How To: Boost Gauge Install (Stereo Vents)

[Stavesacre21]

Due to the number of images in this post, I had to break it into two different posts - this is PART ONE



Just as with BigBen's post on the center stack vent pod installation, this is intended mostly as a how-to built strictly off of his instructions. The only difference would be that I thought I'd take more of a photo-guided instruction route instead of words. As for the process and information involved, around 90% of it is credited to both BigBen and Hillauz's work. The rest was either searched-and-received information, or was just figured to make sense.

I chose the 52mm VEI boost/vacuum gauge due to it's flush look and minimal installation. The red LED's aren't all that far off from the color of our car's displays, so it looked great to me. Thanks again to such people as BigBen who tried this procedure before me...their "after" pics are what sold me.

I took my time on the install, and even paced it over 2 days. I'd imagine it's possible to do the install, start to finish, in about 3 to 4 hours if you do everything right the first time. I, however, took significantly longer due to some mistakes I made as well as my perfectionistic nature. In total of both days, I'd say it was roughly 7-8 hours total in the project.

Ok, lets get started.


Vacuum line

This was the only part of the install I didn't picture, mostly because it's common sense. Find the huge pack of wires heading through the grommet in the firewall. The wire pack is located behind the clutch pedal. There's an o-ring of insulation that's tucked in there...simply pull it out.

Some have claimed that they were able to run their vacuum line through that grommet without drilling a hole. I tried for about 15 minutes and gave up on it. Looked near impossible on my car. However, Drilling a hole through the upper part of the grommet is rather easy since it's rubber. As long as you're in the grommet, you won't even need to go through any metal. The previous owner of my car ran a power wire to an amp previously, so I already had a hole to run through. Feeding it just takes time and patience.

Once you get it through, fish it through an obvious path right up to the bypass valve. Once there, you'll find there are 2 layers to the line, one is a foam cover to the line, and the other is the actual vacuum line. Both eventually need cut through. I used a universal tee that was purchased with my gauge from vgauges.com...worked flawlessly. For the pass-through (the 2 sides of the T that go straight) I cut off both 1/8" openings so that the opening passing through the tee was closer to the actual 1/4" opening. Once done, cram both sides of the vacuum line up the T as far as you can. On my tee, I was able to get both lines all the way up to where the boost-line was branching off. Lastly, attach the 1/8" boost line to its branch. Mine didn't seem to want to hold too tight, so I used a zip-tie to reassure placement.

Last step is to run the foam cover back up as much as possible. That's all that'll be involved with the engine bay.

Here's what it should look like:




DVD case/gauge "pod" (part 1)

As Ben found, I couldn't find a material more appropriate to be used for the mount then a DVD case. Namely, I didn't even know what it was to...I just found an empty black case sitting around. It was already a black case, so unlike Ben I didn't even need to spray paint mine. However, much caution should be used if you don't plan to paint it, as these cases scratch ridiculously easy.

I opted not to use a compass, simply because I didn't have one around. Had I actually had one, this process would have probably taken less time. This part is where a great amount of time should be spent. Pull up a chair and sit for it, you'd be amazed how much more hasty you get when you stand for such tedious work.

I found out that they actually make drill attachments that bore holes very close in size to the 52mm gauge, and if you can find one, you'll cut a good 1/2 hour or more off of this step. Not having that piece, I still opted to use a dremmel to do the actual rounding of the inside. On my first try I attempted to cut a really close line with a utility knife, but eventually biffed it and went off by about an inch outside the circle. -started over- Next time around, I cut a much smaller hole with the knife, leaving at least a 1/2" from the edges.

Once I got the dremmel out, I was baffled to find how easy it cut through the case...it's like butter. I used the dremmel for a huge part of the inner hole, and just kept making the hole larger and eyeballing it. Once you get close to right size, keep the gauge nearby. I just kept guess-and-checking constantly. TAKE YOUR TIME, and make very small changes each time you check for fitting. Once you can CRAM the gauge in there, you're getting close. Fine sand it and you'll find it'll sit smoothly. Mine wasn't super tight and could be spun, but yet didn't quite have the spin-on-an-axis type of freedom.



Once I made the inside gauge hole properly, I found it easier to jump tracks momentarily. Once you get the vent pod disassembled, I used it as a mold to figure size. We'll be back to this part shortly.


Center Console/Stereo/Vent Disassembly

As with most vehicles now days, clips and snaps comprise of a greater part of the panels, so this part may not be for the extremely faint at heart. Slow and steady pulls WILL pull parts off...just don't get overly hasty or upset. Take your time.

First step, unscrew the shifter handle counterclockwise all the way until it's off. Put a heavy cloth over the shifter - this protects the face of the stereo you will be pulling out.

Next off, open the cup holder. I found it easiest to grab the inner edges of both sides and pulled up steady. The cup holder was a pain to start up for me, but once it initially gives, its all downhill.



Next you want to get your fingernails under the outside of the shifter trim. It should pull up easier then the cup holder did. Pull up and once the side clips release, pull up and outward (towards the backseat). DO NOTE - there are going to be 2 wires attached (3 if you have navigation).



The blue clip unsnaps on the top part of the clip while the black one (housing the bulb) takes a thin screwdriver to unsnap both sides of the clip from the housing. If you don't have navigation, that panel will now be free. If you do have it (such as I do), I noticed that there were 2 places binding the wires, and didn't care to mess with them. I could already get to what was important, so I didn't bother with them.

Here's the two wires after being detached


There are two screws that need to be unscrewed on the outside lower edges below the A/C controls. Take them out.



Next you remove the glove box. There is 1 tab on each outer side of the glove box...simply squeeze both sides in and it should open. There is also a string that needs to be taken off. You can either pull the string loop out of the snap, or just pull the bottom part of the clip outward and downward to remove the entire clip. Once done, the glove box will be free. Once it is in the 1/2 way open position, pull it outward towards you. Don't force it...find the right spot and it should come out very easily.

This leaves an opening that you need to get into to unscrew a bolt.


An 10mm socket is need. I had 2 small extensions on it to reach the bolt. CAUTION- BE CAREFUL NOT TO DROP THE SCREW OR YOUR SOCKET - I learned this the hard way, as I managed to get my socket detached when I was screwing it back in. Cost me a good 45 minutes of disassembly and cuts on my hand to find it. I was near giving up when I finally found it in the recesses.

Once you've removed those 3 screws, you're good to pull the front stereo - This part will scare the #$%& out of you, because you'll think you've broke something. It's normal, and means the clips are retaining tightly. I was able to use the bottom right edge below the A/C controls and put my right hand in through the glove box to push the back of the stereo out. There will be a sudden jolt and all the clips will release. It will sound like stuff breaking, but I assure you, it's normal.



pull it all the way out.



Once the whole panel is pulled out enough to work behind it with the vents, you'll be looking for the 4 screws.

This picture was taken from the windshield looking towards the rear. It shows you where the screws are - 2 are on the top left and right corners. The other 2 are burrowed to the right and left of the CENTER pod, on the lower side.



once you take those screws out, the whole vent-pod unit comes off.




Time to head over to the workbench again.

There are 4 clips holding the outer "shell" of the inner pod on. Two are on top and two are on the bottom. Here's what they look like



to get over these little clips, get a thin screwdriver and pry it between the vent and the outer shell. You can see in the picture two little white dots - those are pressure marks where you need to put the screwdriver in and pry up. It takes a little time and patience, but eventually pry it up over top of all 4 clips. The outer shell will then pop off.



Once it does, give the pod a few swift smacks on the BACKSIDE of the vent. The vent will pop out the front and you will have your empty pod.

[Stavesacre21]

Due to the number of images in this post, I had to break it into two different posts - this is PART TWO


DVD case/gauge "pod" (part 2)

NOW - back to modeling the fitment of the gauge/DVD case. I sat the vent pod bracket down on top of the DVD case and drew a rough 1/2 circle around to get a feel for how big the hole was going to have to be.

From there, it was LOTS of guess and checking while maintaining the best circular shape possible. Try to make sure you're EVENLY cutting it a circle, and not turning it into an oval.

After a good 1/2 hour or so, I ended up with this


backside


I wish I had an accurate number to tell you the correct size, but it was a difficult measurement. If you use the center pod, you'll have more room for error, as the bottom-outer corner of both edges protrude, making you keep it more closely accurate. I still had a good amount of overhang when I was done, making me feel better then not enough. Tighten the two screws on the backside of the gauge once you're happy with the final cuts. A drop of non-permanent loc-tite should do.

While I had the gauge out, I decided to make some splices and add extensions then instead of waiting until I was in the cramped quarters of the car. As you can see, the stock wires are extremely short.



I hate butt-splices and have personally had problems with them, so I make manual splices, line them with electrical tape, and NORMALLY use shrink-wrap over them. However, I was out of shrink-wrap, so I had to use zip ties. Looks like a hack job, but it's a solid connection.

You can also note in that picture that I put on TWO layers of foam double-sided tape. This creates the perfect thickness to sandwich the enclosure perfectly once you get ready to place the gauge between the pod and the front fascia.

After you're all done getting the gauge together, it's time to plug the hole behind where the gauge will be mounted. Some have went without doing so, but I figure while we're here, lets do it. I used a sliver of expanded polystyrene insulation. Cuts SUPER easy, and pluged the hole great...but is usually bought in HUGE boards. If you have access to any, it works great. After running my A/C for extended amounts of time, the gauge still remains room temperature.






Installation and Fitment

Time to put it all together now. Feed the wires down the slot between the vent and stereo. Also, find that vacuum line that's been sitting under there since the beginning, and feed it up to where the gauge will be. Plug it into the back of the gauge, and then start to sandwich is all together. Before it's tight, make sure the gauge sits flush, flat, and not rotated. I had to do this step about 3 times, because I kept finding small gaps due to overtighening the screws on the backside of the gauge, thus making the DVD case "bend" and make gaps more obvious.

Once you're done with your final touches, get it all sandwiched, and push it right to the point where it clicks, but not quite there. You don't wanna click everything in there perfectly until you test it out after the next step.



On to the final step - electrical splices.



With these wires, you're going to be making 2 splices using a U-splice or Scotch-Lok. These don't cut the wire, but instead splice into them with minimal effort.

It's confirmed that the wire connections you will be making are the following colors:

Ground (Black on gauge) - Ground
12V (Red on gauge) - Blue wire (on car)
12V switched (Green on gauge) - Green wire (on car)

For the extension wires, I only had white, black and red. So don't get confused. The white extension wire is actually the GREEN wire off the gauge in the picture.



For the ground, I used one of the huge bolts by the shifter. You may be able to find a better one, but I was growing tiresome after 7 hours so just went for the first solid one I could find. It's right UNDER the white connector in the following pic



At this point, you should be ready for the final test. Start the car up and check your vacuum. Depending on how long your car has been sitting, it should vacuum between as low as -21 and as high as -16 (in my findings). Turn your lights on and check the dimmer function. The gauge should dim.

As long as your gauge is working and you are satisfied with your work, give the stereo a final push to snap it into place. Follow the instructions in reverse to put it back together. DON'T get too excited as I did to get it all back together - that's exactly how I lost a socket behind the stereo when I was getting ancy. Be warned!

Final install pics are as follows:







I've also attached a video taken with my cell to show its operation for anyone on the fence about getting one. They were recently marked down to $89!



I couldn't honestly be happier with the stock-look of the install. IMO, any vehicle that's turbo or supercharged should come with a boost gauge stock anyhow. This was the answer to one of my only gripes about the car's interior, and still left you with FOUR functional vents!

If anyone has any questions about any part of the install, feel more then free to PM me or add onto this thread.

[BigBens6]

If people cannot figure this out between both of our posts, they dont deserve to drive an MS6... I must however reiterate as i did in my post, that Hillauz (zeke) helped me with MY instal so this is in effect the thrid installment of this installation, but i guess it makes it comprehensive!

[Stavesacre21]

thanks for the heads up Ben. Fixed

I'll tell you what...if we could find someone to fabricate those plastic molds for the vent to the exact specs (both circumference and thinkness), I'll bet there would be a lot more people that would love this mod. It was probably the biggest guess/check part of the whole ordeal, thus taking a great amount of time.

Suppose i can dream tho lol

[goodgenes79]

This install is now so simple an illiterate monkey could put a vent gauge into our vehicle. Thanks to ALL who have been involved for making this a great walk through. And to all monkeys.... no offense was ment. Great work guys. Keep it up. I for one appreciate this and will be putting my own gauge into a vent, not wanting to be apart of the VENT POD buy scams.

[Stavesacre21]

no joke. I feel bad for all the people who've been scammed by that...a select few TWICE now. If anything, i'd like to think that this extra install comes at a good time, as i'd be happy to help any of those who got screwed to get this inline instead

As you mentioned, it's really not very tough now that there've been 3 walk-thoughs.

[jncastillo87]

AWESOME POST .. thanks for the step by step ... I like the way your gauge look .. I have something similar .. just wanted to share !! ..

[knyghtryda]

lose a vent, or spend $60 on a vent pod... decisions decisions...

[Stavesacre21]

QUOTE (JohnnySpeed6 @ Aug 20 2008, 02:38 PM)

AWESOME POST .. thanks for the step by step ... I like the way your gauge look .. I have something similar .. just wanted to share !! ..[/b]

I found myself torn over which vent to use when I did the mod as well. I initially was going to use the center vent with concern for the left vent circulation, but then opted to go with the left side vent just because it looked like it was more a part of the "driver's cluster".

Center installs are just as useful, it all boils down to personal preference. Tomato/tomoto, right?


QUOTE (knyghtryda @ Aug 20 2008, 02:42 PM)

lose a vent, or spend $60 on a vent pod... decisions decisions...[/b]

Even money aside, I still liked the stock-look of the vent's better then pod options i've seen. IMO, pods just look more "modified" then the vent install. I'm shooting to keep as much of a stock form/look as possible.

And just some reassurence on the vents, I found that being minus 1 from 5 to 4 hasn't made much of a difference at all. I was concerned that the driver's side wouldn't get enough air, but it hasn't been much of a problem at all.

Had the car only come with TWO vents instead of three in the center stack, I probably wouldn't have did this. One in the middle wouldn't be enough, but two doesn't even feel like much of a difference from three

[knyghtryda]

QUOTE (Stavesacre21 @ Aug 20 2008, 03:03 PM)

I found myself torn over which vent to use when I did the mod as well. I initially was going to use the center vent with concern for the left vent circulation, but then opted to go with the left side vent just because it looked like it was more a part of the "driver's cluster".

Center installs are just as useful, it all boils down to personal preference. Tomato/tomoto, right?[/b]

I'm looking at a center vent install at this point. I like the whole "balanced" aspect of the look. If I really wanted to keep my eye on the boost, I'd look at my Dashhawk.

QUOTE (Stavesacre21 @ Aug 20 2008, 03:03 PM)

Even money aside, I still liked the stock-look of the vent's better then pod options i've seen. IMO, pods just look more "modified" then the vent install. I'm shooting to keep as much of a stock form/look as possible.

And just some reassurence on the vents, I found that being minus 1 from 5 to 4 hasn't made much of a difference at all. I was concerned that the driver's side wouldn't get enough air, but it hasn't been much of a problem at all.

Had the car only come with TWO vents instead of three in the center stack, I probably wouldn't have did this. One in the middle wouldn't be enough, but two doesn't even feel like much of a difference from three

[/b]

Definitely agree on the stock look aspect. That pod kinda just screams "tuner/ricer" even if the car doesn't have an ounce of rice factor on it. Right now, I'm trying to hide all my electronics on my dash as much as possible. Adding a pod would be a bit of a step back.