AWD Terror
08-19-2002, 03:32 PM
The following is by DSMtalk.com Member <a href="http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/member.php?action=getinfo&userid=5846" target="_blank">DSMaddicted</a>. <BR><BR><img src="http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/images/articles/firewall/firewall-icon.jpg" align=left border=0> <P>For many DSMers, an aftermarket gauge is one of their first mods. Right away this raises the question "how do I get the wires from the engine bay into the cockpit?". Traditionally, the wires have been passed through the steering wheel boot. Here we present an alternative method for the 1G that doesn't requiring any cutting.<BR> <BR><BR>Hello fellow DSMers, as some of you might remember by now I am overhauling my engine and while I wait to get the 4G63 ready I am "having fun" doing all sorts of little jobs to get my car ready for the big day... Well, one of these things was installing my new EGT and Boost gauges, and I decided not to route them using the classic location which is the steering wheel boot because I wanted to do a cleaner and more functional job...<BR><BR>I hope that this is something that will help some of you, and if what I think is a great alternative is already known by all of you guys then sorry.<br><BR><I>Please note that I did this process on a <B>1991 Talon TSi AWD</B></I>, and I don't know if the same tasks can be done on other years/models, but I don't see why not since the basic structure should be the same... Ok, enough talking. Let's go to town now:<br><H3><B>1.</B></H3>First of all remove the front left tire and the two black plastic shields underneath the fender...<br><img src=http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/images/articles/firewall/fender_l.jpg border=0 alt=><br><br>Locate and analyze the two small rubber boots on the two sides under the fender:<br><img src=http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/images/articles/firewall/location.jpg border=0 alt=><br><BR><H3><B>2.</B></H3>Now remove the small black fuse box (or whatever it contains) that is located in the corner by the firewall on the driver's side...<br><img src=http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/images/articles/firewall/box.jpg border=0 alt=><br><br>Take a look at the boot underneath it:<br><img src=http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/images/articles/firewall/under_box.jpg border=0 alt=><br><br><H3><B>3.</B></H3>Now remove the larger boot by applying pressure as the arrows indicate, and start sliding the gauge wires inside your car with the help of an upwards curved metal wire (sacrifice a cheap hanger) taped to the extremity of the wire...<br><img src=http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/images/articles/firewall/vacuum_egt.jpg border=0 alt=><br><br>You should be able to easily slide the wire inside, which will come out from the location that you can recognize in the picture... This task is really easy, so if you have a hard time doing it make sure you curve the metal wire upwards and point a light in the corner inside your car so you can see the brightness from the hole under the fender...<br><img src=http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/images/articles/firewall/egt_inside.jpg border=0 alt=><br><br><H3><B>4.</B></H3>If you want you can use a small silicone hose and cut it about 5-7 inches to protect the delicate gauge wires under the fender... Just enlarge the hole on the small boot under the small fuse box and slide it over the (in my case) vacuum hose and EGT wires. You can see it on the bottom of the pic... it's green:<br><img src=http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/images/articles/firewall/vacuum_egt_protection.jpg border=0 alt=><br><br>A better view of the protecting hose in place:<br><img src=http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/images/articles/firewall/almost_done.jpg border=0 alt=><br><br><H3><B>5.</B></H3>Now all you need is having fun installing the gauges on your new pod. In my case I had to install Boost and EGT gauges, but the same theory applies for other gauges. Just look at it!!! Isn't it the best place to run them? You have the Vacuum hose to tap in right there, and you can connect the EGT probe there and run it on the side of the engine bay! No more fighting with the steering boot and trying to route the wires behind the engine and risk to melt them...<br><br><img src=http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/images/articles/firewall/voila.jpg border=0 alt=><BR><BR><BR>For the record the EGT is a Westach that I special ordered white in color (it took 6 weeks!!!) and the gauge pod is by Lo-Tek. Guys, Lo-Tek is awesome, go and order your pod at their site (gaugepods.com)... they even have a 5 dollars discount for DSMers. Make sure you write them an email asking which one is the coupon word because I don't remember it... I think it was "ClubDSM"...<br><br>Please give me some feedback, let me know if you like this idea...<br>Regards,<br>Walter<BR><BR><BR>(Instructions on how to install the gauges can be found on http://www.vfaq.com).<BR><BR><B>Questions or comments? Please discuss this article here (http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=405096#post405096)</B>.