Roush vent guage pod howto

ok, here it is, lots of pics. This is my first real how-to, so don't flame me plz.
I used hand tools only, because I wanted to take my time, but much of this could have been done with a dremel tool to speed things up a bit.

Tools:
Side cutting pliers,
Round file
Half-round file
Hacksaw or jeweler's saw
razor knife
Hot glue gun
Electrical tape

To remove the vent, grab the vanes and pull straight out. This takes a bit more force than you would assume is necessary. There is an inner vent piece that comes out by twisting clockwise, and pull out. 3 tabs line up into slots in the dash.
Parts.


I started by cutting the trim ring off.


I didn't trim it close enough the first time, and had to cut some more off, or file off lots of plastic.




This is how thin you need it to be, all you want is the trim ring.



The vanes can be cut out with side cutting pliers (dikes), or just pull them out. They are held with little plastic pins that will break easily. Don't worry about this, they will be discarded anyway. sorry, no pic of the pins.

The ring left behind has flat areas that held the pivot pins for the vanes. These have to be filed or cut out.
flat spots:


what it should look like after filing.


The filing process leaves some rough edges that clean up easily with a razor knife and sandpaper.

Next you will have to cut the inner part of the vent. There is a step to a narrower size that will not allow the roush pod to fit. Cut it right above the step.


Here's another view of the step.


This will leave a small gap of around 1/2 inch between the a/c ducting and the back of the roush pod. Some air will escape into your dash, but it still blows around the gauge.

The trim ring gets glued to the inner vent that we just cut.


The only place to glue it is on the inside. take your time and go slowly using a minimum of glue. If you use too much, you can peel it off or trim with a knife. I didn't use superglue here because the vapors given off during the curing process can stain nearby plastic. Plus it is harder to correct any mistakes.

Here it is mounted and glued.


another view.


Now it's time to fit the pod. There are some tabs on the pod that are longer than the rest. The roush instructions said these are for an f150. Cut 'em off with the dikes.


Slide the pod into the vent and test fit. I had to go at the inside of the vent some more with a half-round file to open it up a little more. I took my time here so as to not mar the trim ring.


It ended up being a fairly snug fit, I put the whole assembly trim-ring side down on some newspaper and pushed the gauge pod through 'til they were flush, and hod glued the two together.



Here is a closeup of the pod installed in the vent.



The Prosport gauge is fairly loose, so I used 2 layers of electrical tape to snug it up.


All of it put together.


Pod installed in the car.


Now at this point, i connected the gauge, pushed it into the pod, and promptly pushed the vent into the dash, un-gluing the trim ring. It is a snug fit. Don't do that part, it was dumb. After some cursing, and re-gluing the ring on. I put the vent back in, twisting counter-clockwise to secure it in the dash. Lined up the gauge, and pulled the whole assembly back out to seat the gauge. After re-installing it, here's how it looks.


You can see a small bit of hot-glue visible, but I trimmed that away.

It sounds like much more work than it actually was. It only took an hour, and I was going very slow around that trim ring. Not bad if you aren't scared to cut into stuff.

nice right up, im thinking of doing this also... quick question though... if i were to use my heat or a/c would it cause any damage to the pod since it is not covered from behind... i want to have that vent still but i also want to make sure it doesnt screw up anything. also with that second picture of the trim ring.... do you take all the plastic off the back of it like just so you can have the trim ring or do you need to keep a little plastic to glue on

The ring is thick enough to glue to, no worries about leaving plastic, although a small amount helps center it when it's being glued. You will have some left after cutting unless you file it flat.
The air blowing on the pod won't cause any damage. Get in your car in the middle of summer or winter and touch stuff. The sun makes things way hotter than your heater will get, and snow makes it much colder than the a/c.

The inner vent tubing.......you said you cut it, and then glued it to the silver ring....how does it twist back into place? Wouldn't the ring keep it from going deep enough into the vent? Just a little confused about the 1/2 gap, and how it all works, but my pod came in today - so I'll give it a closer look this weekend.
Thanks for the detailed write-up!!

the trim ring normally sits flush against the inner vent tubing, all we are doing is gluing it in place because the rotating part is being removed. The 1/2 gap is there because we trim the inner tubing. if you look at the photo I took of the parts, look at the part with the foam strip on it. this is removed and replaced with the gauge pod. The pod is not as long as the original piece, and is a bit smaller, so it does not seal into the dashboard ductwork. I'm sure you could probably re-use part of the tube and glue it to the pod if you are concerned about air blowing in the dash, but I don't see a reason to do that.
With the grommet mount that is in the how-to section, if you don't block off the ductwork, air is blowing around back there anyway. This just allows some of it to get into the cabin.

I'm not planning on doing this, but you did one hell of a job.
Excellent info. (2thumbs)

Great write-up, moose. Very detailed.

Nicely done!

Great write up! I just ordered this very same setup today so thsi will come in handy next week!

It's so hot in Hawaii.. No way would I give up even a little efficiency of my A/C vent!!

But damn good write-up . I'm still trying to figure out where to put my gauge..

I finished my install! Great walk through man thankyou. You're right, I did it over 2 days so I could use a hack saw and some files and sandpaper at work but it was very little work to put this together.

Nice write-up!

Are you sure that the hot melt you used will remain thermally stable?

When the interior of the car reaches what 130-140 degrees in the summer

with windows up and parked in the sun.

Will the glue still hold?

I would think that a more thermally stable adhesive would be more

appropriate for the interior of a car that will be subjected to extreme

temperatures.

Can the Rousch gauge pod be installed without hacking up the OEM vent? Can't you just remove the OEM vent and drop the Rousch pod in? I realize the Rousch pod has a slightly non-OEM look since it has the chrome ring, but it wouldn't be too bad.

The Roush (no 'c') pod does not have a chrome ring, or any ring for that matter. The trim ring is transferred from the stock unit to the VentPod.

OIC. So chrome ring on their website is the OEM Mustang trim ring....

Any consideration to build a Mazda specific ventpod? I know the CX7 guys would like this. If the vents are interchangeable with the Mazda 3 and 6, even better.

There is definitely some consideration to do a Mazda 3 specific pod. Demand needs to be there, and judging from the discussions on this forum, it looks like it is. It's a fairly large financial commitment to produce these. That being said, I'm workin' on it.

shadow1 said:

OIC. So chrome ring on their website is the OEM Mustang trim ring....

Click to expand...

Yes the chrome ring on the site is for a Mustang or an F-150 or something. To do this install you have to file down the trim ring that you cut out. It's not nearly as involved as it sounds.