Installed boost gauge in my RX-7
11-11-2006, 07:46 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Cupertino/Davis, CA
Posts: 131
Car Info: 1989 Mazda RX-7 Turbo II
Installed boost gauge in my RX-7
No, this isn't a Subaru, but I've been on and around I-club since my sophomore year of high school, so I felt like I should share this with the Bay Area people at the very least. 
I recently bought a HKS electronic boost gauge off of ebay. The gauge is a discontinued model, and I bought it because it matched the interior light color of my FC. I spent a few hours over 2 days installing the thing.
First off was determining where to mount the gauge itself. I could not do an A pillar install, as I didn't have the gauge pod. I didn't want to do a triple gauge pod deal on the dash either, as it would cover my warning lights and be out of my field of view. In the end, I decided on the steering column cover, so it would be right in front of me.
The column cover presented some problems, since it's made of really ****ty 80s plastic. I took it off, and upon drilling holes, stress cracks started appearing. I decided the only way to mount the gauge without it breaking off on a speedbump was to create a sort of brace. I bought a bit of sheetmetal , screws, and washers, and finally mounted the gauge. It is ghetto to the extreme.
Bottom of steering cover:
Gauge on the top. I cut off the little part sticking out with tin snips. It's still ghetto, but oh well, I'm not that patient:
Next I needed to do the wiring for the illumination and power. But first, I needed to take out the instrument cluster to get to the harnesses:
We tapped into the harness to get all of the illumination and dimmer controls, and also to get power to the lights and the gauge. After a bit of stripping and tapping, we hooked up the gauge and it worked fine.
After that, I needed to find out where to get vacuum/boost readings, etc.
This is the sender included with the gauge. The "HKS" is like +3 to JDM level:
I ended up plugging it into a little nipple on the intake manifold, as you can see in this picture:
After that, I needed to run the wiring from the sender through the firewall. So I decided to route it around the AC lines, and down through the rubber grommet where the main engine harness is. I cut out a bit of the rubber and forced the wire through.
Now I could finally put the dash back together. After struggling a bit with the speedo cable, I finally got everything back into place and fired it up. I took it on the highway a few times, doing a couple of 2nd and 3rd gear pulls to make sure the gauge was working correctly. Everything was PERFECT. Boosted ALL the way to 0.4kg/cm2. That's like...7 psi! Anyway, here are a couple shots of the final product. I'm pretty happy with my work, despite the ghettoness:
I recently bought a HKS electronic boost gauge off of ebay. The gauge is a discontinued model, and I bought it because it matched the interior light color of my FC. I spent a few hours over 2 days installing the thing.
First off was determining where to mount the gauge itself. I could not do an A pillar install, as I didn't have the gauge pod. I didn't want to do a triple gauge pod deal on the dash either, as it would cover my warning lights and be out of my field of view. In the end, I decided on the steering column cover, so it would be right in front of me.
The column cover presented some problems, since it's made of really ****ty 80s plastic. I took it off, and upon drilling holes, stress cracks started appearing. I decided the only way to mount the gauge without it breaking off on a speedbump was to create a sort of brace. I bought a bit of sheetmetal , screws, and washers, and finally mounted the gauge. It is ghetto to the extreme.
Bottom of steering cover:
Gauge on the top. I cut off the little part sticking out with tin snips. It's still ghetto, but oh well, I'm not that patient:
Next I needed to do the wiring for the illumination and power. But first, I needed to take out the instrument cluster to get to the harnesses:
We tapped into the harness to get all of the illumination and dimmer controls, and also to get power to the lights and the gauge. After a bit of stripping and tapping, we hooked up the gauge and it worked fine.
After that, I needed to find out where to get vacuum/boost readings, etc.
This is the sender included with the gauge. The "HKS" is like +3 to JDM level:
I ended up plugging it into a little nipple on the intake manifold, as you can see in this picture:
After that, I needed to run the wiring from the sender through the firewall. So I decided to route it around the AC lines, and down through the rubber grommet where the main engine harness is. I cut out a bit of the rubber and forced the wire through.
Now I could finally put the dash back together. After struggling a bit with the speedo cable, I finally got everything back into place and fired it up. I took it on the highway a few times, doing a couple of 2nd and 3rd gear pulls to make sure the gauge was working correctly. Everything was PERFECT. Boosted ALL the way to 0.4kg/cm2. That's like...7 psi! Anyway, here are a couple shots of the final product. I'm pretty happy with my work, despite the ghettoness:
11-11-2006, 10:41 PM
#4
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Yokohama, Japan
Posts: 4,143
Car Info: Ver IV STi Wagon
Nice match with the FC interior 
Now share pics of the car!!!
BTW - lots of people offset the gauge so that they have a quick reference point when they glance at it. It's not always necessary to have the "0" at the 9 o'clock position just so it looks nice.
Now share pics of the car!!!
BTW - lots of people offset the gauge so that they have a quick reference point when they glance at it. It's not always necessary to have the "0" at the 9 o'clock position just so it looks nice.
11-11-2006, 11:15 PM
#6
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Cupertino/Davis, CA
Posts: 131
Car Info: 1989 Mazda RX-7 Turbo II
Originally Posted by RedStage
Nice match with the FC interior
Now share pics of the car!!!
BTW - lots of people offset the gauge so that they have a quick reference point when they glance at it. It's not always necessary to have the "0" at the 9 o'clock position just so it looks nice.
Now share pics of the car!!!
BTW - lots of people offset the gauge so that they have a quick reference point when they glance at it. It's not always necessary to have the "0" at the 9 o'clock position just so it looks nice.
11-11-2006, 11:16 PM
#7
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Car Info: 345/30/19s
Originally Posted by RU-X
i know that, but it just doesn't look neat... kinda like a ding on a car... u can live with it, but its just ugly
11-11-2006, 11:34 PM
#9
Yeah, You've Probably Never Heard Of Me.
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: in a glass case of emotion.
Posts: 17,962
Car Info: 345/30/19s
Originally Posted by Bunchies
Your wish is my command
"Bunchies"
11-12-2006, 01:34 PM
#13
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Cupertino/Davis, CA
Posts: 131
Car Info: 1989 Mazda RX-7 Turbo II
Originally Posted by wimprezax06
saw those pictures on s2k forums before, nice cars and nice picture, i remember that one picturre the guy did a jump kick over the car, thats great pics
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