Snorkel Build
#1
Snorkel Build
I haven't seen too many builds about snorkels so I figured I'd add mine in case anyone was looking into doing one.
I've been wanting to add a snorkel to my truck since I first seen one. I think they look cool as hell. And our truck does not fair so well with water (stalled out a few times at Whatron due to water). Well we finally put one onto her. After much hesitation from my husband. All the one's he's seen looked ugly to him. We were going to do a locker but I told him we can either do the locker for the rear OR we can do the snorkel. heehehe. Of course he picked the snorkel (less money involved). We went out to home depot and got a long section of pvc, (they had 4 foot sections but it's cheaper to buy one big piece than several small ones) 1 90 degree, 1 45 degree (all 3 inch), a dryer vent, and some pvc cement. Then we went to pep boys and found some 3" venting for the inside in case the dryer vent wouldn't work. Also got a cone air cleaner for the top of the snorkel.
No dented up fender! YES!!! Let me tell you, my husband was ready to cry when he went to cut the fender! lol He didn't want to mess up something that really (in his eyes) didn't need it. So he drilled out the center of the hole and used a jig saw to make the rest of the cut. Hence it not looking all hacked to pieces like I've seen on some. Broke one blade near the end. Good thing we had another one! We pieced the snorkel together and cut everything to length.
Here it is all pieced together before he glued it. Then we noticed the inner fender. It was lined up to a hole that was already in the inner fender. Well the hole wasn't big enough. He marked it and got a cut on each side and the second blade broke! So out comes the hammer. lol. He had enough cut that he was able to bang it in to get the pipe to fully fit through. So he marked the pvc to keep it lined up where he needed it and cemented everything together. Brought it in and painted it flat black.
And now the fun part!!! We got everything painted and looking nice. While it was drying we went out to set up everything inside the truck. At first we used 4 inch dryer vent. We have the stock air cleaner still on so we wanted something we could mold onto it. Well it kinda fit but it was tight so out came the duct tape to make sure it wouldn't go anywhere. Brought out the skorkel once it was dry and put it on the fender so we could attach the dryer vent to it. Lemme tell ya that was a task witin itself. A really tight fit!! We had to maneuver the snorkel (thus scratching up the paint) just to get the vent onto it. And some more suct tape as well as a clamp to hold it there. We got some nifty round clamps at home depot (to hold pipe to a wall) they had a really long end to them (looked like a lolipop). My husband cut off the end piece and bent it to get it to screw in and under the snorkel so you wouldn't see a ugly silver tab on the fender. He also put one into the door jam. Fit quite nicely. Here's the end result.
Or so we thought! We made sure there was suction (thanks Biohazed!) to the engine. My stepson revved the engine while husband had his hand on top. Sure enough it was working. It sucked his hand down into the snorkel. So we went to shut the hood and it kinked the hose. Not too bad though. So he took off the hinge on that side. Revved the engine again to make sure there was no damage to the hose and the whole thing collapsed into itself. :-( Noteo not use dryer vent to make a snorkel!! LOL So there went that idea! But we had another one. We went back to home depot and found a coupler that went from 4" to 3" And also picked up another 60 degree as well as another 45 degree pipe. We clamped the coupler to the intake and siliconed it. And pieced together the inside tubing with the remaining pvc. So here is the final finished snorkel.
So far we've had no problems at all in the rain!
And inside the engine. Now it's time to test it out!!! And that will be this weekend (april 19th) when we head down to Wharton again :-)
No dented up fender! YES!!! Let me tell you, my husband was ready to cry when he went to cut the fender! lol He didn't want to mess up something that really (in his eyes) didn't need it. So he drilled out the center of the hole and used a jig saw to make the rest of the cut. Hence it not looking all hacked to pieces like I've seen on some. Broke one blade near the end. Good thing we had another one! We pieced the snorkel together and cut everything to length.
Here it is all pieced together before he glued it. Then we noticed the inner fender. It was lined up to a hole that was already in the inner fender. Well the hole wasn't big enough. He marked it and got a cut on each side and the second blade broke! So out comes the hammer. lol. He had enough cut that he was able to bang it in to get the pipe to fully fit through. So he marked the pvc to keep it lined up where he needed it and cemented everything together. Brought it in and painted it flat black.
And now the fun part!!! We got everything painted and looking nice. While it was drying we went out to set up everything inside the truck. At first we used 4 inch dryer vent. We have the stock air cleaner still on so we wanted something we could mold onto it. Well it kinda fit but it was tight so out came the duct tape to make sure it wouldn't go anywhere. Brought out the skorkel once it was dry and put it on the fender so we could attach the dryer vent to it. Lemme tell ya that was a task witin itself. A really tight fit!! We had to maneuver the snorkel (thus scratching up the paint) just to get the vent onto it. And some more suct tape as well as a clamp to hold it there. We got some nifty round clamps at home depot (to hold pipe to a wall) they had a really long end to them (looked like a lolipop). My husband cut off the end piece and bent it to get it to screw in and under the snorkel so you wouldn't see a ugly silver tab on the fender. He also put one into the door jam. Fit quite nicely. Here's the end result.
Or so we thought! We made sure there was suction (thanks Biohazed!) to the engine. My stepson revved the engine while husband had his hand on top. Sure enough it was working. It sucked his hand down into the snorkel. So we went to shut the hood and it kinked the hose. Not too bad though. So he took off the hinge on that side. Revved the engine again to make sure there was no damage to the hose and the whole thing collapsed into itself. :-( Noteo not use dryer vent to make a snorkel!! LOL So there went that idea! But we had another one. We went back to home depot and found a coupler that went from 4" to 3" And also picked up another 60 degree as well as another 45 degree pipe. We clamped the coupler to the intake and siliconed it. And pieced together the inside tubing with the remaining pvc. So here is the final finished snorkel.
So far we've had no problems at all in the rain!
And inside the engine. Now it's time to test it out!!! And that will be this weekend (april 19th) when we head down to Wharton again :-)
#2
What did you use around the metal on the fender where you cut the hole to mask the sharp edges? Or is that where you used the Silicon?
#3
We only used silicon on the intake in the engine to seal it to the throttle body and to make sure no water got in where the rubber piece was used to join the pvc with the intake.
Last edited by AllEiz0nMe; 04-15-2009 at 12:22 PM.
#4
Looks good!!
#5
I bet cutting the hole in the fender was a tough moment. Looks good, nice Blazer. Wish i had the full size!
#6
You have no idea!!! I think my husband looked at it for 20 minutes before he actually cut it...lmao Of Course I was all for doing it! We can always get a new fender. The only thing we have to look into now is the actual snorkel top for it. So far it's been ok with no water getting in but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
#7
You could get a safari snorkel top. You can sometimes find them on ebay for cheap.
#8
i have to say i wasnt real sure about a snorkle until i read this thread its not as painful as i thought it would be...i think i might consider it now....he really did a good job on it...it looks professional
#9
looks really good man
#10
I made a custom stainless steel snorkle for my k5. Siliconed all my plugs/wires, cap , and valve cover vents i also had to raise all my vents on tranny, t/case, & axles. some pics are posted in my photos.
She loves the water now .
She loves the water now .
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