Hi,
The 1st pic which i posted with the dual Apexi gauges were taken from an Apexi site, it is from a series 6 RX-7. The second pic is from a Subaru WRX.

Obviously they are not for our cars but i so wanted something like those gauge pods, mounted right infront of the driver up in the dash about an inch from touching the windscreen. Sailorliz23, yup, you are totally right about not mounting gauges on A-pillars. Definately an airbag there.

I do not have the skills or experience to fabricate something like that, so anyone with the ability, it would be the perfect time to jump in!

 

i know you also posted on my husbands thread about 52mm gauges. he didnt put it on his mini he put it on mine and its actually in a pretty good spot. at first i protested to it (like i said i wish i could have put it on the a-pillar like my older car could have) but couldnt do that. i think the best spot to have them is where alta is putting them because the OBC is there too. if you use that speedo instead of the huge one( i know i cant look over at that thing while im driving!) you can see your boost gauge at the same time.

 

Yes i did.

I'm all for the Alta pods, but pity they didn't make them out of the aluminium as they did for the R53 with the 'Alta' engraved on the side.

I'm in actually searching for the meters that suits my tastes, a silver or white dial 52mm (but since i will need a sleeve to mount it to the ALta pod, i'll prob go with 60mm), with amber lighting. To match the OEM dials. The Defi type meters with the blacked out screen looks the business but i feel it's not at home in the Mini.

Best i could find so far are the HKS db Meters, but they light up bluish....

 

.....monitoring a boost does nothing for me...how about a push for oil temp, oil pressure (along with water temp).....now, that's a mod i just might be interested in.....i see where the alta pods accept standard sized gage.....anybody completed an install with other than Alta gage? Where would the best place be to pick up oil temp and pressure?

 

For oil temp, you can buy adapters which mount between the oil filter and the oil pan. It has the port on the side for you to attach the temp sensor.

Pressure.... i do not have that info, sorry.

 

Well monitoring boost is pretty important, specially if planning on modding thee car, running added boost and switching components like the IC. I do agree with you that oil temp, oil pressure would be needed too. Specially with the lack of gauges our cars come with. I believe there's an old post onto where the oil and water senders are from the engine.

here's the thread...pretty informative IMO

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=118875

 

normally this approach woudl work, however our cars have the canister type oil filter housings not the regular twist on oil filters. the only way to get oil temp from the housing woudl be to tap into it, drilling a hole and running the sensor there. I rather wait until the temp sender solution is sorted out.

 

I'm working on oil temp and pressure. There may be enough room to fit an adapter for one sensor where the OE pressure switch is located in the left side of the head. I haven't ordered a gauge yet just to have the sensor and start seeing how much room there is. I've spend some time trying to find an adapter but haven't found anything really close. I think I'm just going to have a machine shop make something for me.

Here's the switch:

I was investigating fitting a sensor inline to one of the turbo oil lines but, the return line would just be too hot. I can't see where the supply line connects to the head. This weekend I pulled off the heat shield to take a look:



The supply line is the one on the top of the turbo. I don't really have a photo that shows it, but the line disappears behind the exhaust manifold and I can't see it from underneath either.

Just of the heck of it, here's the entire upper heat shield:

 

johne123 --- Did you see the link posted a few posts above? mikeyb17 has been fairly far down that road and has listed the various fitting designations. It looks like there isn't enough room for anything at the head, but if you can get an extension hose you can check pressure remotely. I put one suggestion in there but have not heard back from mikeyb17, who appears to have health conditions hampering his efforts.

 

the prosport one we have is currently red because thats what i wanted but it has the option of being in amber. like my husband said he did a little dremmel work (which took all of 5 minutes) and made his own adapter with the visor the gauge comes with. my screen is actually clear and my dial is black with white numbers during the day. i think it looks great and they have the same one in 60mm too if im not mistaken. it depends too if you are getting a mechanical gauge or not.

 

I was just looking back at that thread. The thing is he was trying to do both oil temp and pressure. Oil pressure sensor are also usually pretty bulky. If one is just trying to add an adapter to hold the original pressure switch and an oil temp sensor, there may be enough room. I should just get off my butt and order the gauge today so I can start planning.

 

Yeah, why don't you do that and get back to us.

I am waffling between a water temp gauge and an oil pressure gauge. I want the earliest and best warning of problems on the track and I think the water temp gauge would be the fastest warning of a problem. The oil temp would take longer to ramp up if there was a problem compared to water temp. The oil pressure reading also has a slight delay if there is a drop, doesn't it?

 

Oil temps are always higher than water. Both flow through the head and block to cool things.

 

I get that, but the water temp would rise faster than the oil temp if there is a problem on the track, right? I am focusing on the best gauge to tell me to "Pull over NOW! You have a problem." under track conditions.

 

In my corrado I always saw oil temps rise faster at the high end of the scale. Then again, it was easier to read as the water temp gauge in that car has very few reference lines to be able to watch whereas the oil temp is a digital display. One easy way to have both in the R56 is to mount an oil temp gauge and use something like a scangauge to monitor water temp as well as boost and other OBDII values. That's what I'm planning.

 

Just keep in mind that if you are using an OBDII reader for gauges that if you use PnP ECU it may through the values off on the OBDII reader. For instance, I have an Alta PnP ECU, I also have a ScanGaugeII. The ScanGaugeII is only showing the boost levels that the ECU is seeing not what it is actually using since the PnP ECU fools the ECU into thinking the values or something that they are not.

I have a boost gauge on order so I can do some comparisons between the boost gauge and boost values (MAP minus relate air pressure) on the ScanGaugeII.

 

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...interesting (i think) side note....the old Porsche 356 had only an idiot light sensor...wasn't long before the aftermarket provided a dual blade pick-up on the sensor...one side for the idiot light the other for a Bosch pressure gauge....won't be long....i hope

 

where did you guys tap the necessary 12v, illumination, ground wires from?

 

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...on a 356?.....any number of places....plenty of wires (hot, switched and ground) within easy reach right under the dash in those old doggies....if you were referring to a R56, I haven't a clue....yet

 

my husband tapped into the wires under where the shifter and the ebrake are. he used the ground and the rest of the cables the car has for the DSC and ASC because he didnt want to tap into any of the wires from the computer.

 

Yep, you get the ground, 12volt switched, and illumination from the cig lighter and DSC. So removal of the center console is included in the install.

 

Any tips/instructions on how to remove the centre console?

Thanks.

 

3 Screws, 1 inside each cup holder. Remove shift **** (pull up with good amount of force) Get your face out of the way so you don't punch yourself. Take a small flathead screwdriver and pry-up the plastic surrounding the e-brake boot (has I belive 5 clips so be careful). Then center console should be loose so just pull it up, then forward.

 

Ok. Thanks.

 

I have an automatic, so I (don't) think the shifter comes off (easily), so I just lossened the console and held it up ~3-4 inches and did the wiring that way. A little tight, but I got to the wires for tapping ok. BTW, I am still having trouble with my boost gauge. It worked for 2 days, then quite registering boost, vacuuum, after the start up sweep. The guys at Alta sent me another transducer which worked for 10 minutes! I am in contact with Alta and the Prosport guys to figure out the cause