EvoSam

iTrader: (6)

First of all, I take no responsibility for any issues that may arise from you following these instructions. Secondly, my camera sucks.

This is how I went about installing a small diameter shift light into my driver's side HVAC vent. I used this light: http://www.harlan-engineering.com/st...hiftlight.html as I have used it in the past and it's a very quality unit with no need for pills, and very reasonably priced. The install is actually very simple and can probably be accomplished in about an hour, give or take some.

Getting started you'll have to remove the dash pieces, there are numerous write-ups on this but I'll cover it again. Pull all three of the HVAC selector knobs towards you, one at a time. They'll come right off. Remove the two screws that were under the temp select and vent select knobs. Now hook a finger under one of the corners and pull towards you, it will pop out with some effort. Now do the other side. Now run your finger up from the bottom on either of the two sides to pop out the top corner and repeat on the other side, the whole piece will come out and it will look like the pic below. Be careful not to push on the white HVAC controls piece as it's sort of free floating in there, don't use it as a pry point.

Next remove the two screws that are above the steering wheel column that hold the plastic screen over the gauges. You don't need to remove this piece, but it will aid in removing our next portion.

Next remove the two screws that hold in the trim piece that houses the clock, hazard flashers, and HVAC vents. Pick a point to start pulling on, or put a rag on the shaft of a standard screwdriver and pry the whole piece off, work your way towards the passenger side of the car, leaving the drivers side for last. Now that the whole thing is loose, the piece will be hung up on the plastic screen that covers the gauges, fiddle with it until it's unhooked. Unhook the electrical connections to the clock and hazards and pull the whole piece out.

EvoSam

iTrader: (6)

Now, flip the unit over so you can remove the portion of the duct we're going to mount the light into. Using your standard screwdriver, remove the duct from it's clips. You only need to pry it loose from the two on one side then pivot it out of the clips on the other side.

I chose to put the light more towards the passenger side since with my right arm on the steering wheel I could conceivably block the light if it were mounted closer to me. To do this I had to remove two of the directional fins that are in there, it's really easy to do by just prying out all but the last one, removing two of them, and then reseating the other ones back in there. See the pics below to see what I'm talking about.

EvoSam

iTrader: (6)

It's up to you at this point to figure out your mounting preference. I would recommend getting the bracket that's sold with the light: http://www.harlan-engineering.com/st...ght/mount.html but in my case I couldn't find mine so I went to Home Depot and got a 1" P-Clamp from the electrical section. It's used to hold down wires when running a whole lot of them over a distance.

Slip your clamp over the light and test fit it in there to see where it fits best. Make sure you can still move your directional vents right and left, and that it's not so far forward as to interfere with the up and down vents. Once that's all done, drill out your mounting hole, then elongate it a bit to run your wire through. It's important to leave enough slack in the wire underneath the vent to pull the light out and to make any adjustments when needed.

Make sure when you're putting the vent back into the dash piece you line up the center fin with the directional selector on the face of the vent.

Here's what mine looked like when I was done:

EvoSam

iTrader: (6)

Time to run wires. I realized this morning what and idiot I am. I used the ground bolt off my ECU and pulled my 12v switched power from pin #12 of my ECU. I could have just tapped into my clock that was right there, ugh. Anyhow, I made my connections with vampire taps and spade fuse connectors. The tach signal wire is #58 and the diagram on http://www.roadraceengineering.com/e...-ecuwiring.htm is very helpful.

If I were doing it all over, I would have only run the tach signal wire to the ECU and pulled the power and ground from by the clock.

To get to the ECU wires you'll need to remove the glove box. Again, there are numerous write-ups on this but here you go again. Open the glove box and remove the clip on the left hand side. While it's fully opened, bend the right side away from it's mooring and pop that clip past the dash. The box will now open up all the way, when it's perpendicular to the floor pull it off it's hinges, it's removed.

Now remove the ECU wiring cover from the lower right portion of the dash, this was under the glove box. Just pull it towards you and it'll pop right off.

There is a lot of room to run your wires at this point, have fun and make sure you're getting good connections at the ECU with whatever method you use. The chassis ground wires (#'s 13 and 26) do not work for this install.

EvoSam

iTrader: (6)

Following the directions that came with the light, test it. Make sure to set it for 4 cyl's and I opted to set it for 2000rpm turn on just to make sure everything worked. I did my settings before hand powering it up at the car battery just to make life easier.

If all went well, the light will turn on as soon as the key is in the ON position, then it will turn back up. Rev the engine up to whatever setting you chose for test purposes and see that the light comes on and stays on until you deccelerate.

Did it work? Good. If not, check your connections again.

Now, set the light to your desired setting bearing in mind that any future changes will require you to pull the dash apart again.

Below are some pics of my finished product. You can sort of see the light hiding behind the vent when it's off. When it turns on it's VERY bright, seeing it in daylight is not an issue. My camera sucks, but you can see that even when the flash went off the light was still bright.

EvoSam

iTrader: (6)

A few notes. While the light is very easy to use and I like it hidden, there are some issues that might bother some people. First of all, any time you want to change the turn on point you'll need to pull the dash again. This is not an issue for me as I know what time it comes on and how my reaction to it is. You will not be able to close off that vent anymore. The flow of air from that vent will be marginally decreased and directional aiming will be affected.

However if you're like me you spend most of your driving time alone so you can set the HVAC to whatever settings you like and use the other vents if necessary.

Good luck and happy shifting.

leonard_shelby

iTrader: (1)

Some things I've noticed.

The stock tach in the EVO (not unlike many other sports cars) can't keep up with engine speed. I assume the Shift light is much more accurate then the tach as pretty much any cheap after-market one seems to be.

This is variable 200-500RPMS depending if you are running through gears(200) or if you are rolling, foot off the gas, and then step on it (500).


My shift light is from http://www.raptorperformance.com/ it is a really nice versatile unit. Pics of my own take on a stealth install to come.

trinydex

iTrader: (12)

this may seem like a dumb question... but how do you run the wires through the vents? do you just keep pushing them? and where to they come out? i want to put a tube shift light in that little vent on the driver side dash... the one that vents when the winshield vents are on.

leonard_shelby

iTrader: (1)

You run all the wires and then mount the shift light. Either pull the dash apart and pull the wires from the front of the dash to under / behind the dash , Or wire the whole thing pull the dash apart and mount the shift light in the AC vent.

EvoSam

iTrader: (6)

That light on raptorperformance is damn near exactly what I have, only more expensive. You'll like it, it's very bright.

As for running the wires, it will be easier for you to understand when you have the dash apart. Figure out where you're going to mount it, find the ECU, and run the wires accordingly. If you're asking specifically how to get the wires out of the vent tube, refer to step 3 of the install where I say "drill out your mounting hole, then elongate it a bit to run your wire through" The wires will now be out of the tract.

Sam

trinydex

iTrader: (12)

ok... just finished my stealth install today, copied exactly from here, even emailed evosam for asome details, thanks a bunch, this is a great idea, the light from raptor works very well and it very sleak.

sleet

iTrader: (9)

Hmm..very nice write-up, perhaps i'll try picking one of these up and trying it this way. I've never really thought about a shift light heh.

MaxedEvo

nice write up def gonna try this soon

eddiefreeman85

Clever idea