Aftermarket Gauges and Pillar Pods (Cont'd)
You can now route the wiring harness for both the gauges up to the pillar location. Remove trim that runs vertically between the door and dash, we will hide the wires in this location. The white wire will supply power to the gauge lights. Remove the bezel from the instrument cluster. Follow the instruction from MustangHowTo's Gauge Bezel Installation Article if you are unfamiliar on how this is accomplished. Fish the white wires through to the head light switch location for future tie-in to the existing dimmer supply wire.
Test to ensure, but we found that the first blue wire was a dimmer supplied hot wire for us to tie into. It was easier to tie-in to this wire when we removed the light switch mounting bolts. Twist both white wires together and use a wire tap to connect and draw power from the blue wire.
Both red wires from the wiring harness need to be tied into a switched fuse from the panel just to the left of the clutch pedal. With a test light, locate a switched fuse of ample size to handle 2 more items. We chose a 20 amp fuse on the left side of the fuse panel. It is important to choose a fuse that has power through crank at start up or it may calibrate itself incorrectly. It is important to ensure the fuse has a constant power supply, and the gauges will re-calibrate themselves correctly at each start up. Twist the ends together and fold over. Place the fold of wire over one of the spades of the fuse and replace the fuse into the panel. Make sure no stray wires could contact the opposite side of the fuse. It may take a little bit of pressure to get the fuse back in, but it should go as long as an excessive amount of wire is being pushed in.
The black wires are ground wires for both harness. Twist the exposed ends together and crimp a wire connector to them. Find a suitable location to mount the ground and scrape any paint away from the mating surface. Tighten securely to ensure a good ground.
With power, ground and connection to a dimming device, you should be able to plug in the gauge harness and test for functionality.
We found a great, safe location behind the firewall cowl for the boost switch. Locate and mark the locations of the screws to mount the switch and drill 2 small pilot holes. Mount the switch securely.
Of course a boost gauge must be tied into a vacuum/boost line. Cut the line in an appropriate location and install the supplied tee. Using a pull tie to secure the ends of any fitting in a vacuum/boost line is always a good idea. Attach one end of the supplied flexible tubing to the end of the tee, route it towards the boost switch mounted on the firewall and tie off. Make sure there are no kinks and it is out of the way of getting nicked or cut. Measure an appropriate length, cut the tube and install the supplied end to connect to the switch.
We are now ready to plug the gauges in and mount them into the SOS Pillar pods. We wrapped the gauge with electrician tape, almost all the way around to provide a good secure hold in the SOS pillar pod. Line them up and press them firmly into position, seating them with the gauge bezel mating up to the rim of the pod.
We are now ready to re-install the pillar back into place and replace the vertical trim between the door and the dash. Make sure that you snap the spring retainer clips properly to hold the pillar in place. Carefully align all the plastic alignment pins and you won't have any problems. Don't forget to replace the plastic retainer pin near the clamp for the convertible top.
The only thing left to do before start up is to re-mount the Raptor shift light. If you hadn't install one yet, there is a hole and grommet in the lower pod to hide the wiring for the shift light. We chose not to re-wire the shift light at this time but mounting is identical otherwise.
Twist the small tab on the mount location side was and slide one end into the access hole for adjusting the shift light settings. Tuck the front edge in first and then the back, sliding it backwards to hold it in place. Twist the shift light back to a parallel plane with the pods and it will effectively be clamped in place. Adjust slightly for best viewing angle and you are good to go.
Turn the ignition key on, and observe the gauges. When you put the key in the ignition and flip to ACC, the gauges power up and self-calibrate and generate a zero reading based upon current atmospheric pressure (so that the gauge is accurate at whatever altitude the vehicle is started at, as opposed to a mechanical boost gauge which is really only TRULY accurate at the altitude at which it was originally assembled and calibrated). The gauges should do a swing down to the stop peg and then come to rest. You can start the car and check for fuel pressure response and boost measurement response.
A look at the final application demonstrates what a neat and tidy packages is supplied by Speed of Sound LLC mated up with a couple of high quality gauges from Auto Meter.
