Here's a quick run through of what was done to fit the gauge into the dash. Thanks to FCCUK and Dynotech Hayes Engineering

First port of call was to draw a circle using the boost gauge's face to use as a template but measure in 2-3mm or your gauge will simply fall through the hole.



Then out came the drill, a pilot hole was drilled first



Then instead of the scalpel method (because we didn't have one lol) we used the drill to generate lots of holes in series and then pulled them through together until the plastic piece fell through.



As you can see we now have a very rough hole



Then the hole was made a lot neater with a file and we repeatedly tested the fit of the gauge to ensure it was tight and sitting nicely



After this we then wired up the electrics. The best place we found was to to the clock. You can remove the clock by using a small flat head screw driver just below the vents on the panel that holds the 6 buttons. Gently prise it towards you and the panel should pop out.

This will reveal the clock and you should be able to unplug it and reveal this



All of these wires are perfect if you're using a gauge that requires a permanent live, a switchable live, a dim and an earth.

Colour coded from that plug is...

RED - Permanent Live
BLACK - Negative (Earth)
BLUE - Ignition Live (Activates when ignition turns on)
YELLOW - Dimmer

If you match these up to correspond with your gauge you should be fine!

Once wired in before you place the gauge back in ensure the lighting is working correctly for you.

To complete the rest of the install you need to run the vac line (supplied with some gauges) from under the bonnet into the car. PLEASE NOTE: The clear vac line a lot of gauges are supplied with is useless as it's easily bent which prevents the vac working correctly. Your best bet is to use some vac silicone hosing as it's much stronger and far more durable

The guide I used to find a suitable place to T-piece my line in was found here.

Also your best bet when running the vac line through into the car is to use the "magic grommet" which can be found behind the wing. Use this guide here to help you locate the magic grommet.

Once you have fed the piping through under your dash plum it in the back of your gauge and pop your gauge into the hole, it should fit snuggly. If it doesn't wrap some duck tape or any sort of tape around the gauge to create some thickness until the gauge has a nice tight fit in the dash.

The completed article should look similar to this





As you can see my gauge isn't very OEM looking but is a very nice fit and looks subtle yet serves it's purpose well I hope you'll agree.

And that as they say, is that!

Broken images mate?

You sure, refresh bud as they're working fine here!

might just be me then,still broken

fine here, good write up mate

Cheers Sam, I know it's been done before just thought I'd add my little bits and pieces

Looking good.

To make life easy just use a hole saw to the boost gauge size.

Funnily enough we did have that BUT you'd have to remove the steering wheel in order to drill it straight hence the other method

A horrible scene!

a HUGE word of warning

The area directly behind the bit of dashboard *might* have a wiring loom behind it

be EXTREMELY careful when drilling through the dash - I seem to recall a Coupe owner having to repair his loom after cutting several wires

In fact, to be totaly sure, its probably better to remove the centre console and make sure any wires are clear - this will also make it easier to splice into the electric feeds for the gauge

However, I think the dash is a much better place for gauges than the clock location (I really missed my clock when I tried my boost gauge there)

My install

LOL - just checked out the mileage on that photo - its 150,000 miles ago, to within a couple of hundred

Whats the gauge on the right Nigel?

looks like a AFM gauge

yep, race-x one same as mine and my boost gauge

I somehow managed to drill there with a drill and holesaw and the steering wheel in situ to fit my AFM.

God knows how.. must be luck!! lol.

Hmm a brave man, nice one lol!

me too

Ninja