Install tomorrow

Doing Gauges, and wideband...maybe Short ram depending on what I see on the wideband. Supposedly the LC-1 can be used with an AF gauge to display wideband AF on the normal A/F gauge! I am kinda excited about it. Then whenever my software gets here I can start fiddling with that too. I'll try to get a couple pics of everything.

 

AF gauge turned out to be a oil pressure gauge...I just did not look at the box when it got here. The boxes are all the same except for a small mark on the side denoting which gauge it is, lol. And, being blacked out the faces all look the same! The install went pretty smooth. I did end up having to get some more tubing as the stuff supplied was not nearly long enough. The gauges were the "glowshift" 7 color tinted gauges. The gauges are nice looking if not too accurate. It does give me a good idea of what is going on, just not perfect by the numbers. It seems to be about 3 psi low at any given point compared to the AP boost meter. I guess it could be a factory defect. It does look nice though and for the price (2 gauges and a pod for $89 shipped) you really can't beat it. The pod seemed to be pretty cheap. I think if I had to do it over again I would get the full pillar with 3 pods.

I was able to use most of the wires from the radio and one from the AC. I found on another install instructions which wires to use. It was written for defi gauges, but after reading the instructions that came with the new gauges I was able to figure out which went to the new wires.

Black to black radio ground, constant power Yellow to yellow radio, Purple went to the AC harness for illumination control, and orange to the radio ignition switched power (I forget which one now, just used a test lead to check it...I made notes if anyone needs specifics). I just ran the wires down from the gauges, under the dash and over to the radio area. Taking out the radio is now second nature to me after having removed it 3 times now. The tube for the boost gauge I took down the same route, under the dash, avoided all the pedals and such then went out through the same large rubber grommet I ran my power wire for my amp. It is a pain in the arse to get to, but I ended up running some solid ground wire through it with the tubing taped to the wire. I then grabbed it from the top with some needle nose pliars. I installed the T in the same location the factory recommends for their boost gauge (just down a bit from the line going to the BPV). All in all the install takes some time, but it is not too tough. To mount the gauge pod to the pillar I just popped off the pillar, drilled a hole in the pillar to run the wires through then mounted it and popped it back on. Install took about 1.5 hours with the trip to the auto shop to get vacuum line.

Next comes the wideband. Install should be pretty easy as my downpipe already has a bung for it at the bottom. Just a matter of running the line and wiring it up. I should be able to use similar wiring for the wideband as well as the gauges (just switched, constant, ground, etc.) I am pretty excited about it. Can't wait to start playing with ST.

 

I gotta crack it all back open again when I do the other gauge as well as for the wide band. But I did look back in my notes:

Constant = blue w/red radio harness (was yellow on mine near the radio, but if you follow it back it is this color) .
Ignition = green w/orange A/C harness.
Illumination = violet wire radio (after market radio, follow the violet wire out)
Black Ground = black wire radio

 

I guess I will go ahead and do the wideband tomorrow before work. I am thinking that it should take a couple hours at the most. In theory my ST software will be getting here eventually!!!! I did not realize Sakari shipped all thier stuff from California!!! You think you are ordering from some place local and next thing you know it is being shipped from around the world.

 

I am planning on it. They actually recommend shielding it on turbo cars. Mainly the sensor itself, but I might try to find something to wrap the cable in as well. If nothing else some tubing to protect it.

I also am going to rip this gauge back out. As a revision to my previous review...these things SUCK!!! I went out today and you could not even see them in the sunlight. I tried all the various colors to see if one of them would work in daylight...nope! Add that to the fact that the boost gauge is now off like 10+ psi at some points and does not go beyond 12.5 psi of boost and these are just some crap gauges. Not sure if I just got a bum gauge, but I am not impressed by the gauges or the fact that I got the wrong items....all in all, not a good experience from Glowshift. At night they really look very nice if they would work correctly. But, by day...not good. We are talking a twinky the size of texas bad! (hopefully there are some of you old enough to remember that movie and reference!)

 

try using a 1/8 to 1/4 elbow, 1/4 t-elbow and 1/4 high pressure fuel line (goodyear if possible) for some reason it seems to be more accurate. i did this based on a suggestion from blake holcomb (old roommate) at holcomb motorsports. worked like a charm, gauge is dead on with ap and more responsive.
oh yeah that suggestion is for the boost gauge

 

oh yeah that suggestion is for the boost gauge

 

but it was a stadium sized twinkie
(ghostbusters)

 

changing to larger lines wont help crash.... larger lines only increase the responce but does not change the PSI
in fact if the lines are too large the gauge needle will vibrate or reduce responce

 

I am pretty sure it is a crappy gauge...it alo read 22 in/hg when AP was showing around 9-10. I did try upgrading the tubing from the nylon crap to a high preure fuel line. Still reads the same. Besides that it is dang near impossible to read during the day as it is not bright at all! C2 is on the way.

 

At least someone remembers this movie!

 

Aight the LC-1 went in without a hitch. Little bit of a pain in the arse, but could be worse. Review in the tech review section. ST just got here today. Gonna play with that and review it next.