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DIY Boost Gauge Install


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so my latest little DIY project was to install a Boost Gauge. I picked up a PROSPORT 30psi / -30inHG 45mm gauge from http://www.rspec.co.uk for AED.260 + AED.27 shipping to UK address + Dhs41 shipping to Dubai (shipping was super fast; ordered it on Monday and received by Thursday).

Project time: about 8 hours

Total Cost : about AED.380

ill give step by step directions for those who wanna do the same but haven't got a clue where to start

ok so i got the 45mm gauge because its the only size that'll fit in the DIN storage compartment, plus its only 30mm deep, so a nice compact little unit

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as you can see, the storage compartment get narrower towards the back, so the back of the 45mm gauge only just just makes it

tools that i used:

dremmel

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used this to cut and trim the plastic piece to cover the storage compartment

double sided tape

scissors

sandpaper

wire-stripper

hobby-knife

compass

nylon vacuum hose (need it to be nylon as there is a risk of the normal tubing collapsing under the vacuum). 6mm OD, 4mm ID (AED.4/m)

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Push-To-Connect T-piece (AED.15)

6mm

l

12mm ------ 12mm

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this is a fantastic little gizmo. you simply push the hose onto the hole and these little teeth grip onto the hose. to release you just push the blue thingy and pull the hose out. I needed this type of tee because with the 207s (and Mini's) we don't have a secondary line to tap into to get a boost reading. so, we need to cut the intake manifold pipe and get a reading from there. now, with the intake manifold pipe, you don't wanna mess around. if this goes wrong you will have no power-steering, no brakes, no clutch. so you really cant afford to skimp out on this part.

and finally the boost gauge. very nice looking little unit. has a Swiss stepper motor with full 270 degree sweep

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so now to the part i enjoyed most; making it look good

I cut up a tupperware container (if you are married or living at home, DO NOT use the woman's tupperware as you will be departed of your nutsack in the most violent manner possible :-P ). at first i was gonna use perspex, but if u look at the storage thing from the side, you will see that it has a curve to. perspex is pretty tough, and in order to bend it you need to use a bit of heat. so the plastic container was the next option as it is pretty flexible.

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the cut piece to be used

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I then stuck this piece to the front of the storage compartment using double-sided-tape. once it was on i cut the majority of the excess off with the scissors and then used the dremmel to trim the remaining excess plastic. the tape and plastic stick about 3mm out.

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First i made a hole in the back for the gauge wires to fit through

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next was to make a hole for the gauge to fit into

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test fit the gauge

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i then wrapped the front and a bit more excess of the actual storage thing with carbon fiber vinyl and connect the wires to the back of the gauge. then fitted the gauge in

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i realized that the power wires for the gauge is far too short to reach the fuse box, so had to extend it. soldered some extra wire to each of the other wires, put some heat-shrinking on each, and then wrapped it all in a bit of tape

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So, here's how I went about with the whole installation. I wanted to get the hose through first before doing anything else to make sure I had enough of it. how much you need is dependent on whether you want to use a mechanical or electro gauge. with the mechanical ones, on a RHD car you will need at least 3m (10ft). With an electro gauge you don't need as much because the boost sender wire is already around 2m long (the closer you can get the boost sender to the source the better though). The problem on mine is that, because its a LHD the grommet I found is located on the left-hand-side, behind a panel, next to the clutch pedal

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BUT, this is where my problems started, and why the project took so long. on the other side of the firewall was this:

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and its hard plastic; so couldn't just poke a hole through it. So after a few more hours of trying to find a place I decided, "screw it, im gonna drill through the floor. Went through the floor right by the door and then up to the engine bay and made sure the hose wont rub on any moving parts.

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i also used contact glue to plug up the hole where the hose goes into the car

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Next was to cut the intake manifold pipe, and connect that and the vacuum hose up to the tee

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connecting the hose to the boost sender. the nylon tubing was a BUGGER to try and get onto the sender's nipple, so instead, i used a little bit (4cm) of silicon tubing to connect the sender to the hose. it still took a bit of effort, but eventually got it done

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also VERY important is this filter which goes between the boost source and boost sender. it is needed as the vapors which travel up in the pipe can/will damage the sender's electronics

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zip tied to make sure it wont come off

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Now for power. Connected the positive to a fuse, negative to a ground behind the clutch (same place my interior LED kit is grounded. Then it was another mission to find a fuse that only has power going to it when the car is started. after much fussing i figured to use the fuse for the cglovebox light. the wire for the gauge's light was also connected to this fuse.

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Tested everything to make sure it worked. Warmed the car up and took her for a drive. afterwards i disconnected the wires, rerouted them, tucked them away and connected it all up again.

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and were DONE!! after loads of frustration i still think it was worth it. learned a hell of a lot and i reckon it came out pretty sweet. i know it looks really empty on either sides of the gauge, but will use that space for switches for WMI and CRYo2 systems later

ADAPT Performance - Power Unleashed

SOFTWARE TUNING & PERFORMANCE PARTS

www.adaptperformance.com

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