Boost gauge install / light switch wiring

[watkins]

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.

[/quote]

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

[132417SAAB]

I thought you couldn't use a dimmer with glowshifts gauges because they used an l.e.d.?

[Ero]

LEDs can be dimmed.

[132417SAAB]

good to know

[watkins]

You can only dim some of them. The oil pressure gauge does not have a separate lighting wire, so it cannot be dimmed.

[132417SAAB]

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?

[Supergreensol]

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?

[jaross]

Originally Posted by watkins

thats how it reads when the car is off? looks like your glowshift is off just like mine is. Whats up with that?!

[BALDSAAB]

I use the same glow shift gauges in my car they match perfect with the factory cluster

[secret ingredient]

Cool way around a stupid problem. Well done.

[watkins]

Thanks!

[jaross]

Originally Posted by jaross

thats how it reads when the car is off? looks like your glowshift is off just like mine is. Whats up with that?!

no one?! see how its not solid on the "0" ???

[2legit2quit]

Originally Posted by jaross

no one?! see how its not solid on the "0" ???

GRAVITY (being serious) mines sits in the same spot.

[T22A80]

This is awesome! PM Sent!

Thanks,
Chad

[mike saunders]

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.

[watkins]

My hand is almost never at 10:00. If it is, looking at my boost gauge is the least of my concerns.

[watkins]

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.

[T22A80]

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.

[chevyman]

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.

[BobSabbert]

Originally Posted by watkins

Since Ive had two separate people PM me about the headlight button and how it came to be, Ill post once in here.

Gracias, mi amigo.