awdx4

As I mentioned a week or so ago, I was looking at fitting a Drift boost guage to my Hawkeye. I placed the orders for the guage from caraudiosecurity.com and the pod from Scoobyparts, Saturday 30th Oct, both arrived 2nd Nov. I installed the items this morning in just over an hour.

The guage comes with a securing bracket to keep it in place once it is orientated correctly.



The pod is self explanatory in respect of attaching it to the car, and the guage wiring will discretely tuck down under the pod.



Remove the trim as shown below and tuck the wire out of sight and then re-fit the trim by pushing it back into place. The metal parts of the bulkhead which the dash is attached to has holes in various places, which enable the cable to be tucked through in the general direction of the fuse box. I also put some draft excluder around the hole that I used as it was razor sharp around the edges and it would be wise to wear safety gloves whilst delving around under the dash.



Below shows the wiring in place. The ground arrow 1, is secured by existing bolt, which must be undone using a tool which enables one's hands to be well clear of that area, as it's all very sharp and the nut gives very suddenly when undoing. Arrow 2 shows the plug on the short cable attached to the guage now connected to the lead which goes through the car bulkhead into the engine bay to meet up with the boost sensor. Arrow 3 shows an in-line fuse/holder supplied with the guage which just so happens to fit very snug onto a lug on the car's fuse box. Arrow 4 shows where I picked up my switched live by using a test meter to establish which became live when the car was turned on with the key. I already knew I wanted the yellow wire as I looked in the car's wiring diagram before I started but just needed to double check. The guage comes with a fitting that bites into a cable to make a connection, but I didn't want to compromise the wire's core, so I carefully shaved a small area of the yellow covering and soldered the bare end of the red guage wire to it and then insulated that area to original spec. I then cable tied everything to keep it neat and prevent pulling on the cables.



The two arrows in the picture below, show the point at which I cut into the hose coming off the manifold to get a line for the sensor which sends the information to the guage, and the position where I cable tied the sensor to secure it to an existing loom. The cable from the sensor to the guage is passed through the centre of a rubber bung I found in the bulkhead, which I made a hole in and then sealed with some silicone. I fitted heat-proof ties to all hose connections and secured everything as neatly as I could. The only additional items required beyond what comes with the guage are, insulation tape, ties, T piece which cost me £1.50.



And below is the guage reading with the car engine idling, I have no problem seeing the display and surprisingly it looks even brighter when I put my polarised Ray bans on, and the colour looks different. I think it will look great when it gets dark.



This installation will be very similar to fitting a guage which has a hose which comes right through to the guage, aside from a need to ensure the hose is not kinked or crushed along its' route. I chose a Drift digital guage from their Iridium range, available with red or blue display. My reasons, I like how it looks and the makers claim it to be very accurate as the hose length to sensing point is minimal.

Regards

Tim

Glowplug

iTrader: (8)

Very nice Tim. It looks even better fitted.

awdx4

Thanks Bat, I'm really chuffed with it now I've had a chance to see it in action. It's responsive without being all over the place and having the figure in the centre makes reading it when it hits the max boost for my set up very easy. It's my first delve into fitting a guage on a Subaru, and I wanted the whole install to look virtually factory fit and to my eye it comes somewhere near that. I toyed with the idea of alternative positioning of guages and decided the pillar would be the best option for me. I might fit others elsewhere as time passes but the boost is the one I want to see without having to hunt for it.

regards

Tim

With hindsight I've possibly posted this in the wrong place as it might be of some minor use to someone else as green as I with the car.

Glowplug

iTrader: (8)

Yes, i prefer the digital ones, i think if i had spotted the Drift ones i may of gone for those over the one i have fitted. Very neat/nice job for a first attempt.

Heres mine.

awdx4

Mmm think I'll have to have a bank like that elsewhere in the car lol, I'm holding off on my last couple of mechanical mods until the weather warms up a bit in the new year, so when I get the map done, the roads are a bit more forgiving while I get used to the power increase. Yes, I can scan your bank very quickly and assimilate the readings without having to think, which is probably good for me lol. Having seen yours, I'm seeing the attraction, so if it's pigeon pie for X mas dinner I'll tell the wife it's your fault lol.

Tim

Glowplug

iTrader: (8)

You do right me thinks, the old white stuff is not the most forgiving when finding your feet again. The quick view is also good for me, the more time with eyes front and center the better.

There is nothing wrong with pigeon pie, ask my Mrs. I have all my reciepts securly under lock and key. Even i daren't add them up.

Coo coo, coo coo.

yellowsierra

Very interesting
So the switched live is the Yellow one so i'll put my meter thingy on that to confirm
My gauge also requires a dash live so i guess i'll just have to prod a few wires until i find the one unless anyone knows better.......PLEASE

Were did you get the "T" piece from ??

Great instalation you got there by the way

Ian

awdx4

Thanks Ian, I got my T piece from my local car/cycle spares and accessories shop, an independent. A dash live should be easy enough to find, I take it you mean a permanent live, like the hazards or parking lights which ought be fairly easy to spot. According to the manual I have which might be a little different to you car the parking lights come off fuse FB10 and the wire is plain brown, might be a good place to start.