Gauges in center vent - question

[Rittmeister]

For those of you who've installed gauges in your center vent (S13), do you miss having the vent operational?

My car still has A/C and I plan to keep it that way - whatever else I do with it, I need it to be comfortable on the street as well.

Opinions?

[A Spec Products]

For those of you who've installed gauges in your center vent (S13), do you miss having the vent operational?

My car still has A/C and I plan to keep it that way - whatever else I do with it, I need it to be comfortable on the street as well.

Opinions?

Just mount it under the stereo (assuming you have a single DIN)

Or buy a universal triple gauge pod and put it on the center of the dash.

I mount them under the stereo so I don't really have to worry about cancelling the vents.

[SilviaKris]

I was wondering the same thing. How is life without the vents? Im considering this myself, Im opting not to go under the head unit because i think it's dangerous having to take your eyes off the road (especially so far down) to look down at a gauge..the closer to eye level the better.

[Maeda]

A/C. Bah.

Gauges are a great reason to get rid of 70lbs of crap.

Got gauges -> vents dont work -> ditch a/c :D

[Andrew Bohan]

get another car. that's the best way

[ALTRNTV]

You still have the vents on the passenger side, and the vents around the steering column.

[Andrew Bohan]

has anyone removed the duct to the center vents and sealed the resulting hole?
and thus avoiding heating and cooling the gauges?

[breakindrifts]

They make ones that only have two holes for guages, and then vents in the center so you can still get air.

[s13_speed]

a/c slows you downnnnnn!

[Flybert]

has anyone removed the duct to the center vents and sealed the resulting hole?
and thus avoiding heating and cooling the gauges?

I sealed mine up with plastic and a rubber band. It worked for a long ass time but eventually the heat caused it to come off. Now that I have my dash off right now, I'm probably going to silicone or super glue a flat plastic piece over it or something like that.

[RB26Sileighty]

nope it's so much easier to see the guages too

[khai01]

Check ebay. A nice way to have both.

[andrewmp6]

raretrick.com has a gauge pod that sits over the center act vent holds 3 60mm gauges http://www.autotechinteriors.com/products/product_epod.php or http://www.defi-shop.com/product/din/din_top.html

[standXalone]

has anyone removed the duct to the center vents and sealed the resulting hole?
and thus avoiding heating and cooling the gauges?

I have a pod with 3 gauges in the center vent on my dash, when i installed them i removed all the heat/ac plastic piping behind it, it works like a charm. When i had the sr20 swap done, we removed everything that had to do with a/c, so it doesn't matter now.

[240silvia]

I guess it kinda depends on where you live. If it's somewhere up north, then A/C isn't that big of a deal. But here in the south, I wouldn't be without it. Just gets to damn hot. I've had the 2 gauges in my wents before. With a spot in the middle for the air to go through. Works ok, just shoots in 1 direction.

[90RS13]

I have gauge in the center vent spot, and I'd definantly recomend sealing of the ducting behind it. If you don't you lose alot of you heat or a/c. Even if you bezel has the vent slots in the middle it doesn't help a whole lot. Unless you make your own ducting to make it only go to those slots, it will just come out of the ducting that used to go to the vent and alot will go around inside the dash.

[Rittmeister]

Interesting thoughts.

Aspec - I seriously considered going underneath the stereo (or moving the stereo down a slot and going above it) but I also need room for fan controller/boost controller/turbo timer/SAFC maybe. I don't like sticking those in the glovebox but haven't had a better idea. I haven't ruled out the DIN slot yet.

Maeda - yes, in a perfect world I'd remove the A/C because it would always be 60 and partly cloudy. However, here in the Ohio river valley in summer, it's often 95 and 95% humidity with no breeze.

i'm driftaholic - I already have another car. I still want to be comfortable when driving the S13, not to mention the wifey.

s13_speed - I don't caaarrrrrrreeeeeee! The car will be fast enough to satisfy me, I'm not trying to prove anything.

I know about the 2-gauge-plus-vent plate thing, but don't want to go that way, mostly because I've got three gauges.

What about this - where could I stick auxiliary controllers (fan control, boost control etc) other than the glovebox in an S13?

And the original question - has anyone stuck gauges in their center vent and regretted it?

[Slip&Sliden 240]

has anyone removed the duct to the center vents and sealed the resulting hole?
and thus avoiding heating and cooling the gauges?

I sealed mine up with silicone and some cardboard. Works great. I use my defroster more then anything anyways, so I dont miss those vents.

[DrtyRat]

Interesting thoughts.

Aspec - I seriously considered going underneath the stereo (or moving the stereo down a slot and going above it) but I also need room for fan controller/boost controller/turbo timer/SAFC maybe. I don't like sticking those in the glovebox but haven't had a better idea. I haven't ruled out the DIN slot yet.

If your somewhat willing to put it where the stereo goes then why not put the radio in the glove box and then you'll have plenty of space...all you have to do is do some measuring, trim the back and sides of the glovebox, and trim the bracket...its a little bit of a pain in the butt, but its worth it for the extra space it affords you....and its really not that big a deal to have the radio in there especially if you have one w/a remote. I put my stock one in there until I get my pioneer out of my wrecked s14...btw i have an s13 now

[TheTimanator]

raretrick.com has a gauge pod that sits over the center act vent holds 3 60mm gauges http://www.autotechinteriors.com/products/product_epod.php or http://www.defi-shop.com/product/din/din_top.html
the attain pod is redicuosly exspensive. The Defi DIN setup has been discontinued and pretty pricey as well. Although I've seen a lot of websites that still carry them.
That auto-tech pod is new to me! Me thinks I'm gonna have to get it. :)