Bargain week

[gmfan24]

Got my stainless steel tube for constructing the upper radiator hose today. I wish it came in a length more manageable than 5'. 46 simoleans for it, comes out to 9.20 per foot. I would have liked to do aluminum tube, but I could only find 6" sections. I'm not making the whole hose out of the tube, just the long, straight piece that runs along the air inlet duct that mounts to the radiator support.

 

[gmfan24]

The contents of the giant box. 1 3/8" od x 5' T304 stainless steel exhaust pipe by Vibrant Performance.

 

[gmfan24]

So, my previous pic of my gauges captured a malfunctioning boost/vacuum gauge. Upon pulling my a-pillar trim to work on wiring the lighting for the gauges, I found a kink in the boost/vacuum signal tubing. So, I trimmed the damaged part off, got a new ferrule and cap, and reconnected it to the gauge. Tried tapping the brn/wht wire from the dimmer switch for gauge lighting. That seemed to only light the boost/vacuum gauge, though adjusting the rheostat did momentarily dim the display on the AFR gauge, but it went back it's normal brightness less than a second later. I was hoping the AFR gauge would be backlit like the boost/vacuum gauge. Anyway, here is my boost/vacuum gauge reading properly, and lighted temporarily. Notice the AFR gauge is not lighted, yet it's lighting wire is connected to the same source as the boost/vacuum gauge.

 

[gmfan24]

Now, I must say that 20" of vacuum at hot idle ain't too shabby with 151,601 miles on the clock.

[gmfan24]

Upon reading about it, I have discovered that the brn/wht wire from the dimmer switch has a pwm output. Ineffective on the led in the AFR gauge. I suppose I will have to get lighting power from one of the headlight circuits under the hood. No biggie, I can do it tomorrow while I am at the laundromat

[gmfan24]

So... Summit (where I got my gauges, among other things) says my AFR gauge is defective, as it is supposed to be back lit. Autometer says that the AFR gauges like mine aren't back lit anymore. IDK. Summit was more than happey to send me a replacement, so we will see what happens later this week. Does anyone here have any experience with Autometer Phantom Wideband gauges?

[gmfan24]

Autometer just emailed me, stating that "The dial Face itself doesn't light up, only the LED's themselves. A 9114 dimmer may help you with this."

[gmfan24]

I'm not going to be able to tolerate this. I ordered an Autometer 5770 analog AFR gauge with (hopefully) lighting similar to the boost/vacuum gauge.

 

[muddkatt]

That red gauge would drive me crazy. Hell, the boost gauge is too bright for me. I would have to dim it down a bit.

[gmfan24]

I may put a lower wattage bulb in it. Its not as bright as it seems in the pic.

[gmfan24]

This is the gauge I'm getting.

 

[gmfan24]

Lots of glare picked up by my phone camera for some reason. My nav screen doesnt look like that either.

 

 

I just cannot stand that AFR gauge at night.

[gmfan24]

I believe when the new gauge arrives, I will get lighting power from the dimmer switch, assuming that the analog gauge has a 194 bulb in it as well.

[gmfan24]

The new gauge does use a 194 bulb for lighting. Yay. Can't wait to see this lit up at night. I should have gotten this one from the beginning.

 

[gmfan24]

New gauge works great. Yeah the stepper motor could be more quiet, but it looks awesome. Speaking of stepper motors, after finding 2 more kinks in the reference tube for the boost gauge, I said to hell with it, and I am getting an electronic boost gauge.