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A-Pillar Gauges Installation
3/28/05 —
I had decided to mount my Fiberglass LCD touchscreen bezel where the stock oil pressure and voltmeter gauges were, so I needed to locate some replacements. I chose the AutoMeter SportComp line (purchased through Summit Racing), and the Lo-tek 3 gauge pillar (gaugepods.com).
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One thing that bears attention which most people overlook is the wiring of the illumination circuitry for aftermarket gauges. In order to have the brightness of the gauge illumination changed by the stock dimmer controls, you must use both illumination wires from one of the other light sources in the dash. I tapped in at the line to the climate control illumination. The illumination 12+ line is switched with the headlight switch, and the illumination "ground" is actually a floating voltage source that is varied between 0 V for full brightness gauge/dash illumination, and + voltage which results in dimmer lights (smaller voltage seen at the bulbs).
This is pretty straightforward. First, the Lo-tek pillar needs a little tweaking on the top and bottom corners to fit the contour better. I heated it up with a butane torch and then worked the plastic with a pair of pliers.
 Stock A-Pillar Removed |
 Fixed top outside corner on this one |
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Once that was done, I installed the gauges into the pillar, and then the pillar in the car.
 Wires bound out of the way |
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 Finished work |
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