DIY A-Pillar Gauge Pod

[CanadianGuy]

Yes a mechanical boost gauge needs a vacuum line run to it while an electronic one has a boost sender that you connect the vacuum line to then it sends the boost via a wire. As for the sensors, the needed sensor comes with the gauge so the oil temp sender came with the oil temp gauge.

How did you end up connecting the oil temp? Sandwich plate?

 

[zanethan]

How did you end up connecting the oil temp? Sandwich plate?

Yes. The sandwich plate has 4 ports for sensors, 2 on a flat section and 2 on the round section. Attach the oil temp and oil pressure to the ports on the flat section and plug the remaining 2 with the provided plugs.

 

[zanethan]

Final update on these after having them up for a month. They have not moved since installing them and are legible at all times. The rivets are holding up fine but if I were to do it again I would probably use 1/2" machine screws with nylon lock nuts to attach the pods.

Your results may vary depending on the make of gauges you use but if you use Prosport and want them to change color then you will "lose" the automatic headlight feature. I can get into the technical reasons if you so desire but basically the method of determining the color is dependent on receiving voltages in a certain order. With the way our automatic headlights work the voltages all come on at once and the gauges don't know to switch colors and will lock to white until power is recycled. This could technically be remedied by a time delay relay but due to the "smart" charging system the headlights don't always receive 12V so a relay just gets confused and the colors will change randomly while driving, which is annoying. If you wanted to maintain the auto headlights you could wire the color change to happen via a toggle switch but if you don't turn it off then they could see voltage at the same time and lock to white until power is recycled. None of the above is a big deal to me just thought I should give everyone a fair warning.

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Well done. You've got me thinking of how I can get this done.

We don't seem to have many members that have installed oil gauges, but instead rely on the Accessport/obd2. Did you consider mounting the sender remotely? From what I've seen, that's the part that usually fails from being "shaken to death" by the engine. I haven't looked to see if there is anywhere to mount them yet...

Sent from my Spaceship

 

[zanethan]

I've not heard of pressure senders frequently failing or being problem parts but I suppose a remote mount would be possible. You'll have to plumb an oil line from the sandwich plate to where you want to mount the sender. It's a 1/8" npt thread. The only think with that is that air might get trapped and throw off you readings.

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

FYI: this link was given to me from someone on facebook. You might find it helpful to find the right wire to get your auto-dim function to work:
http://revbase.com/bbbmotor/wd
It only goes to 2015 right now (don't remember what year yours is, but should be quite similar if 2016) but you can get the wiring schematics for the lighting system. Maybe tap into the wire off of the headlight itself?

 

[zanethan]

FYI: this link was given to me from someone on facebook. You might find it helpful to find the right wire to get your auto-dim function to work:
http://revbase.com/bbbmotor/wd
It only goes to 2015 right now (don't remember what year yours is, but should be quite similar if 2016) but you can get the wiring schematics for the lighting system. Maybe tap into the wire off of the headlight itself?

Thanks the wire from the headlight is what's tapped currently. But maybe there is another option in there.

 

[Spaceman_Spiff]

Thanks the wire from the headlight is what's tapped currently. But maybe there is another option in there.

When you say "the wire from the headlight" are you talking about the one at the headlight switch? That is what I assume you are saying. What I am talking about is the wire at the headlight itself, unless you can find where the control module is that is between the switch and the light. Does that make sense?

Sent from my Spaceship

 

[zanethan]

When you say "the wire from the headlight" are you talking about the one at the headlight switch? That is what I assume you are saying. What I am talking about is the wire at the headlight itself, unless you can find where the control module is that is between the switch and the light. Does that make sense?

Sent from my Spaceship

No the actual headlight wire in the engine bay is what I tapped for power.

I don't think automatic headlights with the auto dimming gauges is possible. It has to do with the way in which the gauges need to see voltage. In order to change color they need to see the white light voltage first then the blue light voltage. If that happens then the lights will change color. However, if the white voltage and the blue voltage arrive at the gauge at the same time the gauge will default to the primary color (white). With the way our automatic headlights work they are powered upon accessory. What that means is that if its dark enough outside they send voltage to the gauge at the same time as the white light voltage so that the gauges default to white. In theory, you could add a time delay relay on the headlight voltage but due to the way the "smart" charging system works in our car the headlights do not get constant 12 VDC. When the voltage drops it signals to the relay to shut of and the gauges will go white then when the voltage goes back up it triggers them to change color again so it ends up turning into a rave driving down the highway.

 

[DevonLantagne]

Looks awesome! I have been inspired! I think wrapping the pods in vinyl would look nice - perhaps some black or white carbon fiber!

 

[SirSlaughter]

I like your DIY take on it. Looks really clean and I'm a fan of your execution.
I probably would have done a more DIY setup but I was scared of screwing up my factory A pillar so I ended up getting them custom made by OrtizCustoms. I was the guinea pig.

I will say that the angle on your is probably way better for glare and stuff. I'm kinda stuck with the angle and my only real gripe is that it was made with someone slightly taller in mind.

 

[zanethan]

I like your DIY take on it. Looks really clean and I'm a fan of your execution.
I probably would have done a more DIY setup but I was scared of screwing up my factory A pillar so I ended up getting them custom made by OrtizCustoms. I was the guinea pig.

I will say that the angle on your is probably way better for glare and stuff. I'm kinda stuck with the angle and my only real gripe is that it was made with someone slightly taller in mind.

I thought about the OrtizCustoms unit but I couldn't swallow that price for what it is. Mine still has some glare but it isn't too bad in my opinion. I too was worried I would mess it up so I purchased a back up pillar cover in case I messed mine up.

On an unrelated note is that a Herbie clone I see in the background??

 

[SirSlaughter]

Yep.

 

[zanethan]

Yep.

Awesome! I was raised on those movies haha. I had my Mom rent them so frequently that the local video store made bootleg copies of them and gave them to us. Love the front plate too!

 

[New_Daily]

No the actual headlight wire in the engine bay is what I tapped for power.

I don't think automatic headlights with the auto dimming gauges is possible. It has to do with the way in which the gauges need to see voltage. In order to change color they need to see the white light voltage first then the blue light voltage. If that happens then the lights will change color. However, if the white voltage and the blue voltage arrive at the gauge at the same time the gauge will default to the primary color (white). With the way our automatic headlights work they are powered upon accessory. What that means is that if its dark enough outside they send voltage to the gauge at the same time as the white light voltage so that the gauges default to white. In theory, you could add a time delay relay on the headlight voltage but due to the way the "smart" charging system works in our car the headlights do not get constant 12 VDC. When the voltage drops it signals to the relay to shut of and the gauges will go white then when the voltage goes back up it triggers them to change color again so it ends up turning into a rave driving down the highway.

Digging up the old threads here, maybe further info has surfaced since.

Is there not convenient dimmer wire inside the car? The gauge I'm looking to install just requires a basic dimmer wire that gets power when the headlights turn on to dim the gauge. I'll just be going with a glowshift boost gauge that doesn't have fancy auto color switching, so I don't need to worry about that.