New mount for Liquid Gauge owners

[GarryC]

Good morning.

I have recently borrowed "Chicken_Eyebrows" liquid gauge to have a play with while he is on holiday. He supplied me with a small mount he had made to hold it in place in the ashtray, rather than the optional vent mount that is available. I had initially preferred the idea of a vent mount but in having it in the Ashtray it just seemed so at home i now think it is probably the best place for it.

The mount Jamie had made was a bit loose and i could not keep it held in place while operating the toggle switch to flick through the menus so i went into my workshop and asked the designers to come up with something more permanent to hold it solidly in place and still look OE.

This is what they came up with:

It just fits into the Ashtray perfectly. Its made from T304 Stainless Steel and uses Stainless fittings and washers (fitted behind). We gave the surface a brushed finish to take away any glare from the sun but may take it back out and spray it a Matt black to give it a real OE look to it.

What do you think?

Kind Regards

Garry

[sdwilliams72]

Yep, looks cool, but reckon it needs the black finish.....

[GarryC]

Yeah, thats what i was thinking. Will take it out tonight and get it into the spray shop me thinks.

Garry

[amateurstuntman]

Hmmm.

It's getting harder and harder to convince myself I don't need one of these.

[sdwilliams72]

Yeah, thats what i was thinking. Will take it out tonight and get it into the spray shop me thinks.

Garry

LOL, don't just do it on my say so.....

What do I know, I reckon I must have the most bulk standard Vrs here, no mods whatsoever, even the original radiogram......

Had it from new, I just love it the way it is......

[GarryC]

Hmmm.

It's getting harder and harder to convince myself I don't need one of these.

I can make another mount up if you want

LOL, don't just do it on my say so.....

What do I know, I reckon I must have the most bulk standard Vrs here, no mods whatsoever, even the original radiogram......

Had it from new, I just love it the way it is......

lol, no i am inclinded to agree with you tho. I think a matt black would look nice

Garry

[amateurstuntman]

I can make another mount up if you want

Garry

Thanks, you are really helping me to control my spending impulse:rotz:

We'll have to see how much money I have left after doing the suspension at the end of the month:)

[GarryC]

Just helping you know my pain, lol

You going along to the next Maidstone meet? I will have it their to give back to Jamie. Im sure you can have a play then

Garry

[amateurstuntman]

2nd?

Should do, Fraü Colonel came up with something to do at the last minute last time.

I have put the next one on the calendar though, untouchable.

The thing is I am really interested in the HKS CAMP2 and the liquid guage only has a couple of extra features (code cancelling) but less on screen info.

[GarryC]

What is the CAMP2?

I found this thing called a VI Monitor (Details here) that looked a better product, but cost quite a bit more.

Its good to have a bit of choice tho. Then you have something for everyones budget

Garry

[amateurstuntman]

The camp 2 is a computer that sits behind your dash, it has an OBD2 input and optional oil pressure, oil temperature, boost pressure and exhaust temperature inputs.

It then converts the info into a tv picture and you wire it into the headunit's AUX video in connector.

When you set your head unit to AUX you get a choice of screens one of which is one big analogue dial and 6 digital readouts.

It has a data logging capability and if I get the stereo I am after it will be shown on a 7" screen.

It costs a lot more though and can't cancel fault codes.

HKS USA HKS CAMP2 Real-Time Engine Monitoring

[GarryC]

So, it costs alot more, you need to supply your own screen and cant clear fault codes?

Apart from the fact you will already have a screen to use, looks like not to many points in its favour.

Does look very nice tho, but being typical HKS, its well over priced for this market. :(

Think the VI Monitor could be a happy medium.

Garry

[amateurstuntman]

Yeah.

The problem is that as I start to **** about with the car more I will need the gauges and I don't want a load of pods on a stack on the A pillar or a single DIN head unit with more gauges below it.

I am going for as OEM looking as possible while having the tightest possible handling and enough power to make my skill the weak link.

So I will be upgrading in this order.

Handling (steering, suspension, tyres etc.) --> Brakes --> Simple engine mods --> Gearbox --> gross engine mods.

And doing the few simple styling changes I want as and when I can.

I have de-badged, de-spoilered it and started doing the wheels. I will get a window tint remove the aerial and tidy up the bodywork.

Inside I just want black carpets, pillars and headlining and a new stereo.

All the performance gubbins will be hidden and I may get new chairs, we'll see.

That means that some time in the future (depending on money) I will need the CAMP2, the trouble you are causing me is that I can see me getting a Liquid gauge too.

If I was to get one I would try to fit it into the dash pod so I can keep my mobile on charge and the music on my USB stick in the ash tray.

You watch now...

All these plans, I bet my Mrs gets pregnant now.

[GarryC]

lol, its a slippery slope all this modifying lark. But at least in most cases it yields high satisfaction. Especially if you have fitted or modified something yourself.

Got some nice plans there. Seem to be doing things in the right order also. The only criticism i have of the Liquid Gauge is that you can only have one gauge displayed at any one time. I have it on oil temp while i warm up (and down) the car and then on Boost Pressure for the rest of the time. If you have the cash free it would be nice to use in in conjunction with the CAMP2, get the Liquid Gauge now and enjoy it while saving for the CAMP2, then when you have that fitted into your Screen, you can use the LG for day to day driving, fault code reading and TB reset, and then use the CAMP2 display on your monitor with its multi gauge display when your in the mood for driving more spiritedly.

Best of both worlds then.

Garry

[amateurstuntman]

I'm pretty much sold.

Do you think having the Liquid Gauge would preclude the need to buy Vag-Com?

It seems to be able to do a fair bit.

I suppose there are still going to be reasons to get the Vag-Com though, esp. if I try to fit a multi function steering wheel.

I have to say, I can predict how much "spare" money I will have each month and just making a folder of links to wish list stuff has accounted for about a year's worth of cash.

I saw a cool little butterfly valve that you can stick behind the turbo and have a secondary exhaust system with no mufflers or cat.

Then you need to have some way of having switchable fuel maps to take advantage of it.

Ughh.

[gmaster]

That is sweet!!!

[Guest westallc]

you cannot compare vag-com with the liguid guage..

i was the first to get it fitted to the octy and then sold it on a few months later because it really is good for the first few months but after that i never really used it....... as for putting in the ashtray all well and good but how do you look at it when driving????

modding is a slippery slope mate good luck you seem to have the modding in the right order what power did you want from your engine???

[RobClubley]

That's very neat but IMHO needs to be matt black.

[amateurstuntman]

you cannot compare vag-com with the liguid guage..

i was the first to get it fitted to the octy and then sold it on a few months later because it really is good for the first few months but after that i never really used it....... as for putting in the ashtray all well and good but how do you look at it when driving????

modding is a slippery slope mate good luck you seem to have the modding in the right order what power did you want from your engine???

Good question.

I want it to be usable but I also want it to raise some eyebrows, I don't want to be killed instantly either.

Then there is the cash issue.

I'd love to go 2 litre and big turbo but perhaps with a boost controller or switchable mapping.

In the army all my mates did was mod their cars and I was always driving theirs, 400 bhp pulsar and 380bhp evo 5, that kind of thing.

I had a 2wd Sierra Sapphire Cosworth so really I have that to beat.

Oh, and a TVR engined, lowered range rover (don't ask).

So, High 300s at least, perhaps more but in an engine that is built for more. I want to keep as much reliability as possible and I don't want to have to give people a 20 minute powerpoint presentation on how to drive it if I lend it to them.

On the liquid guage, if I get it inside the dash pod and set it to boost I can just use the additional features as and when, it will be no harder to see than the other dials.

[GarryC]

That's very neat but IMHO needs to be matt black.

Thanks Rob

Garry

[chicken_eyebrow]

Just got on the forum for 5 minutes

Very nice mount Garry, puts mine to shame!

Did you end up cutting holes in the back of your ashtray holder and ashtray to get the cable through then?

The LG will never be as good as a full version of VAG-Com as you can't log blocks and do any adaptions (apart from TB and MAF), plus it only works with the 1.8T engine, but I worked out that a VAG-Com cable with a licence, plus a cheap old laptop, and a boost gauge would probably set me back double the price of the LG so it made sense to go for the LG as all I wanted was fault reading and clearing and oil and boost gauges.

[GarryC]

Morning.

Only had to cut a hole in the back of the Ashtray so not to bad

See you Friday.

Garry

[lordrobs]

Looks great!

I'm very tempted by one of these but I've promised myself not to spend any more money on my car until 2010 :P

[GarryC]

Got it taken off and am having it sprayed a satin black

Should have it back tonight / tomorrow night.

Will post pics once i have them.

Kind Regards

Garry

[GarryC]

Sadly it has to stay silver. She tried to spray it and used all sorts of primers but the paint just kept flaking off.

If i make any more i can always get them power coated, that would give a nice finish.

Im not going to do it on this one as i have to give the gauge back to Mr Chicken on friday :(

Kind Regards

Garry