[flash]

as a part of my stereo swap (see separate thread) i needed to relocate the gauges that were below my deck, as the new deck is a double DIN and the old one was a single, and the gauges lived below it



the problem was where the heck to locate the gauges without it looking like some rice grinder / kid's car - the 2" round gauges were really creating a problem - the A pillar was therefore out of the question due to the aforementioned aesthetics problem - column mounting meant putting something there that blocked my view of the rest of the cluster, and also putting something fairly bright in my face, and i already have glare issues - there was really no place else on the dash, and there was no room in the cluster - i had to start thinking outside the box - the gauges were oil temp, vacuum/boost, and a clock



the clock i can live without, as there is one in the deck

the oil temp i resolved by utilizing a different type of gauge and relocating it (pic to follow)

the vacuum/boost gauge though was a problem - there just wasn't any place to put a round gauge, and another square one didn't really work either



then i starting thinking about the 951 - it already had a boost gauge on it - i wondered if i could make it work in the 968 - so i picked one up from 968TDG, who also had a similar idea - i then went about changing the face to read like i wanted, and had the unit calibrated - it needed a signal sent to it, and there is no KLR in the 968, so i installed a 2 bar MAP sensor to drive the gauge - i tracked down which pins in the instrument cluster connector to attach to, and then i installed it - bummer - no reading



ok - let's bypass the pins and go directly to the posts - still no signal



verify MAP signal - got it - connect directly to gauge - got it - cool, right?



wrong! now, while it reads correctly when hooked up independently, as soon as i connect the center instrument cluster connector, it pegs the gauge to the right - clearly it is picking up voltage elsewhere (likely the tach circuit) and pegging the gauge



i know the gauge itself will work - so, i thought i would disconnect the gauge from the 951 unit, mount it in the 968 unit, and swap out the face plate - simple, right? hold on there little buckeroo!



as it turns out, the boost gauge runs its signal through an IC on the 951 tach circuit board to calibrate the signal - crap! now what?



i am now going to do as i indicated, except i am also going to extend the 951 tach assembly away from the boost gauge and have it hanging behind the instrument cluster like a colostomy bag - that way, i can still mount the boost gauge in the 968 tach assembly, use the new face plate, and have the 968 tach and the 951 boost gauge in the same assembly



what a nightmare



i should have this running in about an hour - i'll post pics as soon as i do

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[flash]

success!!!



here you go with the solution:

   





the new oil temp gauge:

   





and finally, the new tach and boost gauge:

   

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[bombfactory]

So awesome - Flash you are amazing!

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[ds968]

hey, you did not paint a redline on the tach ! ( not that you need one )

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[flash]

yeah - i deliberately left that off - it was never right anyway, and so i got used to ignoring it - i use my ears really, and don't watch the tach for redline - besides, when i run out of hashes, i have hit the redline

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[flash]

as it turns out, i mangled the thermocoupler for the temp gauge - it didn't fit in the space i had, so i bent it to fit - seems i broke it - i am now having a custom one made that will fit in the space

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[StephenHallman]

I really like the integrated boost gauge. Not so fond of the oil temp gauge. I understand the limitation of it though. To bad you couldn't have done something like the boost gauge but also with the oil temp gauge.

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[flash]

i tried - just no way to get it in there - i'm still open to alternatives, but unless i figure something out, i'm stuck - at this point, i think i am going to cut into the dash, have a faceplate made, and then put the gauge behind the dash, just like the OEM temp gauge is - they happen to be the same size

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[StephenHallman]

Unfortunately it looks like that is the only way. At least if you integrate it into the dash and make a face plate it will be clean looking. I can't imagine where else you could put it that would make it look good.

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[flash]

that has been the dilemma all along

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[rxter]

Bob was nice enough to reset my idiot light (like an idiot I was too lazy to disconnect the battery before I started dicking around with relays - oops) so I got to see the instrument cluster up close. The tack and boost gauge are flawless and looks completely stock. As Jeff likes to say, 1 of 1.

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[Eric_Oz_S2]

Flash,



As it looks like I may be replacing my tach and I will also be supercharging, did you ever work out how the 951 tach/boost could be integrated into a S2 or 968 using a separate MAP sensor? Could you not just remove the electrical connections to the boost gauge and wire it to a MAP? What method was used to calibrate the setup?

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[flash]

not exactly - the 951 tach requires the KLR electronics - it does NOT work with any normal MAP sensor - made me crazy



on top of that, thought they look the same, the 951 tach and the 968 tach are not the same - the flat ribbon wiring is different



in the end it cost about $1000 to make a 951 boost gauge work in a 968, and i still had to use the 968 tach and not the 951

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