How-To: Install gauges in a ZZP Pillar Pod A-Z Part 1

7576 Views 12 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Blasirl, Jan 18, 2020

Blasirl

Discussion Starter · May 12, 2018 (Edited)

Installing A Boost & Air/Fuel Ratio Gauge in a two-pod pillar from start to finish

Overview:

Before doing any serious engine mods, I wanted to be able to monitor what was going on. I thought the two gauges that made the most sense were the Boost and Air/Fuel Ratio gauges. They are easy to install and much cheaper than a blown engine.

At first glance you would think that there are plenty of threads on how to do this. I thought so. I gathered what I thought relevant, started buying parts and played the waiting game. Once I thought I had everything, I started and found within minutes I was missing a small bit of information. Three weeks passed before I could continue and I had a pillar cover hanging in the wind the whole time because of it – Groan. Well that and other things I needed to know caused me to write yet another How To: for a boost gauge et. al. I broke this up into parts. If you are diligent, have all the needed materials and an area to spread out in, this could be a one day project, but much easier as a weekend project. Mine was spread out over weeks, partly because I did not have everything and partly because I did not have all the information. Hopefully this will help someone have a better go of it.

I want to thank all of the posters who helped me reach this point, so here are the threads that contributed:

What is Boost, and what does it mean???

How to remove A-Pillar.

How to add a boost gauge to 1.4T?

1.4 Turbo Boost Gauge Install (Picture Heavy)

Adding an oil pressure gauge to the 1.4

[How To:] Install DDMWorks Throttle Body Spacer 1.4L Turbo

How to Remove Headliner

Installed ZZP Gauge Pod

Aem gauges installed

How To Install Boost Gauge.

How to: Boost gauge install

AEM wide band A/F gauge

Some of these were major contributors and others were suppliers of tidbits on information. I’ve linked some items to what I purchased or examples depending…

I had to write some of this from memory, so if something doesn’t jive, ask and I’ll rethink it. So here goes…

Tools Required:

Multi-tip screw driver
Two small flat tip screwdrivers
Ratchet
10mm Socket
12mm socket
½” open end
3/8”” open end
Crimper
Wire stripper
Plastic Trim Tools
Punch (Ice Pick Type) or better yet a seal (O-ring) puller [This is my go to tool for a ton of stuff!]
Small Hammer
Center Punch
Step bit
1/8” Pilot bit (size is not critical)
Small Rat Tail and/or Half Round file
Needle nose pliers
Heat Gun
Various X-acto knives

Auto part Automotive exterior Bumper Car Vehicle

Parts Required:

Mechanical Boost Gauge (Mine is a Autometer Cobalt 6107)
Mechanical Air/Fuel Ratio Gauge (Mine is a Autometer Cobalt 6178)
Any two gauges you want will fit here as long as they are 2-1/16" in diameter.
ZZP Pillar Pod ZZ-CZ2POD (GM calls it a Windshield Garnish) (If this link is broken, search using the part number here.)
Throttle Body Spacer (a plastic tee could work instead) (Mine is a DDM TBS and is no longer sold) (Try BNR)
Wire Loom (not sure why I call it that)
Red and Black wire
Solderless connectors
Shrink wrap
Zip Ties
Grommets

Why I chose these items: see this thread - What Gauges should I get for my Cruze?
(Coming later)

Procedure:

Open your hood and close all the doors. This will circumvent the power steering warning.

2. Disconnect the negative terminal of the battery using your 10mm socket. Wait about twenty minutes before starting. This will help ensure the air bag does not deploy. {There has been a lot of chatter recently about what terminal to disconnect. I personally would always disconnect the negative first as it is connected to the most parts of the vehicle. What I am trying to say is that since it is a negative grounded vehicle (vs a positive grounded on like old Volkswagen's) you are more likely to accidentally touch the body with a positive wire than you are touching a body part to a positive wire as body parts are harder to move than a wire. (Pic is a place holder - borrowed from one of XR's posts)
	3. Remove the plate listed in this drawing as #14 using your 12mm socket. Reach up under the dash and remove the two nuts. Push the plate until it falls out into the engine bay. It will not go far and is easy to find.
In the engine bay, reach under the …not sure what to call this area yet... palm up with your left hand and grasp the part with your fingers.

5. I suggest you go back into the vehicle and reorient the “plug” with the hole before you drill it for the grommet(s). The actual opening is odd shaped and refreshing your memory will help ensure well placed holes.

Wire Auto part Cable Engine Automotive engine part

Note: I had already drilled a hole in this plug previously with the intent of running a power line back to my trailer wiring, but that went unused as I went with a different strategy. I replaced the hard-plastic grommet with a rubber one from one of the gauge kits. I ran the vacuum tube through this one. For the Wideband (AFR) wiring, I used a larger grommet I had lying around. I was able to insert the large plug by reorienting the plug to be in line with the wiring.

Wire Cable Technology Electronic device Electrical connector

Also Note: If you know what other items you need to run to the engine bay, now is a good time to make the layout decisions. While you could just put one big grommet, I would consider multiple smaller ones.

6. Carefully layout your holes and use a sharpie to outline your openings. Hit them with a center punch and drill a pilot hole. If you use a step bit to drill the remaining waste, stop and test fit a few times, so you do not over drill the piece.

7. File the rough edges and insert your grommets. (A little paint on the raw edges is good too.)

8. Ensure the coolant tank cap is fully tightened. Remove the clip holding the coolant overflow tank (white circle), set it aside, and pull the tank forward as far as it will go and gently lift the forward end once you have maxed out. You can set the tank to the side (you can see the key-way the tank is held in with – yellow arrow) without disconnecting anything, just be careful as these tanks are prone to leaking, so you don’t want to add to the problem. As I removed and reinstalled this plug multiple times, I discovered you can do this without moving the tank before I realized how easy it was to move the tank. If you do not want to take out the tank, just reach in with your palm up and you will be able to retrieve or replace the “plug” with some difficulty but not much.

9. Re-insert the firewall “plug” fully into the opening.

10. From the engine bay, insert the vacuum tube and the AFR plug into the appropriate grommets. Pull in two – three feet of tubing and leave the rest outside for now. Pull all but 8” – 10” of the AFR wiring into the foot well. Pull all the loose wiring for the AFR completely into the vehicle.

11. If you are not going to complete the connection to the down pipe until later and are planning to drive the vehicle, I suggest you cover the plug end with plastic and tape to seal it from the elements.

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Blasirl

Discussion Starter · #2 · May 12, 2018 (Edited)

Page 2

WARNING: This is something I did for myself – You will be tampering with the airbag system if you choose to follow this. The tether is very important and needs to operate correctly in the event of an accident

Vehicle Trunk Bumper Car Automotive exterior

12. Open the driver’s door and gently pull on the seal starting near the top front. This gives you a view of the back side of the pillar trim.

13. Start at the top of the pillar trim and gently pull it away from the pillar. Be careful not to pull it too far as you will see it is connected by a clip. The trim tools may be of help here.

Bumper Automotive exterior Auto part Snake

14. In another post they said “Once you see the retainer clip, you will need to push the latching mechanism and then slide the latch off.” I could not do this no matter what. I ended up pulling slowly, but steadily while the garnish was warm.

15. This allowed the pocket to deform and allow me to continue pulling the garnish from the pillar. Do to the different explanations I have found, it probably depends on who installed and how the cover was installed as to how it comes off. I would suggest pre-ordering a new tether, GM part# 11611451 EDIT:(11570729), about $12, before starting.
EDIT: I purchased a complete garnish the other day from a pic-n-pull (because I like to be able to return the vehicle to stock whenever I want) and it almost fell off the pillar completely intact, tether and all.

17. There are three clips total including the tether and they reside nearest the windshield. If the metal clips do not come out with the pillar cover, the thin tabs will break of and render your original cover somewhat useless. If you can slip a long, thin flat tip between the pillar and cover, you may be able to coax the clips out, one at a time and salvage the cover. EDIT: I found you might have a different experience, but you never know

As my tether stayed intact on the pillar, I was able to use the two small flat tips to pry alternately left and right sides and an occasional pry at the top to coax the tether out. Here are some photos of the removed tether.

Gun Trigger Firearm Revolver Airsoft gun

18. I ended up using a needle nose to remove the other two clips.

Finger Fashion accessory Hand Ring Thumb

19. This is what it looks like when it has been deployed. At this point you really need to replace it. This picture is from the Camaro5 forum.

20. Lay the pillar trim on the dash

[*=center]Carefully remove the foam pad for reuse. Disconnect the plug to the tweeter. Push down on the tab and gently pull away from the tweeter. Leave the wire in place. You will need to disconnect the tweeter from the pillar by gently prying around the perimeter and slowly lifting it. It almost looks like it is not able to come out without breaking the ring, but it will. Lay the tweeter aside.

Once you have the pillar cover removed and out of your way, it’s time to run the wiring and tubing.

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Blasirl

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 12, 2018 (Edited)

Page 3

21. Remove the trim panel from the side of the dash. Use a trim tool to gently pry it off for best results.
22. I chose to use black and red wire for the boost gauge. Insert a fairly stiff object down into the hole behind the trim panel, starting near the windshield garnish (I used an electricians fish rod, but a wire coat hanger will do) and fish it out under the dash. If you alternate positions occasionally, you’ll see it right away.
23. Wrap about two feet of the boost tubing and the red and black wire with braided wire loom. 24. Tape this to the end of the fish wire and slowly pull back and out the top of the dash. (this is a pic of the AFR wiring)

25. Remove the tape and pull enough to make it to the gauge position plus about 6 more inches. Lay it up next to the pillar and use the ZZP pillar pod to mock it up.

Motor vehicle Vehicle Car Windshield Mode of transport

26. Once your satisfied you have enough, put on your first piece of shrink wrap and secure the end of the braid, I used black tape on the loom. (see pic above-the loom was cut back a few inches after this pic was taken)

27. Cut two more pieces and slide them onto the two wires after the loom has cooled.

28. Install the two solder-less connectors onto the wires.

29. Shrink the wrap around the connectors.

Wire Electrical wiring Cable Technology Electrical supply

30. Start on the AFR wiring at the gauge plug and wrap with loom. Because of the size of the large grommet hole, I was able to install a continuous piece of loom through the grommet to the end of the connector in the engine bay. (the braided worked out the same)

31. Reinsert the fish wire and fish the AFR wiring the same way. Pull enough to connect the gauge in the desired pod.

32. In order to ensure the clips had an unobstructed access to the pillar holes, I utilized the extra body holes and zip ties. I test fit the garnish (without the clips installed) multiple time to get to this point.

Windshield Wire Bumper Automotive exterior Automotive window part

NOTE: Next I picked up the garnish and tried to test fit the tether. No matter what I did it did not fit. I found that the stock garnish had a small rectangular opening at the bottom of the tether socket and the ZZP garnish did not. After measuring and comparing it to the stock garnish, I wrote to ZZP. While not coming outright and saying they forgot ¸they said I could make a small modification if I wished. Kind of a funny answer, but I wonder if it has to do with product liability.

Coming Soon Part II

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Blasirl

Discussion Starter · #4 · Aug 31, 2018 (Edited)

Reserved

Is this difficult to read? I was experimenting with formatting and such. If you have any presentation suggestions or corrections to what was posted, please let me know.

EDIT: I tried fixing this, but found it almost impossible. I was able to make a few corrections, but some pictures refuse to move.

Modifications I made to the ZZP pillar cover:

When I looked at the back of the garnish, I saw that many of the holes inside the ring were not pierced. I used my seal puller (Linked to a source above) to open them up. I alternated back to front one hole at a time until they looked as good as I could get them. Possibly the would have looked better if I used a hand drill, but I'm OK with them the way they turned out.

Audio equipment Technology Electronic device Electronics Microphone

Audio equipment Personal protective equipment Ceiling

The other issue I mention about above is where the tether attaches.

The first picture shows the tether roughly lined up with the socket. The second shows the socket inserted into the socket and that it does not fully seat.
The third shows the tether to the tether socket dimensions sort of. No actual numbers, but you get the idea.

Bumper Technology Electronics Auto part Electronic device

The next sequence shows where I marked the ZPP garnish to allow for the tether to fully seat. The second pictures just shows the tools I used and the third shows that I had to enlarge the hole some more. I recommend you cut smaller than you think you need to and sneak up on the finished size. I'd hate to have to try and repair it with my plastic welder.

Bumper Automotive exterior Fender Vehicle Wheel

Impact driver Handheld power drill Impact wrench Tire Hammer drill

Lastly is a shot of the fully seated tether.

Automotive exterior Bumper Auto part Vehicle Car

I kind of forgot what I was going to do for part two. I have hundreds of pictures for this install, so if someone needs info on any specific item, I'll do my best to recreate what I did.

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MP81

· #5 · Aug 31, 2018 (Edited)

Blasirl said:
Reserved

Is this difficult to read? I was experimenting with formatting and such. If you have any presentation suggestions or corrections to what was posted, please let me know.

It's neat, and I can't say I've seen a post like that before, but it's kind of a pain having to scroll over to read further. This is on my laptop, with the older 1366x768 resolution - I'll have to look on my desktop, which is 1080p, or my the Spectre, which is 2K - they may not require scrolling.

That said - ZZP does a great job with their A-Pillars and how the fit, and especially how they match. Factory grain and color, looks like it was there from the factory, and doesn't look tacked on like the typical screw-on pods.

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Blasirl

Discussion Starter · #6 · Aug 31, 2018

MP81 said:
It's neat, and I can't say I've seen a post like that before, but it's kind of a pain having to scroll over to read further. This is on my laptop, with the older 1366x768 resolution - I'll have to look on my desktop, which is 1080p, or my the Spectre, which is 2K - they may not require scrolling.

That said - ZZP does a great job with their A-Pillars and how the fit, and especially how they match. Factory grain and color, looks like it was there from the factory, and doesn't look tacked on like the typical screw-on pods.

So you think I should put text then a pic below or text and a pic to the right?

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MP81

· #7 · Aug 31, 2018

I think you can post the picture, and then the line above or below it, do the step number and the description. That should keep the formatting pretty good across screen resolutions

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.Cody

· #8 · May 18, 2019

So do gauges just sit in there? No way to secure them in place?

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MP81

· #9 · May 18, 2019

On my Cobalt, which has a ZZP pillar, the only one that had a method to secure the gauge was the bottom hole - but that was only because the factory boost gauge on the SS/SC and SS/TC needed to still be able to fit in there if you wanted to reuse it.

I put a pass or two of electrical tape around the gauge body, and they fit nice and tight - they've been in there for a decade now and have never moved.

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Blasirl

Discussion Starter · #10 · May 19, 2019

.Cody said:
So do gauges just sit in there? No way to secure them in place?

I forgot about this thread. I guess I should try and put together part II.

To answer your question, my two guages are just press fit. They have not moved at all since I installed them. Even if they were loose, the wiring/tubing would not let them fall out.

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.Cody

· #11 · May 29, 2019

Blasirl said:
tether and all.

17. There are three clips total including the tether and they reside nearest the windshield. If the metal clips do not come out with the pillar cover, the thin tabs will break of and render your original cover somewhat useless. If you can slip a long, thin flat tip between the pillar and cover, you may be able to coax the clips out, one at a time and salvage the cover. EDIT: I found you might have a different experience, but you never know View attachment 262314

As my tether stayed intact on the pillar, I was able to use the two small flat tips to pry alternately left and right sides and an occasional pry at the top to coax the tether out. Here are some photos of the removed tether.

View attachment 262321 View attachment 262322 View attachment 262330 View attachment 262338 View attachment 262345

18. I ended up using a needle nose to remove the other two clips.

View attachment 262346 View attachment 262354

19. This is what it looks like when it has been deployed. At this point you really need to replace it. This picture is from the Camaro5 forum.

I managed to unhook my original pillar from the tether after it dislodged from itself, attached it to the new one and pop it back into itself. Thanks for the guide.

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Blasirl

Discussion Starter · #12 · May 29, 2019

I've added a few more pictures above

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Blasirl

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jan 18, 2020 (Edited)

I noticed I have the gauge numbers reversed in the parts needed block. I cannot fix it without redoing the entire post though.

Mechanical Boost Gauge (Mine is a Autometer Cobalt 6107) EDIT again: Actually it is the Autometer Cobalt 6103
Mechanical Air/Fuel Ratio Gauge (Mine is a Autometer Cobalt 6178)

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How-To: Install gauges in a ZZP Pillar Pod A-Z Part 1

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