Billthe3's Boost Gauge Bracket DIY
I wanted to run an aftermarket boost gauge for my 951, but I didn't like the main options for gauge placement. You could either stick the gauge down into the cubby beneath the radio, but this is far out of eyeshot when you are driving, or put it on the a-pillar column, but then it can be seen by other cars while driving. I really wanted to get it mounted right behind the wheel, so I made my own bracket.
I started with a sheet of 1/16" plastic that I bought from sounddomain.com. It has a mirror smooth finish side and a side with a textured surface that trys to match most plastic interior patterns. The gauge I have is an autometer that the directions say needs a 2 1/16" hole to mount in, but I only had a 2 1/8" hole drill, so I used that. Once the gauge is held in place with the rear mounting bracket it is held in quite securely. Here are some measurements for the peice.
After I test fit the original long piece behind the steering wheel, I realized that if I wanted it to fit easily I would need the bracket to be more narrow.
Then I had to deal with the matter of the depth of the gauge. I could either hack up my gauge cluster surround, or extend the gauge mount out from the steering column surround. Since there is so much room behind my momo steering wheel, I figured it'd be easier to just extend the mount out. I bent the plastic using a propane torch and a table vice, and then used a level to press the plastic flat against the vice.
Then after putting the bend in the piece I cut the extra material off the end so it fit the contour of the steering column surround.
Here are some pictures of the piece mounted to the surround after this initial fabrication.
At this point the mount held the gauge quite well, but once the mount had the weight of the gauge placed upon it the bracket became quite springy. Probably not the best thing for the gauge, and it definitely won't make it easy to read the gauge while driving down a somewhat rough road.
To fix this issue I added some bracing pieces. They were glued on with super glue, and seem to be stuck on there very well.
Because I wanted to keep the gauge as discreet as possible, I wanted to make some sort of cover to hide the rear part of the gauge. I went to the hardware store and bought a 2" 90* pvc connector pipe that I then cut in half. To get the gauge mounting bracket to fit into the pipe I had to grind some material out. I then painted the pvc with extra flat black paint, it was called camoflauge paint or something.
Here are some pictures of the pvc pipe piece in place with the rest of the bracket. In the top right picture circled in red is the screw that is holding the pipe in place. I could have glued it in, but that would make removing the gauge mount piece impossible to remove, so I figured it'd be better to screw it in place incase I wanted to remove the gauge later.
I made the mistake of painting the gauge surround black before I made the mount. By the time I had finished making the mount and moving the gauge around so much, the black paint had completely scratched off on the top edge and a lot around the sides of the gauge, so I ended up having to repaint the gauge. If you are going to fabricate anything with your gauge and plan on painting the gauge as well, paint the gauge after you're finished making stuff with it. Here are some pictures of the painting process.
Since all was finished, all I had to do was mount it into the car.
Here is the bracket in place with the boost line and light waiting to be attached.
The gauge in place with all connections made.
Of course after I did this I realized I had to take the gauge back out because I needed to run the connections through the pvc pipe, so I had to undo it all. Rather annoying, but its a constant theme in my projects. Its just how I roll.
So here is the gauge with the pvc cover on.
The connections coming in from the dash.
A picture from the other side.
Here are two showing that there are no clearance issues with the steering column or washer/cruise control dongles.
Since I'm so tall, this is the view I'll have of the gauges while driving. No issues with the new gauge blocking out the tach.
And then two final pictures of the gauge and the steering wheel installed all the way. It definitely acheived what I was going for - good gauge placement in the drivers line of sight and not very noticable.
You barely notice it from the passenger side of the car. Yes, the bad lighting makes it blend in more than in real life, but it really does match the black of the car quite well.
