Pulled the dash on friday, was really surprised how easy that was compared to some other cars. Went ahead and installed the Mkah gauge panel which fits really well. I will get some real pics once the dash is back in. I am having a hell of a time getting the gauges wires into the engine bay since they are not very long. I tried to go from the typical spot with the battery cables and no dice, then tried from the ecu bin and well yeah its still too short. Ideally I would pull the heater core...which might still happen but I plan to keep that for now and the hvac control will be in the glove box. I am a little too worried about the windows fogging up.
dash out by minthinrich, on Flickr
mkah gauge panel by minthinrich, on Flickr
Took me a little while to figure out the bimmerworld gauge block which made me feel really dumb, also had to move over the coolant adapter piece. My car had the tb hose one hole over, so the adapter didnt work on the blank plugged space that was already there, so I ended up just plugging the tb coolant hose return. Need to order a new oil separator hose as well as mine finally split and I dont see how the silicone one that comes in the kit can work since it doesnt fit over the stock fittings.
gauge adapters by minthinrich, on Flickr
I did however take a trip to Stable Energies in Nj to pick out a new seat. I took along my recaro to verify if it was real since its missing the FIA tag, but it is a real seat just sort of a blemish. I know all the older pole positions are not FIA anyway after the major recall. Ended up sitting in all the seats which I really wanted a halo, but seeing as I will drive the car on the street often I pushed that style back and went with the OMP First-R which is the "budget" of the WRC-R. It has a different cushion, fully upholstered which is kinda weird but whatever, and non finished fiberglass. $550 out the door with a FIA seat that fits me great.....yeah I am happy. I can basically get 2 if I want a passenger to match for the price of most of what I was looking at. I will need new side mounts I think however since the VAC are kinda low and I have no real adjustment whatsoever with them other than the top holes and its as high as I can get it with no real room to get the bolts into the bottom mounts.
omp seat by minthinrich, on Flickr
dash out by minthinrich, on Flickr
mkah gauge panel by minthinrich, on Flickr
Took me a little while to figure out the bimmerworld gauge block which made me feel really dumb, also had to move over the coolant adapter piece. My car had the tb hose one hole over, so the adapter didnt work on the blank plugged space that was already there, so I ended up just plugging the tb coolant hose return. Need to order a new oil separator hose as well as mine finally split and I dont see how the silicone one that comes in the kit can work since it doesnt fit over the stock fittings.
gauge adapters by minthinrich, on Flickr
I did however take a trip to Stable Energies in Nj to pick out a new seat. I took along my recaro to verify if it was real since its missing the FIA tag, but it is a real seat just sort of a blemish. I know all the older pole positions are not FIA anyway after the major recall. Ended up sitting in all the seats which I really wanted a halo, but seeing as I will drive the car on the street often I pushed that style back and went with the OMP First-R which is the "budget" of the WRC-R. It has a different cushion, fully upholstered which is kinda weird but whatever, and non finished fiberglass. $550 out the door with a FIA seat that fits me great.....yeah I am happy. I can basically get 2 if I want a passenger to match for the price of most of what I was looking at. I will need new side mounts I think however since the VAC are kinda low and I have no real adjustment whatsoever with them other than the top holes and its as high as I can get it with no real room to get the bolts into the bottom mounts.
omp seat by minthinrich, on Flickr
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