Snorkel adding to L400

[Mr. Flibble]

I am posting this here, but I will be posting it on the UK and Oz forums as well as I believe I will be the first person in Canada to put a Tanami style snorkel on an L400. The guys over in the UK and Oz are very familiar with this mod...

Details from the UK forum here:

http://www.mdocuk.co.uk/forums/viewtopi ... 20dedd9f9c

My confusion surrounding my snorkel install is that it appears to be a Tanami style snorkel copy made from Fiberglass in China. No problems there.

However, the directions seem to suggest using the template for the Snorkel... Again... No problems.

HOWEVER!

I know from the UK forum that the template for the series 2 L400 is *NOT* the same as the setup for the series 1 L400!!! I believe that the holes have to be adjusted by about 20 mm forward or back. However, as this is not a genuine Tanami snorkel, I can't tell how to properly align the template to cut the holes!

How do I check? How do I know exactly where to cut the holes assuming that this is a Tanami replica with the normal Tanami template?

[fexlboi]

Not sure how the templates for the l400 snorkels are, but as we installed the l300 Chinese knock-off snorkels we quickly realized the template isn't correct at all. So we threw it out and made our own.

[Mr. Flibble]

Not sure how the templates for the l400 snorkels are, but as we installed the l300 Chinese knock-off snorkels we quickly realized the template isn't correct at all. So we threw it out and made our own.

It looks like an identical copy of the Tanami template from what I could tell of the internet photos...

How did you make your own template?

[fexlboi]

It was pretty easy as the snorkel has the same notches as the body panels. We lined the snorkel up and marked the holes with a pen.
Because of the flexible piping from the snorkel to the airbox it was actually not really important to get it exactly in the right spot. As long as it looks right from outside, the piping inside can be adjusted.

http://dinoevo.de/2010/04/snorkel/

[Mr. Flibble]

It was pretty easy as the snorkel has the same notches as the body panels. We lined the snorkel up and marked the holes with a pen.
Because of the flexible piping from the snorkel to the airbox it was actually not really important to get it exactly in the right spot. As long as it looks right from outside, the piping inside can be adjusted.

http://dinoevo.de/2010/04/snorkel/

Unfortunately the L400 snorkel has an inflexible part, but one of the UK members recommended fitting the template to the snorkel first to verify that it is in fact correct!

Also, original UK thread on Series 1 Tanami Snorkel installation:

http://www.mdocuk.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22536


Edit:

The UK crew would like to know where you got the group buy snorkels from as they would no doubt be interested in the fiberglass Tanami copies.

[fexlboi]

Even on the UK thread they show a flexible elbow pipe which can be adjusted however you want. As long as the rigid pipe from the snorkel and the pipe from the airbox roughly line up you are good.
It seems this guy in the UK lined the snorkel up on the bottom edge of the corner lights and the outside edge of the pillar. Once you know the position of the big hole, mark it with a pen and drill it out with the hole saw. After that just use cut-off bolts screwed in the snorkel mounts and make a little scratch where the rest of the mounting wholes are going. Shouldn't be very complicated.

[Mr. Flibble]

FYI: Lewis has put up some additional excellent information and photos on the UK forum as found here:

http://www.mdocuk.co.uk/forums/viewtopi ... 302#256302

[fexlboi]

That makes it more clear. Why not just drill with a hole saw from the inside out if there is already a predefined spot in the sidewall?

[Mr. Flibble]

That makes it more clear. Why not just drill with a hole saw from the inside out if there is already a predefined spot in the sidewall?

Excellent idea, I think that is exactly what I am going to do. Provided I can find an 83-86mm hole saw to borrow. (I would rather not buy one to drill a single hole!

[Golf Cart]

That makes it more clear. Why not just drill with a hole saw from the inside out if there is already a predefined spot in the sidewall?

Excellent idea, I think that is exactly what I am going to do. Provided I can find an 83-86mm hole saw to borrow. (I would rather not buy one to drill a single hole!

Check with Canadian Tired. They may have a hole saw kit you can borrow

[fexlboi]

Mr. Flibble, any progress on your install?

[Mr. Flibble]

Mr. Flibble, any progress on your install?

So, three years after the question, yes, there is some progress on the install.

This knock off snorkel is a piece of junk. It is a poor copy of a Tanami snorkel. The template is backwards - it would work for a LHD mount. The angle of the section that joins to the airbox is off, so it won't sit flush on the body. I will probably have to cut the inside of the delica to accommodate the shape.

So, right now, there are holes on the body, but no snorkel.

So far, this is quite shambolic.

[Feds]

look up Bonsai and/or bonsairides. We've fit 2 Chinese knockoffs, and have a pretty good template.

Also: take the fender off to cut/drill your holes, and install the snorkel to the fender, then the fender back to the van.

[Mr. Flibble]

look up Bonsai and/or bonsairides. We've fit 2 Chinese knockoffs, and have a pretty good template.

Also: take the fender off to cut/drill your holes, and install the snorkel to the fender, then the fender back to the van.

I did some googling, but I could not find the info. I don't need a template now though, as I was able to figure it out by putting the snorkel on and using gunky metal polish on the screws to leave marks on the paint. I then hit those marks with a punch and drilled them.

My problem though, seems to be with the snorkel itself. It seems to be poor quality control. If I attach it as it is now, it will "float" about 1/2 an inch above the body. This seems to be due to the angle of the part of the snorkel that goes into the engine bay. It is an extremely tight fit, and if I try to make the snorkel flush with the body, the interior part binds in the engine bay hole. It seems like they copied Tanami in appearance, but not in specifications.

[Mr. Flibble]

Ok, so it is on the van now. Not perfect by any means. I did use a trick that let me keep the airbox pipe to use with the Snorkel with the UK forum. The whole project was a PITA as the template was useless, and the design of the cheaper snorkel shows. I will have to still do some tweaking to adjust it before I can ever take it out for highway use.

The absolutely useless template. Take a close look at how it is laid out....

Template.jpg (26.48 KiB) Viewed 5159 times

Template.jpg (26.48 KiB) Viewed 5159 times

Here are the drill blanks I made, to try to center the pilot hole. In the end, they did not work. I tried them because my hole saw at 83 mm would not fit through the hole from the inside out.

The drill blanks I made to better center the hole bit when drilling out from the inside.

Drill.jpg (42.24 KiB) Viewed 5159 times

The pilot hole - taken with my ipad. It looked centered from the inside out:

Pilot hole

Drilled.jpg (40.21 KiB) Viewed 5159 times

Drilling in....

Drilling_in.jpg (35.76 KiB) Viewed 5159 times

Here is the nice perfectly round hole:

Hole.jpg (35.3 KiB) Viewed 5159 times

Which was not inline, so I had to eat away at the hole for quite some time with a metal nibbler. It took me ages of little bits of metal everywhere. Since the template was useless, I was able to closely guess the location of the bolt holes. Unfortunately, I was close, but not exact as you will soon see.

Holes.jpg (37.76 KiB) Viewed 5159 times

You can see that the snorkel is not coming down enough.

Rotation.jpg (51.08 KiB) Viewed 5159 times