[agentr31]

so ive managed to take a few photos

things you will need
1 x boost gauge
3M of rubber hose to suit the boost gauge and fitting you bought
1x 1/8''BSPT to 1/4'' brass right angle fitting
drill to suit the 1/8"" BSPT fitting (i had a tap and drill in my tool box)
4mm drill to drill plastics in car for screw and for the wires to go through
hole punch to put a hole through the grommit for the hose to come into the car
10mm socket
pliers

ok so now you have the tools

heres the method

remove the door rubber gently from the top of the a pillar to the scuff plate ***be careful door rubbers are easily damaged***
remove the "A" pillar trim by taking the "srs airbag" (pic 4)trim off and locating the bolt behind it (10mm socket)
remove the bolt and store somewhere safe grasp it at the top and pull towards the center of the car this will release the clip holding it in there, then bring it down and back towards the drivers seat to unclip it at the bottom (its 2 tabs holding it in)

now mark where you want the boost gauge and put it on there with the screws provided, i used an electric one so i only drilled one hole for a screw and used the other for the wiring to go through this means less holes and less mess!!

now to pull the dash apart

first remove the fuse cover, by pulling it, then you have to remove the trim that holds the cover grasp it and pull it away from the dash... this will be very tight and feel like you might break it but it should eventually pop off

then you have to take the 2 screws out from the main panel at the bottom, 2 more from the side where the fuse cover is and it pulls away from the dash there are some clips on the side and at the top of it

take the obd2 connector off and the 2 for the switches BE CAREFUL look for hidden screws and clips

now feed the wiring down to the fuse box area and obtain power from there to illuminate and power the boost gauge, find a power that isnt from something critical and is only powered when the car is in "acc" or "on" a good one would be cigarette lighter

to the engine bay now, remove the intercooler! disconnect the MAP sensor, there are 2 bolts at the top take them off, remove the hose clamps for the piping and lift the intercooler out!

now you have to drill and tap a hole in the intercooler (pic 1) ***DO NOT LET SWARF IN TO THE INTERCOOLER*** be carefull here and drill it with someone holding a vacume cleaner there to catch the swarf!! also rinse the intercooler out and let it dry VERY WELL if you use petrol or water... you can cause damage to your engine if you dont think here

i chose to drill mine at the bottom so it was a bit hidden, fit the brass  fitting, use a little "3bond" on it to help it seal or you can use teflon tape if you prefer!!

putting the bottom hose clamp back in is a nightmare... i bought a screw up type one to replace the original one as it was too hard to put back on... the top one is fine you can reuse that one

re-install the intercooler and fit the hose on it

remove the engine cover! two bolts at the front of it, then lift it up its cliped on at the back so just pull straight up, run the hose to the back of the (motor pic 2) and use a few zip ties to hold it inplace on teh wiring loom that is there or if you want you can run the hose a different way... re-install the engine cover (or leave off if you wish)

remove the rectangular grommit where im pointing in (pic 3) and punch a hole in it to let the hose through in to the cabin... its a good idea to make the hole a touch smaller than the hose to aid in sealing against water and dirt entry!

poke a hole in the carpet with a screw driver fit the grommit back in and feed the hose into the cabin, then connect it to the boost gauge, or in my case connect it to the boost sensor

***make sure none of your wiring or hoses will interfere with the pedals and steering system of the car***

now everything is connected up but not re-installed its a good idea to check everything works!! check it boosts when reved!!!

if everything work put the car back together!!

here are the install pics

the brass fitting is on the bottom of the cooler

the hose runs from the cooler infront of the battert to the back of the engine

its not really clear but there is a rectangular grommit behind here on the firewall
this is the "srs airbag" trim hiding a screw



and the boost gauge i used
its an electronic one that uses a boost sensor hidden under the dash there are 3 wires you need to wire in... a 12v+ a ground and one to the gauge


hopefully ive been helpfull!! good luck and always use your head when doing things like this, there is nothing worse than an EPIC FAIL

[Lakes]

Thanks mate i have wanted a boost gauge for ages.
will have to get one any tips on what gauge your useing?
thanks.

[Dazzler]

Nice work Agent (I don't want one but that should help a lot of our members)

[agentr31]

a super cheap "caliber" brand one... its checked accurate against a proper VDO preassure gauge *shrugs shoulders* i thought it might be dodgy but its not

also the reason for me drilling and tapping a fitting into the intercooler is because there are no lines on the engine from the manifold!!

the two that run across the engine are from the "vacume pump" so dont be fooled by thinking you can use them!!

Warning - while you were typing a new reply has been posted. You may wish to review your post

yer i realise a lot of people on here wont want one, BUT it might come in helpful for somebody that puts a gauge in there...

[Lakes]

thats sounds good m8, what is highest pressure reading you have seen so far?
what boost pressure do you normally drive on?
cheers

[agentr31]

highest ive seen is 16 PSI... on the highway at 100kph it sits on 2-3 psi

[Lakes]

highest ive seen is 16 PSI... on the highway at 100kph it sits on 2-3 psi

On the scangauge looked higher, but you have to take off normal manifold vacume, scangauge reads two together i think i saw 31 show up on scangauge. Martin thought they had 19 or 20psi he raised it to 22psi.
is your one useing a MAP sensor? still good to have a boost gauge.
cheers

[Lorian]

On the scangauge looked higher, but you have to take off normal manifold vacume, scangauge reads two together i think i saw 31 show up on scangauge.

If you have new enough firmware in the scangauge you can set up a boost pressure x-gauge (manifold pressure - typical atmospheric pressure)

Setting up a Boost X-gauge

Works well.

[Rec01L]

I was just about to do this on mine, though instead of drilling into the intercooler (which will be expensive to replace if some thing goes wrong!) i just going to add a 10cm section of 2" SS cooler piping i had left over from my Subi FMIC install and tap a nipple into that.

My question is though, due to idle bypass, is there any Vac pressure shown here? My guess would be no, but then its my first time modding a deisel and there are a bucket load of differences over petrol turbo engines!

Ninja edit:
Ill be using an electronic boost gauge with a map sensor, i was thinking of devising a way of using check valves to tap off the vac lines to feed a vac signal to the sensor but everything i think of would allow positive pressure to enter the vac circuit under boost.

[agentr31]

pretty much gotta do it the way i did... there are no lines around the engine you can add a 'tee piece' to

use a proper mechanical gauge... i used a supercheap one... had to replace it before it was a year old because it failed!!!

also it spikes to 25psi then settles down around 20~22psi

[stapla]

Ultragauge has a boost gauge which works with the i30 CRDi.

[Alasama]

That's nice. Although I think I won't do that, some friends were talking about adding a pressure gauge in car today. May suggest them to study this post.