Convince me why I need MegaSquirt 2

Sounds like a VIA Nano processor and mobo.

Should work, IIRC the VIA C7 and Nano's are based on Intel's P4 X86 code which means no software problems.

Some guys putting MP3 players in their cars are using these and you can even find a touch screen that can be hooked up that is small enough to fit in dash. Most guys are mounting the PC under the seat.

Since I work currently in a comouter store I bought a used Compaq Evo 500 laptop. Celeron 500 so its slow but it has serial port and 512mb of ram.

Only has XP and Megatune on it.

It's the Intel Atom dual core. Much more performance than the Via chips, though I did look at them.

I might do the car-pc thing. I've been thinking about it for a while, the real cost is the touchscreen. There are some good how-to's at mp3car.com.