Okay, I am going to call this month the GROMMET month, as I have been totally owned by it…

Basically I need to run various cables and tubes for things like amps, car PC, boost gauge, traction control switch, etc. And the proper way to do it would be to use the spare grommet (which is only used on drive-by-throttle-cable cars, not on drive-by-wire cars) behind the fusebox, above the throttle pedal.

But how to get it out? This is one MOTHER of all grommets. I originally tried to “peel” it out, but because of its location, which is inaccessible from the engine bay unless you are 2 years old with small hands, and unseeable from the inside because it is behind the fusebox, I just couldn’t get it out.

In the end I had to use a massive screwdriver and pushed extremely heavily from the inside on one of its corners.

So now we need a hole in the grommet to pass the wires through. However this grommet is proven to be impossible to drill! Basically I didn’t have anything to hold it steady with, except my hands, and everything I tried to drill it my drill bit would get stuck (and very close to cutting through my fingers) due to the grommet’s rubbery nature. My Stanley knife wouldn’t cut through it either. Believe me it is the mother of all grommets!

So I had to hold it with my hands, and use a very small drill bit (1.5mm) to drill a lot of small holes, on low speed, to keep my fingers intact. And then I used two pairs of pilers to seperate the inner and outter bits. And least it is all done.

So finally I can fit my (temporary) amp and sub!

This is my temporary setup – Phoenix Gold QX300.4 amp with a Phoenix Gold QX 12-inch sub. The sound is very very good and yes I am obviously a big Phoenix Gold fan.

Oh by the way I *do* have something better (Phoenix Gold again) lined up when I have more time.

At the same time I also fitted an Autogauge Boost Gauge, in PSI. The design is similar to the Defi gauges, where the face is completely black when it is off. At the moment I am using a universal gauge holder, because nobody makes A-pillar pods for the Coupe…

The car over-boosts to about 14 psi, and holds about 10 psi. Nice to see my turbo is working as it should!

Shame I couldn’t do the traction control switch yet because I’m having some problems with the speed sensor 🙁