should i go with mechanical or electric? whats involved in hooking up a mechanical boost gauge? the gauge will be bought from autometer if it makes a difference

 

i would get autometer

and i would get mech cuz all it is i a vacuum line that runs inside your car

but on hte other hand an elec on has wires which will elimante a possibility of a leak in your line

 

do i have to drill and tap a port for a mechanical vacuum line?

 

mechanical, and dont make a new one use an existing port with a T fitting if needed. I suggest getting one of the gauges that has vacuum and boost. Also dont go crazy a gauge that reads up to 30 psi is not nessecary is it?

 

That depends...

 

Lots of lil V6's running +25 lb boost...

BW

 

thanks!!

this is actually on a V6, but it wont be running 30 psi, more like 18 at max

 

It will only go up from there.. I Plan to stay Under 12psi on the 400+incher Im building. Well see how long I can keep it under 12

 

yeah, i know it will be tough not to keep raising the boost, but we want to hit 12's with 18 or less pounds. cant wait for the new cam to come

 

not really, not any non buicks around here on this board.

 

humor me....whats the big deal about using a t-fitting to make a vacuum gauge work?

Dan

 

Nothing that I know of. I think he was just stating that if all vacuum nipples have been used, stick a T on it so that you can install the boost gauge and keep whatever was connected to it previously.

 

I have a twin turbo 5.7 TPI in my 89 IROC-Z, and use amechanical AutoMeter boost/vacuum gauge. It works great, except at vacuum it seems to stick sometimes (needle movement is not smooth). This is no big deal to me though, as an upgrade to an electric boost gauge is a big price diiference. As a side note, Autometer's A-pillar gauge pods were disgned for electrical gauges, and my mechanical boost gauge didn't fit too nicely into the pod (again, just a minor detail).

I must agree with B4Ctom1 on the not going overboard on the scale. My gauge reads 30in hg to 30 psi. My engine never sees over 10 psi, so it is a little harder to read. If I bought a new gauge it would read to 15psi. But then again, boost is addictive, so maybe after I beef up the bottom end a 15psi gauge will not be enough.

 

intresting piece of random stuff...


if you want to know the max boost your car sees on a run down the strip, you can get a small one way valve and put it on the line between the gauge and the motor.... with the flow pointing toward the gauge.


it'll hold your peak boost until you disconnect it.

you can get the valves from a autoparts store for various vac things, or at a pet store near the fishtanks.... *shrug*


to be really trick hook it up and then hook a lil valve bypassing it.. when the valve is closed, it holds max boost, when open it behaves normally..

and to be really really trick about it.... use a silinoid instead of a valve and do it with a switch inside the car.

 

just use a cheap, dial, tire pressure guage... you even get a nice reliese button to relive the pressure once you read it

 

they wouldnt let me go down the strip with my fuel gauge taped to the windshield, i dont think they'll change their mind for a boost gauge..


does bring up one intresting point though...

why can i get 2 dial air pressure gauges for $3 and a vac gauge for $5, but i cant get a vac/boost gauge for my car for under $30?

 

and yes, i realize i dont HAVE to see the gauge if its holding the pressure.

 

yea... that was sorta my point... I'm not sure I know why you couldn't just leave it under the hood or even just run a piece of hose into the passenger compartment...

 

I use the Nordskog digital boost guage. You must drill and tap the plenum for the sender, but it can be placed on the bottom out of sight. This guage had an automatic recall feature that will tell you the highest and lowest boost reading from a run. They are available in red or green display. Mine looks like this:

 

Im interested in buying a boost/vacuum guage to fit into my A-pillar but Im curious on why it doesnt fit well.... I saw you stated that electric guages are made for the A-pillars so what did you do to fix the problem? "Shave" of some material to make it fit better? Also..how do you hook up a electric boost/vacuum guage? (just wondering)


Dan

 

Is anybody running the Turbonetics boost/vacuum gauge? The one that changes colors once your achieve the desired boost. I just heard these gauges didn't work very well.

 

ONe thing I thought about was using a Oil pressure gauge (electric) for fuel pressure. I mean why not?

The price difference is around $150 bucks

 

I recommend not use rubber hose for the connection of the boost mechanical gauge. I had problems before with the dial pointer of the gauge jumping around. Use the nylon 1/8" tubing, at least that cured the problem for me. Anyone else has this problem?

 

my diesel is pulling 40lbs....

 

The problem I had with the Autometer Mech boost gauge fitting in the a-pillar is that the nylon tubing and compression fittings are too bulky to fit properly, which causes the gauge to sit out approx 1/8" from the bezel. No big deal, but the electric gauge should fit nicer. It did specify in the instructions with the a-pillar kit that it was designed for electrical gauges, but I couldn't justify the price difference ($47.00 vs $190.00).

 

I have the same problem with gauge and the pod, I had to cut large pieces of the plastic to somehow insert the gauge, and still about 3/16" out of the pod. This pods should be a little bit deeper.
I designed a stainless steel bracket to customize my radio & A/C center section to adapt two gauges, this should give some ideas to people outhere wanting to add gauges, and looks factory too!

 

would it be possible to "cut away" some of the A-pillar to make room for the fittings or would it look retarded?

Dan

 

i run the autometer boost gauge like this
boost --fuel-- nitrous

http://darcom.org

 

I cut as large a hole as possible in the plastic a-pillar trim, and still didn't fit perfect. I guess you could hack into the metal pinch weld seam, but that is structural. I will not do that to my car- I would rather put out the money for the electrical gauge that fits correctly with out the mods.