How to remove dimmer switch?

[93FestyEh]

I tried prying on the switch from the front using a plastic trim tool but it would not budge. I need to tap into the dimmer wire to light my tach & vacuum gauge so how do I remove the dimmer switch to tap into the wire? Or is there an easier way to tap that wire? Thx.

[ryanprins13]

I think removing the speaker grille and speaker then either sticking your hand through it and up or reaching all the way from the bottom is easiest. There is a huge tab on the top and bottom that has to be squeezed. Might have to pull out that one air duct to go from the bottom, but thats easy.

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[ryanprins13]

A vacuum gauge is a nice tool to have on a festiva, ive used them for years in all my cars. The lights in your tach and vac gauge- are they led or halogen/incandecent?
If they are LED they wont work well off your dimmer. You would have to turn the rest of your lights almost off before the led's started to dim.
Want to post a pic of the gauges your putting in?
In my experience buying cheap vac gauges there is a 50/50 chance it wont read correctly.
Ive bought 5 to get 2 that gave proper readings, lol.

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[bravekozak]

Eh, once you pull off the plastic connector, the proper way to "tap" into the circuit is to release the terminal you want, and re-terminate by making a pigtail with a new open barrel terminal. That is exactly what I did for my second horn relay connector. No chance of any short. Do not splice if you do not have to.

[93FestyEh]

OK I took the speaker out and was able to get the dimmer out. I broke one of the tabs on the speaker grille because I pried it off from the bottom first. Whoops. I used one of those horrible snap pinch wire tap thingies. It's the wrong way to do it but it works in a pinch.

It's all good now, the vac gauge uses incandescent lighting, it works just fine. I'm not a fan of LED instrumentation bulbs for 2 reasons: 1. they're usually way too bright, 2. they usually don't dim well or at all.

I had the vacuum gauge sitting basically on the floor for a few days so I was glad to at very least route the clear hose up to the top of the dash where the empty panel is.

[93FestyEh]

Here's a pic of the vacuum gauge mounted, I love it, I'm trying to kind-of hypermile now... even though it's winter and I only drive in the city.

Although I must admit I initially put it in to check engine health. Vacuum jitters a bit less than 1 inch pretty much always so it's not 100% good but overall that's the only not-good thing I've discovered.

IMG_6704.jpg

[WmWatt]

The ignition on mine tends to get dirty and wet or something an does that, misses. Cleaning the igniton components which I do annualy usually clears it up. Also going out on the highway helps, which I think might clean and dry some things.

[ryanprins13]

OK I took the speaker out and was able to get the dimmer out. I broke one of the tabs on the speaker grille because I pried it off from the bottom first. Whoops. I used one of those horrible snap pinch wire tap thingies. It's the wrong way to do it but it works in a pinch.

It's all good now, the vac gauge uses incandescent lighting, it works just fine. I'm not a fan of LED instrumentation bulbs for 2 reasons: 1. they're usually way too bright, 2. they usually don't dim well or at all.

I had the vacuum gauge sitting basically on the floor for a few days so I was glad to at very least route the clear hose up to the top of the dash where the empty panel is.

Good! I use a seperate dimmer for led gauges.
Those pinch wire taps suck but i cant say ive never used them...

Here's a pic of the vacuum gauge mounted, I love it, I'm trying to kind-of hypermile now... even though it's winter and I only drive in the city.

Although I must admit I initially put it in to check engine health. Vacuum jitters a bit less than 1 inch pretty much always so it's not 100% good but overall that's the only not-good thing I've discovered.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]21647[/ATTACH]

Cool! I had a lot of fun trying to get good fuel milage years back. 22.2km/L was the best i ever did. Average when i wasnt trying real hard and which was a mix of city and highway but mostly highway was 19.5km/L.
I think both mine shake more than 1 in hg...
This was my first setup which i used till i couldnt stand the vac gauge rattling:

Then this one served me well for 9 years or so, but tape over the led light, lol...

Stepped up my game now in the last year.

Below the radio is a trailer brake controller. Right of the switch panel is a tire pressure and temp monitor, volts and amps in the switchpanel, oil and coolant temp up top with the vac gauge in the middle. Nicer oil pressure gauge but same cheap tach because it fits nice.
Circled spot is where im thinking of putting a pyrometer

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[93FestyEh]

Inspiration...

[reddragon]

Hey guys is this the my first vacuum guage thread?



That's a stock standard instrument cluster from a 1981 Holden Commodore VC 3.3 litre 6 cylinder manual sedan.

[bravekozak]

This reminds me of my first car that I bought. It was a Jeep CJ-7. I cut out the middle of the stock flat metal dash and then mounted every gauge that Stewart-Warner ever made. It went all the way across to the passenger side in two rows.

My Festiva build was to make my dash look stock. All of the wiring is not visible.
The only time I hook up a vacuum gauge is to tune for max vacuum at idle.
I have no interest in fuel economy. My goal is burn more fuel and energy in my lifetime than anyone in my family tree, both past, present and future. Put the pedal to the metal.

[WmWatt]

^^ move to a colder part of the continent. Toronto is too warm and slushy to burn much energy. Good place for rust though.

[93FestyEh]

...My goal is burn more fuel and energy in my lifetime than anyone in my family tree, both past, present and future. Put the pedal to the metal.

And you drive a Festiva? LOL nice try. If you want to burn the most fuel and pollute the environment and degrade the health of future generations there are much better suited vehicles for that purpose.

[ryanprins13]

And you drive a Festiva? LOL nice try. If you want to burn the most fuel and pollute the environment and degrade the health of future generations there are much better suited vehicles for that purpose.

There is a difference between using as much fuel as possible in a festiva and doing it in a hummer. I doubt its his only vehicle, but you can have more fun in and go faster than porshes and corvettes if you want. Have you seen the photos and videos of some of the fast festivas yet?

My dad had a dump truck that i loved as a kid. It had switches and dials and gauges going 3/4 of the way across the dash. It was a 2 stroke detroit diesel and i loved how it sounded. Wish i had photos of the interior.
I would love to one day make a festiva with a dash like it.
This also is an admirable goal...

This is my setup in my wifes car.

I like the gauges front and centre high up like in both my festivas. I find i dont look at the a-pillar gauges enough. With them front and centre you dont have to really take your eyes off the road and its much easier to closely monitor how steady your keeping the vaccum gauge when on the highway. I also found a loud muffler to help a lot. I had a cherry bomb glasspack and you could hear the change in the exhaust tone enough to hold a perfectly steady speed on the highway if you wanted to.

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[93FestyEh]

ryan, how are your stock gauges lit so well? Mine aren't lit so nicely, think a dim green glow.