Green01XJ

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 . 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



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.



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). Let me know if you think I screwed anything up. Thanks!
Heres some pics:

Disoriented Hillbilly

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?

Trev1006

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.

xj_maniac_newb

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

Green01XJ

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!

Northwoods Snowman

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.

Green01XJ

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

xj_maniac_newb

haha leave the snow... coldER air intake!! lmao
a

mud-dog27

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.

dfm_13

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.

Green01XJ

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

Northwoods Snowman

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

   /ˈfæbrɪˌkeɪt/ 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.

Green01XJ

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

xjbeadlocks

why not eliminate the air box? something like this

Green01XJ

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