i always wanted a spy car.
so, i started out with one basic goal: make a little spy camera-car that i could drive around and explore with. originally, the idea was to broadcast this online to a website where i could use it with my psp, but all i could find at fry's in the right size were cameras that broadcast a tv signal, so that was out the window. i ended up with this fine pair:
a swann wireless minicam and a ridiculous looking replica car from the fast and the furious. i was ready to go. first, i had to make sure the rig would actually work. i couldnt find any rubber bands, so i borrowed some hair ties from my roomie:
it worked! but it wasnt exactly the covert look i was going for. so, with the proof of concept behind me, i started by separating the body from the chassis:
this was going to be a piece of cake. look at all that space under there!
not so fast. one of the main ideas here was the spy element, which required retaining a very stock look. so my first inclination was to hide it behind the grille somewhere. i took it out:
but, the car had other plans --
alas. my next thought was to pop that hood open and see what i could do in there. i took out the engine:
and tried to shoehorn the camera in, hopelessly --
looks like this might not be such a walk in the park after all. not to mention, where was i to put the battery?! things were getting complicated, fast.
i decided to settle the battery issue first, and set to work replacing one powerplant with another. i used a little x-acto saw to make some room in the engine bay:
and as far as the camera went, well the only remaining logical place? in the driver's compartment.
after removing some of the ridiculous looking decals (what was covert about those!?) the car is road-ready and no-one is the wiser. sweet.
