Triple Pod Pillar Installation

You just purchased 3 2 1/6th inch gauges for the interior of your Chevrolet Cobalt. Now what. Well you have few choices when it comes to mounting them, 1st choice is to use mounting brackets and attach them anywhere you can, 2nd choice is to have a custom setup made, and the 3rd choice is to purchase an Auto Meter triple A pillar pod and install it yourself. I highly recommend the 3rd choice as it is in-expensive and an easy process.
I will attempt to take you through a typical triple A pillar pod Autometer 12205 installation with a vacuum/boost gauge Autometer 6103, a wide band air/fuel sensor Autometer 6178 and a fuel pressure gauge Autometer 6163.
1. Locate the factory A pillar trim on the driver’s side of your Cobalt, grab hold of it and give it a firm tug. If you feel the need to pry it off be sure to use tools that cannot mar or otherwise damage other parts of your car.
2. Label both ends of each gauge wire and then attach them small zip ties to the existing wires running up the pillar. Be sure that you have the correct ends to hook to the gauges at the pillar openings.
3. Locate the gauges’ lighting wires and solder them together and wire into the dash light dimmer switch.
4. Locate the gauges’ power supply wires and wire them into a constant on 12 volt ignition source.
5. Mount ground wires to the body, choose an appropriate place somewhere behind the dash.
6. Feed the wires for the boost and fuel pressure gauge through a new grommet in the firewall somewhere behind the dash. For this you will need to find an appropriate position where you can drill the recommended hole size for the grommet through the firewall without any obstructions. Now, install the waterproof grommet. To feed the wires through the grommet into the engine compartment you will need to cut the ends of the plugs off. Once you have the wire through the grommet re-solder the plug ends on. This is where labeling each of wires comes in handy.
7. The wires for the air/fuel meter need to be fed through expandable sheathing and then passed through a new grommet on the floor. Be sure to choose an appropriate place and drill the recommended size hole for the grommet. Feed the wire though the grommet and install the wide band 02 sensor in the manufacturers recommend place.
8. Attach the 2-bar MAP and the fuel pressure sending unit per manufacturer’s instructions.
9. Mark the location of each wire on the factory pillar and use a suitable tool to cut a hole to accept each gauge wire.
10. Re-install the factory pillar ensuring each gauge wire end protrudes through.
11. Attach double sided trim tape to the triple pod pillar and use a bit of high-melt hot glue at the top of the pillar and then lock it into place.

12. Attach each gauge to appropriate labeled wire and insert the each gauge into the pod position with a bit of pressure.
The auto meter pillar pod comes in dual and triple gauge configurations. The pillar is black but can easily be painted before installation to match your Cobalt’s interior color scheme.