FusionNation: How TO: 1st Gen 06-09 Clock - AeroForce Interceptor Guage

In this How TO: I'm going show you how to turn your clock, into a gauge pod specifically for the AeroForce Interceptor Gauge. <Click the link if you don't know what Aeroforce Interceptor Gauge is... FORD CNF in case you want one, the green is close to our factory interior lighting so that is what I went with.

Bare, with me on this, because I decided to do the How TO: after the fact, so not everything is going to be visual but i'll explain it the best I can...

First off I had this vision to change the clock from day one... I know some people think its classy to have an analog clock... Me I'd rather keep things simple... actually I have no idea how to read a analog clock... J/K.

First off you'll need to remove the trim piece from around the radio... If you start at the bottom and pull up and out it should pop loose then work your way up the edges until you get to the top where you will need to pull straight out. There are three connectors on the back, on the left and right one pull the red tab out and push in on the tab to release those, the clock one I think just has a tab you push in to release it.

Now you'll need to remove your info button and hazard buttons. There are clips you push together should pop out the front. The radio should have two screws one on each side.

Now looking at the back you will notice a very small ledge on the ring where the clock was... you will need to remove most of that little ledge in order for the 52mm gauge to fit in. We used a Drum Sander like this.

Be sure to take your time, you don't want to take off too much so test fit the gauge until the gauge will firmly move in and out of the opening.

Now you'll want to prep the area buy blowing off any excess dust from sanding, maybe wipe the front and back off with alcohol. Then you will need a piece of tape to go across the front of the two holes below the gauge holes where the old + and - for the clock where.

Now get some JB Kwik and from the back fill each hole and smooth it off... we used a toothpick to pock a small hole through the front of the tap to try and avoid bubbles. Let sit for approximately 1 hour.

After and hour we pulled the tap and it looked pretty good but wasn't quite built up enough so we built it up more.

Note I had this extra trim piece I had purchased from a wrecked fusion online so I would have my original clock and trim if/when ever I decide to sell the car, I can remove this setup to return it to stock. So the jb weld you see up top was fixing some small nicks and scratch's from the wrecked piece. We let this dry around 2 hours because the next step would be sanding.

We used a sanding bit on a drimel to remove the larger part of the bulk on top to make it easier to sand. I don't remember the grits we used, but I think we stopped somewhere around the 1000 grit mark after 400-800 to reduce the mass and smooth it down.

Now I opted to use a thick vinyl that would cover up some of the scratches and imperfections in the wrecked trim piece I got from ebay... so after sanding everything down, we covered the piece with Gloss Black 3m 1080 air release vinyl. You could also use paint if you wanted too, but this paint matched the factory gloss black perfectly.

After you lay the vinyl on top you'll have to cut out the holes for the button, the gauge and the radio... I recommend cutting a x near the corners so that it will fold in easier and cut off any excess.

Now the bracket that secures the gauge to the trim piece needs to be slightly modified in order to be used... So we had to grind down the piece 3-5mm.

Now put the bracket on the back and screw it down.

On your Aeroforce gauge you will need to remove the jumper pin from the back, if you don't the gauge will never shut off as the odb2 port powers it and that's a constant 12v. The gauge comes with a extra 3 pin with 3 wires hanging off of it... the red one is the only important one. we braided it to keep the wires contained.

Now its time to wire the car. The right harness that you unplugged from hazards is the harness your going to tap into... your looking for a purple and green wire... I've already done all the testing for you using a 12v light so the gauge will come on when the car powers and shut off when the car turns off... and nothing else seems to be affected.

we opted to use vampire clips to make this connection as it was a more temporary solution if I ever decide to return it back to stock.

You'll need to crimp the connector onto the 3pin red wire.

We zip tied the other wires to the sides of the connector so they would stay out of the way.

Now you need to run the odb2 wire down to the odb2 port, we used a coat hanger to do this and it made life a lot easier. Go ahead and plug it into your odb2 port.

Now you will need to test everything.