That looks awesome, but how are you going to deal with the extreme temps when you need heat or AC?

mb

 

There are plenty of other vents in the car - losing those two won't make much of a difference. The "upper vents" (defroster) and "lower vents" (footwell) are unaffected, and there are two more "middle vents", one at each end of the dashboard.

Plus, I have a convertible, so I generally have the top down more often than I use the A/C anyway.

Scott

 

I went with the Alta Pod and used Autometer 2 1/16" gauges. I used mechanical and although everything is working fine, I'd go with electrical if I was to do it again. I know the elec are about 3 times the cost of the mech, but the amount of work required to do a clean install with the mechanical was trememdous.



Since you're going with a Oil Temp gauge, you might have a easier go at it but with my oil pressure gauge, it required me to relocate the pressure sensor and work up a hook-up fixture. Even though the parts are easily found at your local home store, they are a bit of a b1tch to install. You'll be working blindly or with your arms jammed up through the suspension members to get everything hooked up. The wiring harness won't let you move the pressure sensor very far and you'll need a odd size (27mm 6-point) deep socket to get the pressure sensor out.

I think the elec would be cleaner behind the gauges as well. Here is a shot of mine. Notice the copper line going to the oil pressure and the nylon line is for the boost.



Make sure you use a few zip ties to secure the connections of the nylon lines at the adapters and T-fittings. Mine blew off the provided "T" in about a week and I had to go back and remove the I/C once again.

Here's a shot of my plumbing down at the pressure sensor:


I've also gone back and reworked the fittings to move the plastic connection further away from the cat, plus I've shielded the whole thing with some hightemp plug-wire wrap to stop it from melting!

Good luck and let me know if I can help.

BTW, the gauge pod is shallow and the gauges are deep, so I painted mine flat black to reduce their appearance

 

Smokey the install looks good.

 

Thanks

It's fun watching the gauge bounce from a vac of 22 to a boost of 14 But honestly it more for dress then function. The oil pressure on the other hand is very usefull.

Those pic's don't show it, but I've wrapped the copper line with a plastic wire loom from the gauge all the way to just above the heat shield to remove all vibration induced rattle. I had the locations where I thought I'd get some taped, but on the first couple of test drives I got tired of pulling the euroshelf and tach mounts to tape spots and just gave up and wrapped the entire line . Quite as a church mouse now

 

Thanks for the specific help! Whatever gauges I get, I am not installing them myself - I lack basic mechanical skills. I wonder if the cravenspeed pod lets the gauges sit farther back and more flush.

mb

 

Ok, I'm pretty sure this is what I'm going to get:

Autometer full sweep electrical boost and oil temp, part #s 4377 and 4356 in 2 1/16 size.

They will either go in this:
http://outmotoring.com/mini_gauge_pod.html

Or this:
http://outmotoring.com/cravenspeed_g...nt_system.html

And if outmotoring is willing to swap for me, then maybe they'll be part of this:
http://outmotoring.com/mini_cooper_gauge_kit.html

If that works, I'd have to get the larger ones. That probably isn't the cost effective way to go. Since I want the information and the look really is secondary, I'm leaning towards the 34$ stock pods that go behind the lighter.

mb

 

Nice! I've seen the Craven pod at the Dragon and I liked it. Nice construction and a trick kind of mounting system. The reason I went with Alta was because I was able to pick it up used at 50% off otherwise Craven might have been it.

Are you buying your own gauges? If so give Summit Racing a look see. For my choices they were best price even with shipping.

Good Luck and have you checked with your installer? They might be able to get a better price.

 

Yep - I've got the page up, and I'm ready to "add to cart" from JEGS (prices are the same as summit and their site is much easier to browse/find the gauges).

Edit - not sure who's going to do the install yet - I'll probably give Eric at Helix a call. If not then maybe Motor Works West in NJ.

mb

 

Might want to check out the Marketplace, guy there has a few gauges for sale.

 

Has anyone ever tried these:

www.speedhut.com It's fun making your own gauge!

mb

 

okay... i just finished my oil temp / pressure guages by auto meter in the alta pod. first be prepared to mod the pod. especially if you're using autometer. 2" pvc with eand plugs but glued works awsome but you gotta have a belt sander at your disposal. once you've made some nice tubes you can secure them with the alta allen screws. then paint all flat black. it really looks like aluminum when done . the electrics are easy too. though the autometers could double as landing lites. i gotta look into a different led for them. i'd go electric if i were you . though the boost isn't a big deal to go mechanical. madness has a pod with a back on it if you want to spend a little more money ;maybe 20.00

 

2 1/16 work fine alta sends a rubber spacer. but if you don't want the ugly wires looking at everyone from the outside you'll need to go with a tube of some sort like(pvc).

 

Did you shape the PVC to fit the dash curve? That would look very, very clean

To clean mine up I wrapped the wires for the lights with e-tape. BTW, you can get an orange bulb for the autoparts place to replace the white. Do you have pic's of your install?

 

Which size gauge did you go with? I'm assuming 2-1/16" but I know someone said the 2-5/8" gauges would fit in the Alta pod... If so, I'd like to see a pic it.

 

no pics ; but if you look at the alta pod it's notched on the rt.(looking out) to clear the dash. i just ran my pvc tube flush with the inner portion of this notch on that side. on the other i made the tube about a 1/4 " shorter to even um out. 21/16" gauges fit fine in the 2" pvc. the pvc once sanded a bit fits perfect in the alta pod. go to lowes and look in plumbing find the hexagonal plugs that but up to 2" pvc. just glue together. then sand off the hexagonal part. this makes a very nice tube with cover. simply drill a hole the same size as the wire harness you're running . black is nice, paint all including the alta pod(sand a little) flat black. it looks awsome.

 

i went with the nv gauge series. they're nice but very bright. the dimmer barely dims them. i'm getting a dimmer from atm for them. if i knew how to post pics i'd give it a try.

 

email them to me and I'll put them up here for you. smokey4(at)roadfly.org

 

i'll go shoot em now.

 

Ok here are Herbie's shots

 

wow big!! thx for posting smokey

 

Does anyone have any instructions to do this type of gauge installation?