Gauge Advice, What do you think?
 

I am looking at some gauges and want your advice. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/GAUGE-SINGLE-POD-CARBON-FIBER-PORSCHE-VW-CADILLAC_W0QQitemZ150068857070QQihZ005QQcategoryZ3 3679QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I might get that and Id repaint it, do you think it would fit nicely on the pillar? Also, if I did get the pod, what gauge should I get? What would be the most useful or vital gauge we dont have? Oil pressure? Voltmeter? Oil temp?

anything that says Universal, wont fit a porsche unfortinatly unless its a wash rag...

That gauge pod mounts to a more round shape pillar. I had an eclipse and bought my boost gauge from RRE and they supplied the gauge pod and even while my pillar was way more rounded than the porsche, it still wasnt round enough.

I am working on a gauge setup for the boxster. It will have oil temp, oil pressure, and perhaps voltmeter. I am looking at putting in the upper "cubby" above the shifter under the radio/climate controls.

I already have the sensors put in when I did the engine swap, currently I need to fab a faceplate that fits the space and holds the gauges. The key is to make it look stock.

I think that would be a better location that in a pod on the steering stalk or on the A pillar.

Thoughts?

The cubby area would be pretty nice. A rectangle of aluminum would look good just glued to the front of the bin. But a much better method would be fiberglass. You could just stretch a cloth over the bin and fiber glass it. What sensors did you put in? A "T" fitting for the oil pressure? How do you get your volts and oil temp? Coolant temp? What do you tap into for each?

Check this out they make single and double gauge pods for the box and 911. atm-20013 atm-20014 they go right on top of the column.





http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch.asp?Ntk=KeywordSearch&DDS=1&Ntt=boxster+ gauge+pod&x=0&y=0&N=+115&searchinresults=false

I saw those while looking online. Not quite sure about it though... How Id run the wires, or if itd get in the way. I dont know honestly.

if you dont know what gauge you need, you probably dont need it

Why not just do a gauge swap with a Carrera dash? They are somewhat compatible aren't they?

-David

yeah, but the trim around our guages doesn't fit arround the carrera cluster, and the carrera trim doesn't fit in our car. i'm working on a solution to that one myself....

the boxster engine already has the oil pressure sensor, but it just runs one wire for the idiot light, what you do is swap in the sensor from a carrera, it is the same but it has 2 leads, one for the idiot light, and one for the pressure gauge. For the temp gauge, you get the proper sender and it goes on a port that is on the opposite cylinder head from the oil pressure port, it just does not have a sensor in it, just a plug. Take out the plug and screw in the tmep sensor sender. You run the wiring up from the engine bay through the firewall by bundling it with another existing wire bundle that already goes through.

I have the gauges and the sensors in, and the wire run, I just need to fab a faceplate and wire up the gauges, and there you have it. Oil temp, oil presure and a voltmeter if you want. I didnt want the voltmeter, but I definitely wanted oil temp so I am sure things are up to temp before I get on the motor. Pressure is also nice to see things are going as they should be.

What gauges did you go with?

you can do a five gauge Carrera cluster in a Boxster. Tool Pants I believe has a write about this on Renntech.org
A nice mod if you are a do it yourself type. But it depends on what year your Boxster is and only certain Carrera years work with certain Boxsters.
Once you locate the right parts it doesn't seem too complex.

I went with VDO vision series. Nice gauges that look very stock.

going the way I am doing will be mucho cheaper than installing a carrera cluster. I found several carrera clusters, but the cheapest one was $500!. So far I have spent about $125.

Can you tell me what size they are, or maybe a model number or link? I have the oil pressure sender, I'm thinking of adding the gauge to go with it and a volt meter and would like to mount them in a 1 din piece.

..........

Thanks tool pants, I knew I had seen that pic before. So Id need a carrera oil pressure sensor (how much would that cost and how easy is it to change?), voltometer shouldnt be a problem, and Oil temp (How much for the sender and how hard would it be to put in?). If I can do the gauges for around 100 bucks I will.

The oil pressure sensor should be 996.606.203.01 assuming the info I got is correct, I haven't installed it yet. It's supposed to be a direct replacement that just has another terminal, you then run a wire to the cabin. I don't know about the oil temperature, please let me know if you confirm what is needed.

Chris,
The Vision VDO are 2 1/16" dia gauges. These will barely fit in the cubby space.

Cubby Gauges....Just finished the fit
 

Just finished the fit on some mini gauges in the cubby area. The gauges are electric and 1 1/2 inches in diameter. I used the face of the cd storage holder and the gauge plate from the gauge kit. waiting on my third gauge to arrive. Have about $30 in it so far. Attached are a few pics.

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