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Performance Modifications for the NG900 / Old 9-3 This forum contains PERFORMANCE related Q&A's for the NG900 and 9-3. This may also include suspension. |
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#1 |
Flirting With TSL Addiction
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Boost gauge install / light switch wiring
Since I was asked through PM about a few aspects of this project and Im sure there are other interested people, Im going to post this again with some more useful information as its own thread.
Italics are new information. Finally got around to putting in a boost gauge. I decided to go with a GlowShift black 7 color because I read that the green light is really close to the Saab interior lighting. I put it in where my headlight switch used to be, since it happens to be a perfect 52mm hole once cleaned out. ![]() As close as the green was to Saab green, it turned out to be a spotlight when supplied with direct battery voltage. Something needed to be done. Solution was a simple enough. Volume control knob from the Radio Shack electric bits wall was put inline with the gauge lighting power wire. Since I had to do that, I figured I should make a whole harness for the gauge. This makes it far easier to remove the gauge from the car without pulling wires all the way out. I plan to change the dash at some point, which I kept in mind as I completed the project. I followed the instructions that came with the unit resulted in the harness pictured. The plug wires are both power. The fused (3A) is direct battery power, and the orange/purple/volume knob disaster is illumination tapped at the dimmer. The other end of the connector leads off to these two sources. The single black wire is obviously chassis ground and the other half of the wire is grounded at the usual point by the door. ![]() Adjusting the volume knob allowed me to dim the gauge to match the interior lights quite well. To reiterate; the now dimmed gauge was then wired into the vehicle dimmer dial to make sure it would be as pleasant as the rest of the instrumentation. ![]() You may have noticed the button at the bottom of the dash in the first picture. Kinda looks like this: =|) (|= That button now acts as an on/off version of the three-position lighting dial that once was in the dash. To convert it, I pulled apart one of the three lighting dials I had and used a button harness I pulled from a totaled 900 that maintained the lighting and created a functional button. In the past I had used rockers. ![]() Note that this picture was taken before I realized that I misread a wiring diagram and re-soldered the correct points. It should give you an idea though. The button itself is actually a seat heater button with a custom button surface on it. The wiring was simple enough and I made the following connections by soldering the harness from the button to a disassembled light knob: Switch...........Knob 1....................10 2.....................9 5.....................1 7...................4&6 The pins are all marked on both the switch harness and the dial internals. 1/10 and 2/9 are for the button lighting, and the other connections control the vehicle lighting. 5/1 is power in, and 7/4&6 is power to the external and dash lighting respectively. Of course the daytime running light fuse (#15) was removed
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#2 |
Elder
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: nashua, NH
Posts: 3,937
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I thought you couldn't use a dimmer with glowshifts gauges because they used an l.e.d.?
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99 9-3 se 91 Plantana Grey Carlson 9k This is my car, and it's for me. This is not for you 132417saab™© AKA "numbers" |
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#3 |
Live, eat, and sleep by TSL
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: NYC
Posts: 1,043
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LEDs can be dimmed.
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'01 9-3 SE wheeeee |
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#4 |
Elder
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: nashua, NH
Posts: 3,937
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good to know
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99 9-3 se 91 Plantana Grey Carlson 9k This is my car, and it's for me. This is not for you 132417saab™© AKA "numbers" |
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#5 |
Flirting With TSL Addiction
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You can only dim some of them. The oil pressure gauge does not have a separate lighting wire, so it cannot be dimmed.
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#6 |
Elder
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: nashua, NH
Posts: 3,937
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I plan on wiring up my gauges to the same dimmer so they'll both be controlled. BTW Do you have any pics of the gauges without the dimmer?
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99 9-3 se 91 Plantana Grey Carlson 9k This is my car, and it's for me. This is not for you 132417saab™© AKA "numbers" |
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#7 |
Flirting With TSL Addiction
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 531
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So I've been planning on getting around to this as well for awhile...I like your Headlight switch...I'm assuming you hit a button with a coat of paint and then carved it with a dremel to get the icon illumination?
I was planning on using a beam level switch from a Euro model saab (it's got 4 positions on it?) So that I could do the following...On, Off, and City Lights...any idea on what contacts that would be on the headlight switch side for the city lights?
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'95 900se Vert Black on Black...RIP "If you pull the pan and find anything other than what I described, I'll eat a pile of hammers." ~spgproject |
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#8 |
Avid TSL User
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Colorado
Posts: 216
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thats how it reads when the car is off? looks like your glowshift is off just like mine is. Whats up with that?!
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Vee put vindshield vipers on aur headlights becaush ve are from Shveeden and it rainesh and shnowhs a laut en Sveeden!
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#9 |
Flirting With TSL Addiction
Join Date: May 2009
Location: CRANSTON RI
Posts: 578
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I use the same glow shift gauges in my car they match perfect with the factory cluster
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To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. 2002 saab 9-5 JZW STAGE 5 2001viggen 5 door 2000 saab 9-3 vert jzw stage 5 To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. sold parted out 1972 nova 396 BB To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. 2008 LINCOLN MKX ELITE To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. |
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#10 | |
Live, eat, and sleep by TSL
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Warrenton VA
Posts: 1,077
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Cool way around a stupid problem. Well done.
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Quote:
1983 900 8v turbo- sold 1998 900 SE- sold 1995 9000 CSE |
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#11 |
Flirting With TSL Addiction
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Thanks!
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#12 |
Avid TSL User
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Colorado
Posts: 216
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no one?! see how its not solid on the "0" ???
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Vee put vindshield vipers on aur headlights becaush ve are from Shveeden and it rainesh and shnowhs a laut en Sveeden!
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#13 | |
Flirting With TSL Addiction
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GRAVITY (being serious) mines sits in the same spot.
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Stage 3 manual 9-3 se Quote:
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#14 |
TSLMember
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 34
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This is awesome! PM Sent!
Thanks, Chad |
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#15 |
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 6,468
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Chad,
Can I recommend that before you do this, get in the car, put your left hand at 10 o'clock and determine whether you can actually see the light switch. ![]() Some folks have their steering wheel positioned so that their hand doesn't interfere with the view; others find that the view is blocked. YMMV, but check it out first. |
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#16 |
Flirting With TSL Addiction
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My hand is almost never at 10:00. If it is, looking at my boost gauge is the least of my concerns.
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#17 |
Flirting With TSL Addiction
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Since Ive had two separate people PM me about the headlight button and how it came to be, Ill post once in here.
The button is just a heated seat button. The light symbol was made by carving away the black outer layer of the button face to get down to the translucent white beneath. VERY tedious. I then filled to the voids from cutting the pattern with many layers of super glue. Thin layers work best to keep the translucence. Before I put the final layer of glue down I painted the symbol with thin white acrylic. Any parts of the original seat symbol that would interfere with the lights were carved down a bit and filled in with layers of black acrylic that nearly perfectly matches Saab button black. Its a bit messy, but it gets the point across to anyone unfamiliar who drives my car. Not that I let anyone drive my car. Ever.
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#18 |
TSLMember
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 34
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Hey Mike,
I read a lot of posts about people putting it there and not being able to see it. I'm not very tall, 5'9 and so my seat isn't too far back. I can see if I put my hand at the 10:00 position it might be an issue but I don't drive with my hands there very often unless I'm driving really fast and in that case I'm typically focused on the road not the dash. I really don't want it in the A-pillar because I think that would be more annoying from a visibility standpoint. And I'm not a fan of the pods on the dash. |
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#19 |
Flirting With TSL Addiction
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You could try something like this: https://www.saablink.net/forum/custom...-9-3/54486.htm
It takes a while to modify the dash, but I am happy with the location, and its nice if you plan to have more than one gauge. Also, since I made that thread, I have all matching gauges and have done some "bodywork" on the dash to smooth it out and get it ready for paint.
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1995 900 se turbo 1985 s-10 v8 conversion and lowered |
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#20 |
Flirting With TSL Addiction
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 593
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