Custom Boost-Gauge Proposal

I always knew I'd want a boost-gauge when I got a turbo car, so I've priced up some nice JDM ones on eBay - I've always been fond of the APEXi EL range (blue-glow) dials, costing over £120 new and going for about £50 used online. The OEM gauge, fitted to STi/Type-R Scoobs, is actually a GReddy piece and is styled to match my white Subaru dials and labels. Hard to find new, but there is a nice used one on eBay at the moment, complete with the vacuum-tube, T-piece and bracket to fit my car @ £60 - ultra tempting!

I just can't see anywhere to mount it though so I've had to consider my options...

Bracket: I can mount the gauge anywhere in front of me, but the vacuum-tube and backlight wires would be exposed and drop through holes drilled into the dash, which would be messy and the lone dial sticking up would look out of place anyway.

A-Pillar Pod: This makes the gauge install far too substantial and I can't see myself putting in any more expensive gauges so no point. Besides, these are so unbelievably cliched in car-world, [I've seen someone with pods on both A-pillars of a standard car and not a single gauge between them] that I couldn't stoop so low!

Centre-Panel Cluster: The full rally effort, but this means doing away with the cubby-hole lid and losing the storage space and, again, I won't be buying another two gauges to fill the pod.

I guess the bracket is my only option unless I get serious and do a custom install into the dash. I've seen this done on plenty of early 93-96 Imprezas, [in the ash-tray spot and on the top of the centre-panel] but my 98 dashboard is just too cluttered with extras and compact for storage. People have suggested losing one of the middle heater-vents and making a flat panel - easy, but with British winters I don't think so...

This is the solution I've come up with, although it's a bit on the ambitious side... Sink the gauge into one side of the cubby-hole on top of the dash so the tube and wires are hidden away and cut a recess into the lid of the cubby-hole to show the dial-face through. The dial would have to sit proud of the lid to be seen, but it's only a 60mm gauge so not by a great deal and, most importantly the lid can still open to use the cubby-hole, and inspect the gauge if I need to. To be extra tidy I could build a cowl over the gauge and smooth it into the lid with body-filler. This would look absolutely siiick and cost pennies to do, but I can't match the textured-surface of the lid so maybe cover the whole the whole lid in a sheet of real carbon-fibre @ about £25... :)

I've made some rather crude virtual images of how it might look soon, perhaps: