showing off my new boost gauge install

[ArmandoP]

no big deal, but I wanted to show it off and get some feedback.
I took the dash apart and mounted an autometer ultralight 30psi gauge in the stock gauge location. wired it in to the stock dimmer on the dash too. Much better than the "floppy the boost gauge install I had going on before with coils of nylon line and zipt ties.

Im not big on pillar mounts and I wanted something clean that was easy to see at a glance, and that wouldnt look like it should be on a ricemobile.
btw, that gauge cluster is a bitch to reinstall.

 

[plaaya69]

Looks nice. Do you plan on doing the other gauges?

Also you said that your ont big on pillar pods but you can get a nice 2 gauge pillat pod and it will look like it came from the factory and you can also install the "Oh Shit" handle. I have one and it looks very nice and clean.

 

[ArmandoP]

Looks nice. Do you plan on doing the other gauges?

Also you said that your ont big on pillar pods but you can get a nice 2 gauge pillat pod and it will look like it came from the factory and you can also install the "Oh Shit" handle. I have one and it looks very nice and clean.

Ill probably do the oil pressure and temp gauges the same way. Got a pic of that dual pod?
Main reason that I dont like tham is that they tend to attract the cherries and blueberries. I get enough attention with the BIC DDP and the upcoming 4 inch exhaust is surely not going to help.

 

[bowsercake]

Looks good man!
By the way, is that a 52mm gauge?

 

[CampbellsChunkySoupra]

ArmandoP -

check my build thread located in my signature down below for pictures of my Lotek 2 guage pillar pod.

otherwise, nice install!

 

[Facime]

yep, looks good. Pretty much the same thing I did with mine...

The only thing I wish I had done with mine was paint the bezel. I like the silver at first but now I think I would prefer black. Oh well, maybe on my next cluster.

 

[iceberg319]

can u post pics of the back of the gauge cluster????

how hard was it?

 

[CampbellsChunkySoupra]

i would do all of the there cluster stuff... but its a pain to put it all back into the dash itself. thats the only thing holding me back!

 

[ArmandoP]

i would do all of the there cluster stuff... but its a pain to put it all back into the dash itself. thats the only thing holding me back!

It was a pain to reinstall it, Ihad to cut part of the A/C vent behind the cluster. I didnt have the foresight to take any pics before reinstalling it so Weezl will hopefully provide them. Id love to see what the back of his cluster looks like as I did have to chop the hell out of mine in order to get it to work and Im not quite sure how Im going to get the other gauges in there.

Weezl, thats exactly what I have in mind, aside form the red. Blue interiors look awful cheezy with painted interior parts. I had considereed painting the bezel black, but decided against it due to lack of proper paint, and not being sure that it would stick to that aluminum without some kind of prep.

Its a 2 1/16" autometer.

Thanks for the compliments.

 

[mkIIIman089]

...it matches so well with everything else!

 

[Facime]

Yes I too had to chop the hell out of my backing. In hind sight I think I would have tried to save a little more of it. I ended up not having a slot for one of the bulbs so the left side of my tach is kinda dim. I too agree its a pain to put back in since I went with the cheaper mechanical gauges. Its hard not to pinch lines and the temp probe cant be pulled from the back of the gauge, so to completely pull the cluster out now I would have to pull the probe from the block. I retrospect electric gauges would have been worth the extra money just in hassle factor. But ya never know till you try.

Here are a couple more pics of what I ended up doing.

 

[ArmandoP]

I think Im actually going to go ahead and get the other gauges and finish the install like you did. I only cut the vent that is behind the cluster, not the one that is actually int he cluster like you did and I thikn I can get it to sit a little farther abck int he cluster if I do it like you did. In the end Ill likely put an AEM truboost on the pillar and run an EGT or wideband in the stock boost location. Hmmm, sounds like I just started another project.
Thanks for posting those pics!

 

[Koenigturbo]

Me personally:

I'd put the boost gauge next to the tach, put the oil guage next to the speedo, the temp gauge next to the oil and the fuel gauge to the far right ( the last spot in the cluster) but that's personal preferance it makes more sense to me having the boost and tach close
I thought about redoing it all that way,maybe I will later but it was a P.I.T.A. with boost guage, let alone all of them

 

[Facime]

With the way I sit in my car and have the steering wheel set the way I like I cant actually see all of the temp gauge. For me, if I were going to go back into it, I would put a matching full sweep Amp gauge where the boost is and put the boost and wideband (currently in cig lighter spot) either on top of the column or in a pillar pod. Then put an EGT in the cig lighter.

 

[ArmandoP]

I may change it around later on and play with gauge positioning, then put an AEM truboost in one of these....
custom pod that Robb in Iowa makes...

 

[foreverpsycotic]

got a site for that guage pod? ive seen a few of them around

 

[ArmandoP]

got a site for that guage pod? ive seen a few of them around

I dont believe Robb has a website, he custom makes everything. the guy is killer on toyota body work.
Ill see if I can get his number.

 

[TurboStreetCar]

i was going to do the same install with an almost identical gauge but it was running into that rear vent as you mentioned and throwing it all off. i ended up scraping it.

 

[jonstew]

I dont believe Robb has a website, he custom makes everything. the guy is killer on toyota body work.
Ill see if I can get his number.

Robb does not have a website, I sent him an email and asked if he wanted his info given out to those who might be interested. He hand builds those gauge pods when he is in between jobs around the shop so it's almost like filler work for him so he gets them done in no time sometimes and other times you might be waiting a month or two. The one Armando posted up is for a 6th gen Celica but he has made them for MR2's (MK1 & MK2) and Celica's plus a few other I am sure.

 

[starscream5000]

A dual version of that mounted on the steering column would be awesome .