cheap boost gauge

[heelhooker]

I got everything from mcmaster-carr for about $35. Gauge is liquid filled, 0-30"Hg/0-30psi, +/-1% half scale, 1.5" face (should have gotten 2.5", but small one works fine). Used 1/8" id silicon tubing (response is great). Wooden mount is kind of ghetto, but it works, and it's not permanent.

[kidatari]

Good find man, another cheap boost gauge. And liquid fillled, no less. Now all you have to do is find a decent mount and a way to backlight it

[vrg3]

Cool, man.

What's the McMaster part number for this gauge?

[THAWA]

berkeley eh?

you ought to reply to thsi topic: http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=17846

[BAC5.2]

$35 bucks!? Goddamn!

I paid $45 for my Autometer Phantom Boost Gauge, but it was on a closeout sale for MachV Motorsports. Well, not closeout, but moving sale. Dan cut prices like CRAZY.

[kidatari]

I just paid $340 shipped for Greddy 60mm Peak/Warning Boost and EGT gauges. But they're so nice, Greddy knows how to make quality products.

I've heard from multiple sources that Autometer boost gauges can be up to 1-3 psi off of what the boost actually is.

[heelhooker]

Yeah, no back light on this one...the led flashlight on my key ring works pretty well though=)

vrg3 --
gauge: 38545k5
tubing: 5236k11
1/8" npt to 1/8" barb fitting: 50745k26
T fitting: 53055k171

THAWA --
Another vote for the bay area has been cast.

[THAWA]

jawesome

[vrg3]

Woah, you did it all from McMaster...

Cool... you could probably have saved a little bit by just putting 1/4" hose over the NPT fitting on the back of the gauge and securing it with a ziptie. Then you'd just need a 1/4" - to 1/8" union to connect it to the 1/8" hose.

You could pretty easily rig a light for the front face if you wanted, I'd think.

[vrg3]

heelhooker, can you get us some more close-up pictures of the gauge, including the back side of it? Does it look like there's any chance one could install a small LED or light bulb inside it for illumination?

[91White-T]

That looks like it belongs on an air tank... seriously for a few $ more you could have gotten a lit gauge that looks like it belongs on a car. And that's a horrible place to mount it, you have to look at the ground to see how much boost you're making! To each his own I guess...

[vrg3]

From the looks of it, he mounted it in a piece of wood that isn't mounted to his car... So he could put it anywhere in the car he wanted . And you don't generally need to watch your boost gauge while driving; I find my gauge mounted above my radio works very well for me.

I challenge you to find an illuminated glycerin-filled Grade A stainless steel gauge for "a few $ more" than this $22 gauge. Bonus points for one as compact as this 1-1/2" one.

[greg donovan]

That looks like it belongs on an air tank... seriously for a few $ more you could have gotten a lit gauge that looks like it belongs on a car. And that's a horrible place to mount it, you have to look at the ground to see how much boost you're making! To each his own I guess...

heel hooker even said it wasnt permanent

Wooden mount is kind of ghetto, but it works, and it's not permanent.

[91White-T]

Here's one for under 22$
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 71369&rd=1

Auto gage, made by autometer. Not an excellent gauge but definitely good enough.

[vrg3]

That gauge doesn't meet any of the criteria I mentioned except that it's illuminated and before shipping costs 5 cents less than $22.

[greg donovan]

here is a good pic of the gauge from mcmaster-carr



looks good to me.

and here is some info on it.

Glycerin-Filled Type 304 Stainless Steel-Case Vacuum and Compound Gauges- ±1% Mid-Scale Accuracy (Grade A)
• Refillable glycerin-filled gauges dampen needle
vibration; allow more accurate gauge readings
• General service Bourdon pressure tube:
1 1/2" dial: Phosphor bronze
2 1/2" and 4" dial: Copper alloy
• Connection: 1 1/2" dial: 1/8" Brass NPT male
2 1/2" & 4" dial: 1/4" Brass NPT male
• Lens Material: 1 1/2" and 2 1/2" dial: Polycarbonate
4" dial: Acrylic
• Temperature Range:
1 1/2" dial: -5° to +150° F Ambient and Process
2 1/2" & 4" dial: -4° to +140° F Ambient; -40° to +140° F Process

i wonder why the 2 1/2" is only 19.63?

the 4" is only 38.09 but that would be a bit large to find a home for i would imagine.

how hard is a boost gauge to install? at this price i could do it alot sooner than i thought.

• Temperature Range:
1 1/2" dial: -5° to +150° F Ambient and Process
2 1/2" & 4" dial: -4° to +140° F Ambient; -40° to +140° F Process

however, this section has me confused though. is that the air temp that it will function properly at?

or is it something else.

cuz if it will freeze up at -4 air temp then this is not a gauge for the frozen north and our -20 temps.

[vrg3]

The 2-1/2" gauge is probably cheaper because it's sold in higher volume.

A boost gauge is super easy to install. You just need to connect the gauge's input through some hose/pipe/whatever to the place you want to measure boost from.

Most of us like to tap off the nipple on the front passenger side intake runner. There's already a tee in there from the factory, and you can replace it with an 1/8" four-way vacuum fitting, or just put in another 1/8" tee. You may need to use zipties as hose clamps to make sure the hoses stay put, since the stock hoses are 3.5mm, which is slightly larger than 1/8".

There's a little rubber stopper behind the pedals that is pretty convenient for running the hose through. Just poke a hole in it.

[vrg3]

I seem to recall pure glycerin starting to solidify just a little under room temperature, so I guess glycerin-filled gauges actually use some kind of mixture rather than just glycerin.

The ambient temperature range is the permissible temperature around the gauge, and the process range is the permissible temperature inside the gauge's mechanical parts.

I don't know if the glycerin mixture expands or contracts when it freezes, but if it contracts (most things do), then it shouldn't be a big problem if the gauge freezes up. It just won't work until it gets warm enough. If it does expand, you might be able to just drain off a little glycerin to give it more room to expand.

[TheSubaruJunkie]

I just ordered everything from your list there... from the gauge to the hose (i hope 20' is enough). These guys at www.mcmaster.com cant make it any easier. Total for everything is $48 shipped to my door, and from the looks of it these parts arent some dinky plastic pieces. They look like high grade material.

After submitting my order with a mistake, they were quick to correct it and within the last 3 hours ive recieved 2 emails regarding the error. One email stating its been corrected, and the 2nd email as a followup, telling me my stuff has been shipped (ordered it last night at 10pm).

Anyhow, for anyone who's lazy and cheap... this might be the way to go. The gauge itself is only $22, if you have hose and fittings you can save a few bucks. Shipping & Handling came to $8 for everything.

-Brian

[heelhooker]

huh, this thread is still around...

One thing with these gauges...they have to be vented when there is a difference in pressure between ambient and the volume inside the gauge, otherwise the readings are skewed. They can be vented by slightly opening the rubber plug to equalize the pressure. For me, this has only been an issue when the gauge has been sitting direct sunlight for a while.

[TheSubaruJunkie]

I installed it, and have been using it. I removed all the glycerine from mine cause the air bubble inside was making it hard to read the pressure correctly. I should have probably left the glycerine in it though cause i get alot of needle vibration under boost.

Here's a pic of it mounted:


-Brian