TheAcumen
Greenie N00B Member
Hopefully I am posting this in the correct section. I was tired of my current set up for my boost gauge but, I don't really like the idea of drilling holes that will possibly be in a visible area if I ever remove the gauge. Not a fan of pilar mounted gauges. I have looked around a decent amount for a vent gauge, it appears they were once a thing but have been discontinued 
I am sure there are some out there, but I'm retarded and don't google too good..... 
My old set up wasn't that bad but I didn't like the placement or the fact it could be done cleaner. Plus, I didn't really want to take the chance of eating that gauge in the event of an accident and the side curtain bag went off. Now that I think of it, I should probably move the access port location as well.
So filled with delusions of grandeur, I set off to the magical valley of a "pull your own parts" junk yard. I found a few Mazda Threes and took the vents, I bought two for about TreeFiddy and was going to make an attempt at my own pod. I figured someone might find this useful and I really couldn't find anyone else posting on this so, what the hell...
The vent comes apart in two steps: First step is to pull the inside flappies out. I opened the vent then I just grabbed the two vent flaps and started to pull a bit until it popped out.
Then I discovered that the second piece came out as well and you will need that. I didn't realize this until I had gotten home and started messing around with the vents. I used the one from my car. This is what I had grabbed at the junk yard, it slides into another housing. All you have to do is put some pressure on the inside walls of the sleeve and twist it loosy. It has three tabs that will line up some slots and it just pops out.
Drill these out. You can mess around and try and get this apart, but it took a few seconds to just drill out those two tabs and the flappies flop out!
I cut out all the plastic with a side cutter then, filed out the bumps left over. After that I took some 200 grit sandpaper and smoothed things up a bit and then a little 300. This part won't be seen so it doesn't need to be perfect but, the smoother it is the easier it is to fit the cheap metal gauge pod into it.
I had this cheap metal gauge pod I was using in the previous set up, I think I paid like $6 for it. So far, I am $9 into this.
Then I slide the metal gauge pod into the vent housing that I had just sanded. This is a little further along, but this is what I had for a pic. I used the "tabs" or "ears" on the vent housing to mark where to drill. I threaded the holes but, the hardware I had was too tall, so I opted for this zip tie attempt. I might buy some different screws that are really flat and remove the zip ties. If the screws are not flat, it is very difficult to install the vent into the main housing. The screw and washer in the picture came with cheap metal pod. Also, this is where you need to modify the second part of the vent housing. Unfortunately, I neglected to take pictures. What I did was just drill a hole large enough for the wires to exit the housing without interfering with the vent sealing and pinching wires. I just used the slot that is cut into the cheap metal gauge pod to feed the wires into the hole, and I put some shrink tube over the wires that run through that hole, just in case...
I am not really getting into the wiring side in this post, mostly because I am lazy. I will say that if you run the wires off to the right side of the vent the wires come out right in that kick plate under the steering wheel and just go from there.
DONE!!!! I am pleased with the way it turned out. Super clean! Functional! The only holes that I drilled will never be seen
I hope someone can use this. Next thing I might try to do is grab one of the center vent cover/housing deals and make my own pods but that's for later I guess.
I am sure there are some out there, but I'm retarded and don't google too good..... My old set up wasn't that bad but I didn't like the placement or the fact it could be done cleaner. Plus, I didn't really want to take the chance of eating that gauge in the event of an accident and the side curtain bag went off. Now that I think of it, I should probably move the access port location as well.
So filled with delusions of grandeur, I set off to the magical valley of a "pull your own parts" junk yard. I found a few Mazda Threes and took the vents, I bought two for about TreeFiddy and was going to make an attempt at my own pod. I figured someone might find this useful and I really couldn't find anyone else posting on this so, what the hell...
The vent comes apart in two steps: First step is to pull the inside flappies out. I opened the vent then I just grabbed the two vent flaps and started to pull a bit until it popped out.
Then I discovered that the second piece came out as well and you will need that. I didn't realize this until I had gotten home and started messing around with the vents. I used the one from my car. This is what I had grabbed at the junk yard, it slides into another housing. All you have to do is put some pressure on the inside walls of the sleeve and twist it loosy. It has three tabs that will line up some slots and it just pops out.
Drill these out. You can mess around and try and get this apart, but it took a few seconds to just drill out those two tabs and the flappies flop out!
I cut out all the plastic with a side cutter then, filed out the bumps left over. After that I took some 200 grit sandpaper and smoothed things up a bit and then a little 300. This part won't be seen so it doesn't need to be perfect but, the smoother it is the easier it is to fit the cheap metal gauge pod into it.
I had this cheap metal gauge pod I was using in the previous set up, I think I paid like $6 for it. So far, I am $9 into this.
Then I slide the metal gauge pod into the vent housing that I had just sanded. This is a little further along, but this is what I had for a pic. I used the "tabs" or "ears" on the vent housing to mark where to drill. I threaded the holes but, the hardware I had was too tall, so I opted for this zip tie attempt. I might buy some different screws that are really flat and remove the zip ties. If the screws are not flat, it is very difficult to install the vent into the main housing. The screw and washer in the picture came with cheap metal pod. Also, this is where you need to modify the second part of the vent housing. Unfortunately, I neglected to take pictures. What I did was just drill a hole large enough for the wires to exit the housing without interfering with the vent sealing and pinching wires. I just used the slot that is cut into the cheap metal gauge pod to feed the wires into the hole, and I put some shrink tube over the wires that run through that hole, just in case...
I am not really getting into the wiring side in this post, mostly because I am lazy. I will say that if you run the wires off to the right side of the vent the wires come out right in that kick plate under the steering wheel and just go from there.
DONE!!!! I am pleased with the way it turned out. Super clean! Functional! The only holes that I drilled will never be seen
I hope someone can use this. Next thing I might try to do is grab one of the center vent cover/housing deals and make my own pods but that's for later I guess.