I've always felt my SMB needed an extra dash outlet on the passenger side so I finally took the time to install one.
First, I had to remove the dash, which is very easy. There's just 2 small bolts holding it on (they are just above the speedometer) and then a bunch of clips. Once you remove the bolts, you can just pull the dash off but you need to shift the transmission lever down into first gear.
Once I had the dash off, I found that Ford must have thought an outlet would be good on the passenger side, too. There's a circular impression under the dash that's almost exactly the size of a 12volt outlet.
Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I used this circle as my guide, once I verified that there was nothing in the way behind it. It turns out the antenna wire runs very close by but it didn't get in the way.
I drilled a pilot hole into the dash support.
Then, I replaced the entire dash panel for proper positioning, reached up behind the dash and stuck the drill bit out through the hole to leave a mark on the back of the dash panel.
I then drilled through the back of the dash panel and used this as my reference / pilot hole for the larger hole saw. The blue tape was used to help avoid any additional scratches to the dash.
Using a 1-1/4" hole saw (1-1/8 would have been better but I couldn't find one) I drilled out my hole.
Apparently, I was a hair off center and I ended up hitting a small bolt that is used to hold the air conditioning duct. I simply removed it (it's a 7mm bolt, BTW), drilled a new hole a bit further up and over, then reattached it. No harm done.
I fished my wires through the hole, routed them behind the A/C duct (with a little wire loom, just in case) and wired this outlet directly to the driver side 12 volt outlet, using T-taps. Obviously, these outlets now share power (which also means it is fused) but since the only anticipated use is a cell phone charger or other similar low draw item, it will be fine.
Finished outlet.
While I had the dash off, I finally mounted my new ScanGauge II by the driver side 12 volt outlet (I previously had the original ScanGauge.)
Pilot hole, which I did have to ream out to fit the RJ45 connector:
Finished:
Note, I had the high idle switch on and you can see how little fuel is used, 0.66 GPH.
-Joey
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