Uh, cowl snorkel build, hope im in the right section!
 

Well, flame me if im not supposed to be posting this here (sorry its not an exocage build), but I finally got around to doing this mod after many months of talking about it. Being on only 2" and dunking the headlights twice on my last wheeling adventure convinced me :thumbdown:. I cant remember whos write-up i saw that did this mod the same way i did, but to them thank you. I picked up a piece of 3" OD flexible air duct hose extendable to 28" long from the local AutoZone for 20 bucks. I marked my hole in the airbox by painting the outer rim of the tubing and touching it to where i wanted my hole to be. I next grabbed a drill bit and started drilling holes all around the perimeter, and knocking the piece out. I filed the jagged hole a little bit, but i left some imperfections because it helps hold the tubing nice and tight.
Moving onto the hole in the firewall, I was going to tackle this hole the same way, but after looking at it, I broke down and bought a 3” hole saw. Before drilling the hole I made sure to take a picture of this diagram in case I ever needed it

Attachment 383975

I also opened up the cowl and marked out the area that I could cut through without messing something up, then drilled away. Really easy with the hole saw. I then simply bent the tubing in the way I wanted it (it stays bent when you bend it) and fit the other end into the hole.
After it was all fitting good I threw a silicon party with myself, sealing everything that I cut on both sides. For the stock air hole I cut a piece of thin aluminum and fastened it in place on the inside of the airbox with 2 self tappers, then silicone it shut on both sides.

Attachment 383976

All that was left to do after that was put everything back together and snap some pics. She runs just like she did before and has a cool sucky sound on cold starts (not loud though).:thumbup1: Let me know if you think I screwed anything up. Thanks!
Heres some pics:

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I wanna do thos but i will have to move my washer resevoir first. I just removed garbage bendix 9 abs from my rig which left a void on pass sid. Probably move it there. I've nearly snorted water with my mine and it worries me everytime i hit a mudhole. How easy was cowel to open?

Nice writeup. These work well, you will be happy you did it. When I do one one my MJ im gonna make a little scoop to deflect air into the cowel and the filter. The only thing ive always wondered about is in the winter that area always collects with ice and snow. The way Ohio is I may have to pull over in the side of the road and keep it cleared.

Nice work! I've thought about selling my CAI and doing this, probably will when i rebuild my engine!

To open the cowl on a 97+ anyway u pop the wiper arms off by pulling a clip back and popping them off. Then there are just 8 Phillips head screws on the grate portion of the cowl and it just slides off over the wiper arm gears. Just watch your windshield washer hoses you could pop them off I just folded it over onto the hood.

Thanx guys!

If you're getting deep enough to dunk your headlights this seems to me like it would be a worse idea. What ever water comes up over the hood is going to flow right into the cowl and then has a straight shot to your air filter. At least with the stock setup the water has to get into the engine bay first and fill it enough to get to the corner the air box is in. Like someone else mentioned, snow would also be an issue if you live where you get any.

I don't plan on going in hood deep water on purpose, but if I happen to have an oh s&!@ moment Isnt water comin in the stock intake before its coming in the cowl? In addition there are drain holes in the bottom of the cowl that the water drains right out if. Ive talked to some people who have done this that tested the cowl draining by startujng there jeep and putting a garden hose into the cowl. The water would drain too fast to fill up. And i dont have any concern if water coming in those drain holes, cuz i mean if im in winsheild deep water i have some other problems to deal with lol

And I've heard the snow thing before, and I know, god forbid I have to scrape off the cowl before I start the truck. Snow isn't an everyday thing here in jersey (especially this year!) so in not too worried . Thanx for the concern though

haha leave the snow... coldER air intake!! lmao
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Clearly you havent looked at the stock air box much, it along with the low placement of the alternator were some of the FAIL points for the engineers. The air box trumpet is in the grill at bumper/headlight height, meaning if you get water at the bumper and you dont keep your nose above the wake that water is going right in to your intake, ive seen it happen MANY times resulting in hydro locked engines. The cowl setup raises your air intake much higher, granted its better off on the passenger side of the cowl as its not open like the driver side its still better than stock. As far as water goes unless your cowl drains are clogged the water will drain long before it gets sucked into the intake, but i understand what you mean with the wave coming over the hood, but at the point you will have much bigger problems such as your mechanical fan pulling its way through your rad, your alternator ****ting the bed along with the obvious fact your interior will likely be getting a little damp. Snow is not really an issue.....sweep it off. For the OP i would suggest drilling some drain holes in the bottom of the box.

Not to be a dick but yes this is in the wrong section, would be better suited in advanced tech unlike an exocage which is actual fabrication by the definition of the word.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f58/at...t-read-122962/

because of unproperly placed posts we are risking the fab area being shut down.

looks good, i am trying to figure out what to do for a intake as my new inner fenders don't allow for a stock air box and i don't like cone filters, one thing though is if i were you i would clean the inside of your air box out.

my apologies, I read that thread too before I posted, I always took advanced tech as like issues after a huge lift or something.

All good points. I've very familair with where the air box is. I'm just coming from a dirt biking world where it is possible to have water up to your fuel tank and not ingest it because the front of the bike creates a wave that you push out front and creates a void that the air box can still breath in as long as the bike is moving forward. The front of the XJ can do the same thing depending on the circumstances for a short period of time. The airbox is lower, but the water had to get through the radiator, grill, bumper etc and then through the small opening to the air box. I guess the impression I got from the OP is the situation where you're going through not so deep water and then your front wheels drop into a 2' deep rut before powering through it and popping back up. In that type of a situation it's possible to not completely flood the engine compartment but push a short wave over the hood that completely blocks off the cowel vents (if that happens it doesn't matter how fast it can drain as there won't be anywhere to pull air from.)

I guess in my head either setup is a loose-loose situation in deeper water. I just know that it's a bad idea to not make the water have to up go up before it can get into the air box. That way gravity is helping you instead of pulling the water into the intake.

Not to be a dick either, but fab doesn't have to be just steel. I would say the OP fabricated a home made snorkel. I've read the referenced thread and Wiki is not actually a credible source for definitions in the academic world since it's user modified. The definition quoted is only one of many for fabrication on Wiki, if you don't believe me look at the links below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_fabrication
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prefabrication
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfabrication
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optics_fabrication
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semicon...ce_fabrication

And then there's ACTUAL dictionary definitions:

The Websters's defininition: "to construct from diverse and usually standardized parts"

and Dictionary.com:
fab·ri·cate

   /ˈfæbhttp://sp.dictionary.com/dictstatic/...una/thinsp.pngrɪˌkeɪt/ Show Spelled[fab-ri-keyt] Show IPA
verb (used with object), -cat·ed, -cat·ing. 1. to make by art or skill and labor; construct: The finest craftspeople fabricated this clock.

2. to make by assembling parts or sections.

3. to devise or invent (a legend, lie, etc.).



Nothing aginst you, mud-dog, I know this is more of a poorly defined section issue on the moderators' part. I think a name change would be in order, especially since the "fabrication" section is part of the "technical DISCUSSION" section and people aren't allowed to ask questions in this section about how to build stuff.

lol ur right I should, filter don't look amazing either...maybe I should get on that

why not eliminate the air http://shop.trailheadoffroad.ihostne...s/IMG_7772.jpgbox? something like this

*******edit********* reason: cuz I suck

lol woahhh there Green01XJ, no reason to get all hostile.. He was just asking a simple question...

just curious dude. snorkels are for girls anyways. 99% of the time someone installs a snorkel but does nothing in regards to waterproofing the electrical under the hood.

nice DIY project

Just my .02 but the stock airbox cannot be trusted to be water tight either. So if you rely on it to be water tight it isn't. Theres bolts in the bottom and that seal between the top and bottom isn't water tight either. You need to actually make a sealed canister. But o.ce the alt. Is submerged you are having problems! Lol

sorry beadlocks, posted initial reaction didnt think.:thumbdown: When i responded i took your idea as " dude ur an idiot why would you do it that way". I truly dont have an answer to why i didnt do it the other way, and i really dont have a reason for doin it the way i did, just seemed like a good idea. My main thought was that the jeep was made to run off the stock air filter, better off having it continue to use the stock one. The in pipe filter seems way smaller than the stock one also i would think that one would go through filters like crazy using one so small. Also i guess i figured that looking at mine, if water were to somehow get into the pipe, it has to go down, then back up through the filter and into the motor, were with the in filter type, its pretty much a straight shot from the cowl to the motor. I guess that is why i did it this way.

again, im not trying to build a submarine, i just wanted to avoid the wave of water if a puddle turns out deeper than expected. i dont drive through giant puddles if i know theyre deep like this, i mean hell, im rollin on 235/75/15's! And if i hit a puddle so deep that a wave is gonna drown my cowl, im f****d in more ways than just water in the intake. ive had to unhydrolock 2 of my friends jeeps because of situations like this, and it sucks and destroys ur rig. Unlike them (stupid teenagers), i care about my ride and know that i cant afford another one if i destroy this one.

I was just letting ya know, ive made one of these before and like them. I did the airbox delete and put a k&n cone in the cowel after I found out the seal on factory air box wasn't water tight.

Also this isnt necessarily a cowl to go fording rivers but will help from an accidental hydro lock due to the hole big deeper than your though. you coudl have the front end under water and still be taking in clean fresh air.


Gotta remember too, water is much heavier than air, so unless you fill up the cowl area enough to cover the air inlet your gonna suck air in first. The drain holes for the cowl area are fairly large as well.

As for drain holes, they would kinda of negate the whole point of relocating the intake higher.

Good point. This is what I was getting at earlier, but I guess I was thinking of it typically being at the inlet, not midway through the intake.

Cowl intake is for this:

Not this:

Sweet snorkel idea but hey don't bash on us teens some of us (me) bought my own jeep and when I break it I park it till I have enough cash to fix it so some of us teens are good

Yup, no fun playing u boat captain, just some attempted safety

Kinda confused, is this directed at me? Cuz im 18 haha

No it's not directed at you lol my bad it's not really directed at anyone lol

I'm not a teen but I'm the same way and if I ain't fabing the lift myself or the other stuff it ain't. Wrth it illegal never pay 1000 dollars for a kit it ridonkulous

99% of the time water wont effect ur eletrical since most of it already has waterproofing on it. things u can do which i did an dont have any issues. rtv your distributor cap on to seal it up (this actually does work great), move your alt to where the a/c compressor is (helps a ton and wont burn out the alt as fast. and use some of that grease thats for electrical and is waterproofing, or so it says but it works. my jeep is basically a submarine in the summer and havent had to replace a distributor or alt in 2 and half years. everything still works like they should

Not sure if it was already mentioned (been a while since I read through this thread), but you also have to run longer breathers for all the fluid cases (diffs, trans, t-case etc.) for fording.

What are you using as a filter I want to do this set up

He hasn't posted on cf in over 15 months also this thread has been dead for a year so idk if you'll get your answer

Ok we'll I've asked a ton of other places on this forum. Never got a response kinda like if a cowl snorkel with air box delete was an aids infected leper. Or something everybody instantly knows how and what to use

Go to a parts store that has the air filters on shelves. pick through and find one that fits the dimensions you bring.

Theory is good and yes I think this would keep water out of motor during a "headlight dip" as seen in the earlier pics.. Compared to stock location.. (been there with a buddy)

I've seen to many cowls with plugged drain holes....

If you clean the drains regularly and don't have the snow issue... I think you have a very good low budget fabrication which works...

But it's your ride... Build it to fit your needs.... There will always be haters.. LOL

Why the 8" instead of 3"...why go to Dana 60's...the list goes on...

Keep wheeling safely, legally and in a rig you're proud of....!!!!

I don't see how you would get enough crap in the to clog the drain. It's sealed, from anything too big. And what snow issue are you talkina bout?

I've seen several xj's plugged from leaves and wooded life.... They are getting old.. LOL... Just saying that you need to maintain them to insure they stay clean.

The snow.. Well if snow covers the cowl.. Drips in.. Freezes.... Your air will be restricted.. And it may get melted snow into your duct work..

I have a cowl snorkel. End of april we got two feet of heavy wet snow, mine started right up without cleaning off the cowl. It may starve a bit of air under throttle, but you should clean snow off any vehicle before driving it, especially right in front of the windshield :bangin: