Ideas for home made snorkel kit??

[jkufen]

Well I have been wheeling my b2 now for a little over a year and a couple of time I have found myself in deeper water than i needed to be in. I have thought about doing a snorkel kit and the ones I have seen that were kits you bought were running almost $1000. I was just curious if any other (I'm sure) here have made home made snorkel kits for their b2's. I am not looking to do like I have scene and run the filter into the passenger side dash. I would like to do something relatively neat and clean. Any ideas on material to use for the tubing and how I could go about making it water tight?

 

[fangotango306]

the last one I made, (I have no pictures of anymore) I got a used pelican case from a fellow mil buddy and replaced my airbox with it. I cut a hole in one side and drilled it to bolt my MAF to, you may not have one if this is on your 2.9. not sure. inside the box a cone filter was mounted with a maf adapter plate i got at autozone. i used 3" gray plastic electrical conduit for mine, transitions are a lot smoother than regular pvc and there are hundreds of different flanges and adapters for that gray stuff, and when its glued its watertight. the pelican case has latches on all sides and a inlaid silicone gasket..... this probably doesn't help much but it worked for me. the next one will run up out the bay right at the passenger side rear corner of the hood. planning on running a standard clear plastic pre cleaner at hood level, and then im going to keep an extension pipe in the back incase i need it. good luck to you!!!!

 

[jkufen]

yeah I am looking to run it right out of the rear top corner of the fender and run it all the way up to the top of the windshield like a normal kit would do just for the cosmetic look. I have seen some made from pvc pipe but they were just slapped together and even tho it was functional it looked bad. I was thinking about taking a kit for a jeep which i found ranging from $100-$300 and modifying it to fit my b2. It was only the exterior piece so I would still have to come up with something under the hood. I didn't know if the stock intake hose that ran from the air box to the throttle body could be tightened down to "water tight" with some good hose clamps and if so I would only have to come up with something from the air box to the fender. Still got a lot of playing around to do to see what I can do. Thanks for the tips about your kit.

 

[BabyBronco89]

The stock air box should be completely eliminated unless you want to hydro lock your motor everytime water reaches the headers, there is way to many places that water can enter you can use the length of rubber intake house that connects to the throttle body but I would get a beefier hose clamp and seal it up with some rtv silicone from there you can do a number of this, flexible shop vac hose is nice as you can bend it and twist it, PVC fittings if done right can make for a very nice look,
As for a filter I would go for a cold air intake cone style on top with a sort of cover to keep it dry and out of the elements

 

[snoranger]

(I know its an Explorer, but its close.)

3" ABS drain pipe from lowes.


This type of pipe hanger mounted behind the weatherstripping, inside the top of the door jam for support:

The biggest thing to making it look nice:

Take your time when cutting the fender!!!

 

[BabyBronco89]

Do a simple google image search for bronco II snorkel it will give u lots of inspiration

 

[4x4junkie]

On mine I simply ran some aluminum dryer duct (4" IIRC) from the air box inlet (sealed w/RTV silicone) up to the center wiper arm access panel into the cowl. It can't be seen from the outside (I don't envision myself going through water deeper than the door sills to need a windshield-height snorkel, mostly I just wanted to get it out from the stupid-low stock inlet location).

The stock air box should be completely eliminated unless you want to hydro lock your motor everytime water reaches the headers,

Why do you say that? Except for some drain holes on the bottom (easily siliconed closed) the box itself is airtight. Besides that, where would you put the air cleaner afterward?

 

[BabyBronco89]

I always have had problems with the stock boxes the tabs or plastic breaks easily in Michigan winters and such.
It's just my opinion tho I don't go in water deeper then my doors,
but I like the idea of mounting it in the cowl vent area that would be easy to do and discreet, you'd be waist deep in water at that point sitting in the truck..
I just could never imagine cutting my nice new 2nd gen fenders

 

[jkufen]

Well i will work on a design this weekend. What really gets me is when I hit a large amount of water not going super fast but a little too fast and it comes up through the grille and hood. It tends to stall out my truck which leads to my next question. If i seal up the air intake where else would I find issues when it comes to deeper water? I have heard some talk about sealed distributors? I never plan on trying to cross a river but stalling out in a deep water pit is never good either.

 

[wildbill23c]

Your distributor cap, rotor, spark plug boots, electrical connects are all prone to water intrusion. You can have a $1000 snorkel but unless you also take measures to keep water out of your electrical and ignition system you still aren't going to go through water very well.

 

[RonD]

Switching to an electric cooling fan can help, frees up a few horse power as well.

The belt driven fan can really send the water flying around under the hood, soaking the electrics, you can add splash shields instead of electric fan.

And if you do go electric make sure to add a fan switch to disable fan when in high water.


Dipstick tube should be sealed at the bottom, as well as ATF filler tube
Transmissions and differentials often have breathers at the top, these need to 'protected' from water intrusion.

 

[wildbill23c]

Or you could just buy a boat.

 

[jkufen]

Yeah I am looking to isolate some of the electrical components. I am trying to find a way to move the coil inside the truck behind the glove box. Any idea where I can find a longer coil wire. Also where do you find a sealed distributor? That doesn't seem to be something you can buy at the local parts store. I am not trying to water proof the whole engine just trying to cover some of the major components. As you can see by my profile picture that is about the amount of water I am talking about.

 

[RonD]

Check with marine supply parts stores, they have distributor gaskets.

Dielectric grease in spark plug wire ends helps, also on/in any electrical connectors.

I wouldn't move the coil inside the cab, high on a fender well maybe, with good air circulation, heat kills coils, and dielectric grease on the connections.

 

[snoranger]

Yeah I am looking to isolate some of the electrical components. I am trying to find a way to move the coil inside the truck behind the glove box. Any idea where I can find a longer coil wire. Also where do you find a sealed distributor? That doesn't seem to be something you can buy at the local parts store. I am not trying to water proof the whole engine just trying to cover some of the major components. As you can see by my profile picture that is about the amount of water I am talking about.

Drop a 4.0l in it.... Get rid of the distibutor all together.

 

[jkufen]

Drop a 4.0l in it.... Get rid of the distibutor all together.

Yeah that is my plan just not sure when I will be able to do that. I am still looking for the right donor for the 4.0, d35, and 8.8 swap so I can run bigger tires and not have to worry so much about the water I am going into as much.

 

[jkufen]

Check with marine supply parts stores, they have distributor gaskets.

Dielectric grease in spark plug wire ends helps, also on/in any electrical connectors.

I wouldn't move the coil inside the cab, high on a fender well maybe, with good air circulation, heat kills coils, and dielectric grease on the connections.

So to "seal" my distributor it is just a gasket? :icon_confused: I was under the impression I had to buy a new distributor.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

Drop a 4.0l in it.... Get rid of the distibutor all together.

My 4.0 hates getting wet 100x worse than any of my 2.9s ever did.

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2

 

[RonD]

So to "seal" my distributor it is just a gasket? :icon_confused: I was under the impression I had to buy a new distributor.

Yes, if you are just dealing with splashed water, also need a good gasket on the block/distributor mating surface, water can collect there and leak into oil pan.

"Sealed" distributors are more for vapor protection, so gas fumes won't be ignited by distributor electrics.
But if you are planning on total immersion of the distributor then I am sure you could come up with a sealed case.

 

[storey618]

you can get wire kits from jegs and summit and even autoparts store to make the long wire for the coil. the snorkel idea im almost positive i came across a write up on here not to long ago