Best place to mount gauges?

[TickleTimeTim]

What did you guys cut the dash with?

[TickleTimeTim]

Originally Posted by cali yaris

OEM look:

What's that little white square for? Is it tape?

[Yaristeve]

Originally Posted by bzinn 1

Ok to help understand how the side airbag is connected and what happens when it is inflated.....

The bag itself is attached from the C pillar mount point in the headliner edge and follows that path to the top of the door and then a anchor line goes to the A pillar under the cover.

The cover is held on at the top by what is known as the pillar clip,this clip is not the same clip as found on a non sideairbag car.....it is a one time removable/insertable clip that goes to a post on the A pillar.

It has the sole purpose that in the event of airbag deploying it holds the Apillar in place as not to fly off in to the passenger compartment and cause injury.

The clip is a pain to remove and 9 times out of 10 it has to be replaced once removed by a new clip,I would add a new clip if I got it out in one piece no matter what jsut to be safe......it can be gotten from Toyota for like $2.75 a clip and most dealerships can order and get it in 24 hours.

So gauges,can be added to the Apillar safely......basically the only thing you should not do with side airbags is make headliner out of solid material like CF or fiberglass as it will shatter into passenger compartment when bags go off,they have a lot of power and they are hard to impeed.

Now be sure to undo battery to car prior to working on any area that has airbags,wait like 5min....book says 90 seconds but just wait 5 min to be certain the thing is de-energised.....once you do that you can safely pull it all apart.I have done 3 interiors now with airbags in the side and never any issues with what was done interfering with how the bags deploy.....jsut use your comman sense.

Also the in the dash like Garm showed is a great way to mount them as well,easy to cut the holes and run the wires from too.

Thanks for the info. Can the A-pillar cover be drilled, at the bottom end, without removing it? I would like to mount a temp gauge there...

[packetrace]

Originally Posted by TickleTimeTim

What's that little white square for? Is it tape?

He put his phone there with velcro!

[yaris2010RS]

Originally Posted by wizzle

ive always wanted to put them in the glove box behind the steering wheel cause you can drive with the lid up and it doesn't block my view and i can see the gauges right through the wheel
i am also 6'3" so i sit high if your short it might not work

+1, this is my plan, i am working on mounting them on the underside of the lid so they come up with the lid.

[TickleTimeTim]

Originally Posted by cali yaris

OEM look:

I wonder what it would look like if someone removed that door and put gauges in the dash with plexi glass over. Dresses up real nice.

[TickleTimeTim]

or if you mount them under that panel, and cut out the inner 3/4 of the panel to where you can still open the shelf and put glass/plastic so you can see through to gauges?

[cali yaris]

I can still open that glovebox, btw. Wiring is pretty clean under there, probably could use it too - but I don't.

[TickleTimeTim]

yeah, i know, but im saying make the entire inside of the compartment all about the gauges, and make a see through door on it.

[ilikerice]

Originally Posted by TickleTimeTim

yeah, i know, but im saying make the entire inside of the compartment all about the gauges, and make a see through door on it.

I like that idea actually.. but sounds hard to do.. can you mold/bend plexiglass to a concave to match our glove box? that would actually be pretty cool if you could

[TickleTimeTim]

I'm not sure the best way to go about it, but if you keep the frame of that compartment and just cut around the inside for it and then put plexi in that it may be easier.

[vten]

Originally Posted by cali yaris

OEM look:

nice n clean Garm !!
do you have a night shot with the all the gauges on ??

what are they ?? boost, water temp, oil pressure and AFR ?

[ilikerice]

Originally Posted by TickleTimeTim

I'm not sure the best way to go about it, but if you keep the frame of that compartment and just cut around the inside for it and then put plexi in that it may be easier.

Mmmm.. that would work, but then you would have to molest your glovebox. Id look for a spare first for the test dummy.. god forbid you ruin your original. But this sounds do-able

[TickleTimeTim]

Hah Def gonna need a sec one. Anyone have a junker that they could spare? Anyone know how to remove thag door?

[TickleTimeTim]

so, i put my tach in, its hanging loose for now, until i figure out best mount. i plan to put two or three more gagues under there. the blue tape is the part i would like cut out and a glass or something put in. so i can see through.

[TickleTimeTim]

While were on topic of gauges...I have a voltometer and it has two wires coming out of it, how do i install it?

[Focus_Sh1ft]

The wires are probably red and black right? Tap red into the +12V ignition wire or any other source that constantly receives 12V. Black needs to be grounded anywhere on the chassis - preferably near a known ground (white and black striped wires).

[TickleTimeTim]

For some reason they are blue and white, but I'm sure same concept, thanks. The guy I got it from also had extra wire hooked to the prongs on the back of the gauge, and it was speaker wire? Hah. Any ideas why?