Boost Gauge and Pillar Pods

[Messiah]

For an S1 R33

1. Remove the dash panel below the steering wheel.

2. Remove the lining that runs up the a pillar then along the top of the drivers door.

3. This should reveal a gap at the base of the a pillar.... run your tubing down this to get it under the dash.

4. take the end of the tubing and tread it through the existing hole in the firewall (located just behind the right hand edge of where the stereo sits, maybe a little higher)

5. this should exit just to the right of the intake manifold if your looking at the engine from the front.

6. Now comes the choice of lines to tap. The closest line is the line that runs to the stock boost sensor (little black box located in the back left corner of the engine bay when viewed from the front). This line leaves from the back of the intake manifold and runs straight left. This is nice and convenient, But if like me you have an apexi mech boost gauge, the supplied T peice is too big for this hose, so instead use the hose from the front of the manifold, its thicker and just like the one from the back... it will gauge the intake manifold pressure. For this i ran under the air intake and other leads to the front.

7. Cut the desired hose where u wish to join and insert your T peice.

8. Attach your gauge hose to your T peice.

9. use cable ties or similar to tighten the join on the T peice

10. find and attach gauge wires to power if applicable (i'm not going to tell you which one, just find on with power when the lights are on but non when they're not (lighter adapter for instance).

11. Depending on the length these wires can either follow tyhe tubing or instead shortcut down the side of the dash and under the panel removed earlier, dont worry when we put the panel back on it will be protected/hidden.

12. Next replace the 2 removed panels (the a pillar panel and the footwell panel)

13. connect your gauge to your hose and wiring and mount as needed....

All done with no hole drilling...

[Jimbo2000]

uh mate have you factored in the drilling to attach to column?

anyway its now linked in the member tutorials for ye

[Messiah]

uh mate have you factored in the drilling to attach to column?

I'll write that bit when i come to it. The bit i found most baffling for me (being a gauge newb) was how to get the tubing from the gauge to the engine. I have a Greedy single Apillar mount on its way so when i install that i'll document it and post it cos i've noticed a few people are wondering about that bit.

[Messiah]

ok got my Greddy A pillar mount and had a good look and think on it.

Looks like your just going to have to drill that bit. Adhesive wont be strong enough to with stand the flex in the plastic.

[pinoi_boi_r33]

mate what bout guages with controll unit and are electrical? what the go with those?

[DLuded]

can u put the t-pice in the same location with a r32?

[siksII]

ok got my Greddy A pillar mount and had a good look and think on it.

Looks like your just going to have to drill that bit. Adhesive wont be strong enough to with stand the flex in the plastic.

i have a boost gauge in a cup, i used squares of velcro with pressure sensitive glue on the back u can get it from hardware stores and each patch is meant to hold 1kg.

i used the velcro to stick the cup base onto the pillar, and the bottom of the cup to the dash. even though there is no flat surfaces and the velcro only holds a small area, it holds it tight enough.

so if u have a cup for your gauge u can use velcro is works fine.

also thought i would mention i passed the vaccum hose through one of the screw holes on either side of the accelerator cable hole (one screw is enough to hold the surround in)

doing it like this more than halves the distance of cable required when putting it through the standard hole on the passenger side.

[David Kemps]

it's not really a big deal drilling into the plastic interior underneath the pillar mount anyway, just get another part from a wrecker first if you're that worried.

the greddy pillar mounts are great, shaped for your car and look professional not like the universal crap ones.

Dave

[siksII]

yeah if i drill a hole i will always have a spare part first, im just against drilling holes anywhere in my car personal preference i guess

[Fry_33]

This is just a basic walk through of what I did to put a Boost gauge into my R33 series 2. I know there’s a few tutorials around but it sometimes helps to have a different perspective and more pictures etc.

The Pillar Pod I bought is car specific and many other models are available from this brand so this could be applied to other models/makes of cars.

The parts I used to complete the job are:

60mm Apexi Boost Gauge EL2 (Mechanical) Black Face (403-A068)

Single Pillar Pod (SPMNISR33 from Online Performance Autos,

www.onautos.com.au)

Double Sided Mounting Tape: I was using 1mmx12mmx2m (Cling Adhesive Products RB59 – Repco) but found it didn't cope with the high temps of summer so I have used Scotch (3M) Exterior Mounting Tape, I think the part number is 4011. This is much stickier and says it can hold 2.3 kg of weight.

Thin wire

Coat Hanger

Electrical tape

Wire cutters etc

Fine grade sand paper/ wet’n’dry

File

Drill

PILLAR POD PREP

I started by getting the Pillar Pod and sanding back the front edge of it to smooth it off, looked a little rough from the factory cut, purely cosmetic.

Measured the diameter of the gauge to find out what size hole I needed to make in the blank Pillar Pod. Decided where I wanted the gauge to sit in the pod and marked the position by tracing with pencil around something I found that was slightly SMALLER than the size I needed (you can always make the hole bigger, not smaller). I then drilled small holes around the inside of the mark and carefully cut/ filed the hole out until the gauge fit in nice a snug, took a while, a Dremel tool could be advantageous here.

HOSE

I removed my dash surround, steering column surround and lower part of the dash.

I put the pillar pod up where it would sit and marked a spot for the boost line, then drilled a hole in the A-Pillar cover. I drilled it 8.5mm but could go bigger as it was a bit tight for the hose. I fed the boost line through this hole down into the dash.

I pushed a straightened coat hanger (end bent over) through one of the rubber grommets in the firewall (behind the drivers kick panel). After relooking at the grommet it seems I have used a hole that someone previous to me had made in it. I guess they used some scissors or something to cut/ punch through. You may be able to get it through next to the harness but make sure the hose isn't pinched once it's through. If you try and make your own hole be careful not to cut into the existing loom, I would possibly try cutting it with the tip of some scissors, then using one side of them to increase the hole. I think I have seen somone else mention a passage through to the engine bay near the radio for the main loom you could also try (will use more hose though I think). I taped the boost gauge hose to the coat hanger, then pulled it through to the engine bay. It came out in the back left corner of the engine bay.

I tapped the boost line into the fuel pressure regulator (FPR) hose as this is what the supplied T-piece and hose fitted. I had a little extra hose so I replaced the FPR hose while there. I also cable tied the hose to the T piece just to be sure.

WIRING

You want a wire that is part of the parking lights circuit to connect to the yellow wire of the gauge harness. I undid the white plug under the steering column and used the one from there. You could also use the power to the cigarette lighter. Mine was a red wire with blue trace (ignore the pic, I hooked it up to headlight power accidentally the first time, you want parking lights). Then just find a suitable earth for the black wire using a ring connector under a bolt or something like that.

I didn’t end up routing the wire through the same hole as the boost hose in the a-pillar as it was too tight, the bigger drilled hole would help here. I ran the wires out the bottom of the pillar pod, then between the bottom of the a-pillar cover and the dash. You couldn’t see the wires when I was finished.

MOUNTING THE POD AND GAUGE

Once the hose and wiring was done I dummy fitted the gauge and pod to the pillar, checking lengths of wires etc. Once happy I put the double sided tape around the back edge of the pod, I needed to put 3 layers of tape on, leaving the backing on the last layer.

Everything was then put together and the backing from the tape was taken off last thing. I stuck one side on then pulled the other edge out a bit and over the a-pillar to get it to stick hard.

Edited February 16, 2008 by Fry_33

[Bliksem]

nice work mate, this tutorial is probably the most informative i've read for an a-pillar guage install.

[nsta]

hey can you please show me a pic of where theres an opening from the firewall, i still cant find one i can use to route my vaccum hose through from the inside.

[Fry_33]

The path through the fire wall I used has a large rubber grommet. It was located right in the corner to the right of the accelerator pedal. I have added a pic to the original post to show it's position. You may have to cut another hole in the grommet to pass it through if there is not enough room next to the wiring harness there. Someone else may know of another passage into the engine bay? I haven't really looked that hard as I had one there.

When the coat hanger was though this grommet next a wiring harness it comes out sort of inside the chassis. In the third picture, the hole just under the bottom corner of the orange/brown box where the hose dissappears into. Once the coat hanger had poked out into there I needed to use another coat hanger with a hooked end to link into and grab it.

good luck with it

[seriesII]

hey, ive just bought a apexi el series 2 boost gauge, poped it in, all working, ive got the kpa version, which is bar im guessing?. if any one know, can some one tell me what psi each notch would be, it goes from 0 to 0.5 then to 1.0, if it goes in bar, 0.5 would be 7psi?, an d 1.0 would be 14psi a bar?.. the little notches in between these numbers, does any one know how much they mean?.. like 1 notch is 1.3psi?, great if some one could help me with this? thanx

from what i can work out, each notch is about 1.4?

Edited December 8, 2006 by seriesII

[Fry_33]

You've prob figured it out by now but yeah each 0.1 notch is about 1.45psi

Here's a quick online unit converter

http://online.unitconverterpro.com/

[seriesII]

yeah, i figured it out. and your right. the 1.0 is 15psi and the 5 is 7psi. i just think of each line knotch being about 1.5psi.. thanx for the site tho, and a reply ..

thanx for clearing it up.. about 1.45 psi.. thanx

Edited December 19, 2006 by seriesII

[Mid_Nite_R33]

anybody know how to run boost hosedown the air vents below to windscreen to install a boost gauge on top of the centre console?

[Halo a]

anybody know how to run boost hosedown the air vents below to windscreen to install a boost gauge on top of the centre console?

take the plastic bit off and run the hose down. get a thin steel line or wire tie up the hose n put it from underneath the console.

[TramanBaba]

can the coppers defect you for havinga pillar pod installed?

[FLY-4DR]

that single greddy guage holder any one got one 4 sale? looks hot,

let m eknow cheers