boost gauge install

[ras42tbss]

well just got an auto meter boost gauge and did the install this morning. somewhat of a pain in the arse, and i still don't have the light hooked up. i ran out of time, so that'll be another days project.

i'm enjoying it so far; having one more thing to look at besides the road while driving...



got the lighting hooked up today, it was pretty simple. just ran the ground down to a nearby nut on the metal framework under the dash and ran the power to the 10A headlamp fuse under the dash.

i took this pic to show pretty much the same view i see while driving; guage is in plain sight for me

 

[laborsmith]

Sounds normal to me. Factory boost max is 16lb by the way.

Laborsmith

 

[Maddmatts]

20 in.hg is normal. It means that all the piston rings and gaskets are sealing well and that the pcm tuning is good.

 

[Inferno]

Brave.! The placement is cool but brave as fu€k

 

[sonic hotness]

Clean install

 

[BoostedSnail]

well just got an auto meter boost gauge and did the install this morning. somewhat of a pain in the arse, and i still don't have the light hooked up. i ran out of time, so that'll be another days project.

this is my first turbo car, so some of you may be able to answer this: when the car is running at idle it's showing a vacuum reading of around 20. while driving boost slowly increases and i've seen a max so far of around 15, so i'm figuring it's operating correctly. just wasn't sure if there should be such high vacuum reading while idle/cruising.

anyways, i'm enjoying it so far; having one more thing to look at besides the road while driving...

how did you cut the hole and how did you secure it?

 

[Eric Smit]

Looks good. All values seem within normal range. I question the visibility from the driver's seat though. Is the steering wheel in the way?


-Eric Smit

 

[BoostedSnail]

Looks good. All values seem within normal range. I question the visibility from the driver's seat though. Is the steering wheel in the way?


-Eric Smit

ill have mine in soon. im going to take advantage of the upper cubby mount on tope of dash 8):banana:

 

[ras42tbss]

how did you cut the hole and how did you secure it?

I cut the hole with a 2" hole saw, then slowly made it bigger with sand paper to fit the gauge. there's 2 layers to the dash at that spot. the top is the lighter gray and beneath it there's a thicker black layer. I cut the black portion of the dash to a larger diameter so I could clamp the gauge down to the lighter portion of the dash, it had stregthening ribs that needed cut down; hence the major pain it was to install... it probly wouldn't be so bad with the dash pulled, but I wouldn't recommend it without... I didn't pull it and wouldn't want to go through that again.

I had all intentions of documenting the install but totally forgot until halfway through and felt it wasn't worth it then...

 

[rdss]

I cut the hole with a 2" hole saw, then slowly made it bigger with sand paper to fit the gauge. there's 2 layers to the dash at that spot. the top is the lighter gray and beneath it there's a thicker black layer. I cut the black portion of the dash to a larger diameter so I could clamp the gauge down to the lighter portion of the dash, it had stregthening ribs that needed cut down; hence the major pain it was to install... it probly wouldn't be so bad with the dash pulled, but I wouldn't recommend it without... I didn't pull it and wouldn't want to go through that again.

I had all intentions of documenting the install but totally forgot until halfway through and felt it wasn't worth it then...

Some pic's would have been better than none. Looks good, like Eric was questioning, how's the view from the drivers seat.

 

[ras42tbss]

Looks good. All values seem within normal range. I question the visibility from the driver's seat though. Is the steering wheel in the way?


-Eric Smit

it actually works perfect for me. I'm short and have the steering wheel at its lowest point and all the way in so I dunno if that helps.
as I see it, the gauge sits right below the upper arch of the wheel.

 

[CoHPhasor]

Wow, lotta work.
I'd make a replacement upper steering column cover.
There's a mold-able plastic you can buy at hobby shops.

It would be more visible and not hurt resale.

 

[dvn]

Where are people tapping in to the vacuum?

 

[ras42tbss]

Wow, lotta work.
I'd make a replacement upper steering column cover.
There's a mold-able plastic you can buy at hobby shops.

It would be more visible and not hurt resale.

It was a decent amount of work but i like that because then it's more unique... if it was easy everyone on this site would have it done. but i still think molding a plastic mount and sticking it to the steering column would be more work and look worse.. this looks factory, is visible, and i don't worry about resale value

 

[ras42tbss]

Where are people tapping in to the vacuum?

there's a vacuum line coming off the turbo and running up over the left side of the motor. it's about 1/8" plastic and runs under some black wire loom. tapping in takes a little imagination since the line is plastic and doesn't fit over the T fitting auto meter gives you. i just cut the plastic line and slipped some rubber hose over it and matched it up to the T fitting for now and threw on some clamps. it doesn't leak, but I'm going to probably replace the whole plastic line at some point with some reinforced rubber line of some sort so it doesn't look like a hack job.

 

[severous01]

rubber vacuum hose with a stainless mesh around it would look awesome. like a braided stainless brake line but it would be a braided stainless vacuum line....awesome.

 

[CoHPhasor]

^ Actually, stainless AN lines are used for air too, he could just convert to that.

 

[ukwildcats]

Sounds normal to me. Factory boost max is 16lb by the way.

Laborsmith

How much boost can you run on pump gas?What tuner is putting out the most boost?and how much boost is being put out with tuner?

 

[Eric Smit]

How much boost can you run on pump gas?What tuner is putting out the most boost?and how much boost is being put out with tuner?

Trifecta is the highest, I do believe, and it's 22PSI on pump gas.


-Eric Smit

 

[ukwildcats]

#s of boost

Thanks for the reply.I plan to do some mods. just not real soon.I thought i would put 5 or 10k on it 1st.This forum seems like the place to find out whats working good for people and what is not.I am sure you will see more ?s from me as the mods.happen with everyone.