Step 1 - Remove Stock Pillar
Go ahead and
remove the stock A-pillar. To remove it just pull on the top where it ends at
the headliner. Pull firmly, but don't yank on it. It will "pop" out. Once
released, just lift it out of the car and store it.
The stock pillar is connected with two small wedges, for lack of a better description. You'll know what I mean when you see it. You can leave these in the frame. They wont be needed. Here's a shot of what the pillar looks like when removed.
![Feed the wire and hose here.]()
Step 2 - Installing the hose
Go ahead and feed the hose and electrical wire down between the A-pillar frame and dash. There is an opening just big enough to fit it down. You will have to get on your knees and reach up near the fuse box to pull it down.
Locate the steering column boot. It is located just above the foot pedals. Using a knife, cut a slit in the boot. You will have to make two slits since the boot is two layers thick. Cut the slit on the lower left side of the boot.
Take a wire coat hanger or a grabber and fix the 7/64 hose to the
end of it. You can simply wrap it around or tape it to it to the wire. Push the
hanger into the new hole from inside to the engine. Try to angle it upward as
much as possible. You will need to be able to reach it from the engine and
unless you have small, long arms, this can be a chore.
Step 3 - Tap the throttle vacuum line
Once you've got the hose in hand, you need to tap it
to the throttle vacuum line. This is the most accurate tap acording to Club DSM
members.
Use a knife or scissors, cut the throttle body line. This is the left line leading to the throttle body. Use this picture as a reference.
As you can see by my hoses, they are not the stock black ones.. Yours may be different. I've replaced mine with red silicone which can be bought from most of the major DSM after-market dealers.
After you cut it, insert the 1/8" T-fitting here. Attach the 7/64th hose to the open end and then tie off the connections with the tie straps. You don't have to use the tie straps. It fits really snug, but if you do, cut off any excess plastic. Can't be a Rice Boy with those showing.
Step 4 - Prepping the Lo-Tek gage pod
When you took the stock pillar off you should have seen some weather stripping on it. This is there to minimize rattles and prevent junk from falling in between the dash and A-pillar. I would recommend you replace it with new stripping.
If you do put the weather stripping on, make sure you do it before applying ArmorAll. It might not stick
Step 5 - Wiring and gage mount
Now you need to do the wire setup. The wire with my kit was dual insulated and pretty long. I knew it was going to need some trimming. There should be a pair of wires. One end goes to the boost gage, the other end to the floorboard.
I started by splicing the two flat connectors on the gage end. This is pretty easy. Just make sure you do this to the wire coming up through the dash. After all, this is going to connect to the back of the boost gage, not the fuse box. You can wrap them with electrical tape, but I found I didn't need to. The needle nose worked fine here.
When this end is done, go ahead and mount the gage in the pod. I
picked the top mount point because it was closer. After all, the boost gage is
the most important thing to monitor. It's a snug fit so don't worry about the
gage falling out of the pod.
When the gage is in, connect the wires and 7/64th hose from the throttle line to it. You can use a tie strap on the hose fitting to the gage, but, once again, it's a snug fit. I doubt mine will blow off. I just saved the tie for securing the wires and hose near the fuse box. [This might be a good time to check if your vacuum hose is too long. I had to go back a step and trim the hose a little.]
At this point you're going to need to stick the pod
on the A-pillar. Don't worry about securing it yet. Just wedge it close to its
final position. Maybe have a friend hold it in place.
Now get down to the wire on the floorboard side. Pull out most of the slack. Cut the excess wire off, but leave enough for mistakes. You can always tuck the excess out of sight.
On one of the wires attach the ground loop in the same manner as the flat connectors. On the other, strip out about an inch of bare wire. It doesn't matter which wire. This is a simple light connection. You don't even have to disconnect the battery, if your good.
Take the grounding loop and ground it to one of the bolts on the
frame near the fuse box. There's a good 10mm bolt that's out of sight in my
picture.
Pull out the the "gage" fuse from the fuse box. I recommend powering the light from here. This fuse supplies juice to the gages when, and only when, the car is on. There are other places that you can splice and tap. This is the easiest and has worked fine for years.
Wrap the wire around one end of the fuse and replace it.
Step 6 - Securing the pod
Now go back to the pod. It's ready to be secured to the frame. I don't have any pictures of the adhesive stage, but this is a no brainer. You have three options here; Velcro, a screw or double sided tape.
At first I put on Velcro. I just secured it to the frame and the pod and it held fine for a while. Later, I eventually added the double sided tape. I wanted a bit of extra security. Especially since my radar detector gets hot in the summer and likes to fall off.
After about a year, I got tired of it getting hot in the sun and sagging a little. At that point, I got out the drill and made a screw hole through the plastic and into the metal A-pillar. I took one of those little gray screw covers off the door and super glued it over. Please don't ask me what size screw or drill bit. I just did it blind with one of those deck screws. It worked fine.
Some final notes...
Once you've got it all done, go out for a test drive. If your boost gage doesn't work, you probably have a kink in the vacuum hose. I didn't have a problem, but you may. Without a boost controller, and no other mods, you should be no more than 15 psi. I have heard reports that some people spiking up to 21 PSI, but this is short lived with the T-25 turbo. If you have a 16G, you will definitly need a boost controller.
By the way, you can see the pod from outside the car. It may not make you faster, but you sure look mean.