehicles are supported, in case anyone's interested). The USB connection is actually a serial to USB adapter, so no special drivers are required to control it. Just open the serial port, then read and write data as required!

Given this, the adapter provides three functions;

1. Plays the audio from the PC's headphone jack as an auxiliary input stream (on my head unit, this is "EX" or External CD)


2. Send head unit button presses to the PC via the serial connection (in my MX-5, this even includes the buttons on the steering wheel!)


3. Send audio track information from the PC to the head unit to be displayed on the text side of the head units LCD.

Installation seems easy enough.

1. Remove the head unit


2. Plug the adapter into the CD Changer port


3. Re-install the head unit.

Done!

Unfortunately, it's not actually that easy.

Thankfully, after many hours of reading forums and blogs, I came across an an excellent set of instructions provided on the www.MX-5.com forums (link).

That's one of the most difficult items to acquire and install taken care of.
Provided the rest of the components arrive, I know what I'll be doing this weekend. :D

Car has passed its assessment!

So I had my car assessed by AAMI today. And, of course, it passed with flying colours. :D

The repairs were awarded to one of my preferred panel repairers, which is awesome.

Repair costs have come to a little over $4,000.

And in two weeks, my little baby will be good as new.

OMGWTFMX5

I went to the skidpan on Sunday! I had a lot of fun.

Learned how to catch my car a lot better. And I'm becoming more confident with using the throttle to control where the rear of the car is pointing.

Thats the good news.


The bad news now... Totally separate to the skidpan (opposite side of the city) I was involved in a car accident. And it happened thusly;

I was following Scott to a car wash at Chermside. There was a lane closure on Lutwyche Rd just outside the Officeworks. I was in the rightmost lane, traveling at 40kmh just like the sign told me. I was passing some cars that were at a stop because of the construction. The first I noticed a problem was when my car shifted a foot to the right. Not the usual kind of turning shift… more an unnatural jarring. A sensation I’m not familiar with. I came to a stop, and after a few seconds I realised “someone’s hit me”. I looked around, noticing that none of the cars around me are moving. Except the one with its front corner in my passenger door. 
We pull into the Officeworks, and begin talking about what happened. I pointed out the damage, stating that you’ve hit me. She tried to assure me that I was speeding, and she didn’t see me, and because of that, she’s not at fault. After this conversation, she refused to provide any insurance details until her husband showed up. Scott had circled around, parked nearby, and was taking photos of the damage on both cars, and the location of the accident.
Her husband shows up, and informs me that he owns a panel shop, and will happily fix any damage for free. I point out that my car is a year old, and I’m going through insurance. None too happy with this, he tells me how there’s going to be a lot of paperwork for me to go through, which I agree with, but am totally fine with. He then explains that because I’ll have an excess to pay. I explain that I wont have to pay anything because I’m not at fault. He then informed me that because they don’t have any excess to pay either, no one will have to pay anything. I’m not sure I believe them. After finally getting her details, and giving mine, they leave.
I then spend the next 30 minutes on the phone to AAMI explaining what happened, and working out the best course of action to get my little car all better.

On Monday, I got a few quotes on getting it all fixed. The average was approximately $5,000. This includes a new door skin, potentially a new rear wheel, respraying the front corner panel, the side skirt, the rear corner panel and the new door. So much damage for such a little mistake.