I plan on going turbo in the near future (read: hopefully the next year)

I have an 85 GSL-SE and have room available to install 5 gauges as of now. The Positions available are the a-pillar, 2 in that area, and the center console below the stereo.

Who would put what where and which would you say are the most important to start with. Obviously the Boost gauge would be needed and I'm thinking I may fab up a pod for the steering coloumn for that.

Toxic_d

 

first and foremost... WIDEBAND!!!!! , then BOOST, EGT, WATER TEMP, OIL PRESSURE, OIL TEMP

 

ok very stupid question here....what is egt?

 

Exhaust Gas temp=EGT

 

So before you put any gauges you need to put a wideband? Is that for turbo only or can a 12A Stock engine use one?

 

A wide-band is for tuning purposes and gives an accurate reading of a/f ratios. If you plan on tuning yourself it's a good investment but if you'd prefer to have the car dynoed it's not really necessary. Normal narrow band a/f gauges aren't very useful as they only give an indication of whether you are rich or lean.

 

Where's the gauge position for the radar detector? =)

 

what brand gauges is everyone running? anyone running defi bf's? how hard is it to install aftermarket gauges???

 

A pillar gauges are for two types of people. Ricers and people who want their cars broken into. Which type are you?

 

$1002 nice attitude... i'm the type who wants all the info I can get about what is going on in my engine!

 

I am going to make a plate that mounts up into the dash where the stock gauges are and put a speedo, oil pressure, volt gauge, EGT, boost gauge, and fuel level, into the dash there. Then buy the HKS fan controller for water temp, and use the Apexi DECS for the Tach, oil temp, and fuel pressure.

 

ps.. I cant stand A/F gauges those things are retarted. Way in-acurate, and even if they were you couldnt understand them. I think greddy acualy makes a decent one. with numbers instead of lil lights. ya, it is greddy...

http://greddy.com/prod_warning_gauges.htm

 

what are you going to make the plate out of and is it going to be a direct replacement of the stock instument cluster type deal? if so you should produce em and sell em

 

ya it would be a good idea to seel them lol like with some assorted hole saws. but im a 16 year old with a angle grinder and a mig welder maybe one day i might

 

Greddy, Apexi, HKS, and autometer are my favorites. There also all pretty simple to install. Usually coming with fool proof instructions.

 

thanks man, and maybe when 29 and start producing em ill buy one

 

Some gauges are great for intially determining that your system is adequte,but youll soon find that you hardly ever use them.Heres my list of gauges and opinion of their importance over the last few years.

Air temp.....Used to be my most watched gauge.When I had the small,stock top mount IC is was something I HAD to watch in order to prevent potential damage to the engine.A very useful,important gauge for a turbo engine,however I rarely use it now because my FM Spearco is way beyond adequate,even on 100* days.Theres just no reason to worry.

Oil temp.....also very important gauge in regards to engine health.I glance once in a while at it,but again my oil cooling system is more than enough for my setup,so its hardly ever neccesary to worry about oil temp.

Fuel pressure.....I actually use this one quite a bit.When I start to get around 1/8 tank,I can use the fuel pressure gauge as a low fuel indicator.Im carful not to boost up when the fuel gets low,becuase of potential cutout/lean conditions from air pickup by the fuel pump when slosh occurs.When I see the gauge start to fluctuate between 45-20 I know its time to stop playing and start looking for a station soon.My Supra TT pump is more than enough to feed my injectors, so for regular driving watching the fuel pressure gauge isnt much of a prioroty.

A/F.....pointless unless its a wideband type.I installed my cheapo A/F back when I was carbed,to help with idle/cruise tuning.I just never removed it.With a wideband,its a very good tool if you plan on running a standalone or tuning the stock ECU beyond fuel cut range.Once your setup is actually up and proven,its not something youll need to watch often.If you make any changes,then it becomes important again.

Boost.....again,important when tuning to determine wastegate effectiveness,but hardly ever used once your on the road and setup.Seriously,on a turbo car Id rather have my eyes on the road when Im boosting,than watching some gauge.I actually use my AVCR's constant peak recall feature to check max boost after a run up.Its digital, so a glance is all thats needed.By cutting down from 4 to 2 functions,I can keep the peak recall going full time as I drive.My other function is secondary injector duty cycle/recall.

Water,oil pressure,volts.....I rely on the stock gauges,but only after installing new senders(cheap) and checking calibration of the stock gauges with some Radio Shack resistors.This is actually easy to do and very reassuring if you dont trust your stockers or want to clutter up the interior with redundant gauges.

I also use my Pivot fan controller as a full time water temp gauge.I have it set to read the temp at the back of the engine(stock sender hole) and my stock gauge reads at the thermostat outlet(hottest part).The fan controller is digital and an easy glance is all thats needed to check my water temps.

 

as usual, i agree with steve here. one thing i would like to point out that he touched on is RECALL gauges!!!! i used to run autometer ****, but now i've switched to greddy gauges with peak hold feature. because you really need to watch the road and maybe rpms when doing test runs. then stop, hit the peak button on your gauges and see what your hitting.

so i guess my vote goes to greddy electrical gauges..... i love accuracy, which is something i didn't get with my autometer junk.

 

Steve as usual your input here turned out to be exactly what I was looking for...

$1002 Sorry for jumping earlier, I just need to know as much as possible considering I am going to boost my GSL-SE engine and will be running a MSEFI with the extra code! I don't want to blow up anything as replacement would take some time.

I'm leaning toward putting the boost on the column, oil temp and fuel pressure on the pillar and the other three in the center...

 

I understand that. But having gauges in the A pillar is like having a neon sign in the hatch that says "STEAL ME!!!"

 

Well for the time being I will make use of the A-pillar mounts. That is until I throw a cage in there...

 

No one else has any addtional gauges? And only 9 votes int he poll...

 

there are only so many "essential" gauges that you need.