Thread: Air Filter Grill/Vent Placement

I can't answer you question regarding the D4 vents, but I'm not overly keen on the sarfari snorkel look so will probably go for the Mantec one Mantec | Quality Land Rover Accessories


I've got a feeling that Tombie fitted D3 vents to his D2, I think.........

Thanks kelvo!

The mantec definately does look better but, for my type of driving, the cons way outnumber the 2 pros that alot of people are talking about. Ive made up my mind, that unless I am to do proper river crossings then a snorkel isnt necessary. Plus it also seems to lower fuel economy as ive been reading, so the snorkel of any type is looking not so crash hot for me.

I tried looking at the D3 vents, but they only have 1 on the drivers side, and don't have a passenger side vent. The drivers side can just be a blank for my D2, so that is why I was thinking about the D4 vents. Maybe there are other vents that someone knows that look the part but also fit?

I guess if no one here can advise after awhile, I will see if I can pick the brains of the blokes at MR Automotive as I think they would have seen something done over the years. Just didn't want to hassle them yet, and thought someone here may have had ideas in the past.

A snorkel isn't just for water crossings. By having the intake at a higher level you will be feeding cleaner, and to a degree cooler air into the engine.

My previous Defender's air filter would get dirty pretty quick driving dusty European trails, fitting a snorkel seriously reduced the amount of dust being sucked in the air filter.

I think there are many other issues that will cause more loss of fuel economy than a snorkel.
The benefit of clean cooler air would outweigh any airflow restriction.

I have a safari and I didn't notice any change to economy, certainly not for the worse anyway.....

I was talking to an engineer who specializes in fluid dynamics and he laughs at people who turn their snorkel tops around to face the rear....the idea is to stop mud or water ingress from splashing, but the small surface area of the intake would not catch much volume anyway....but the vacuum effect of reversing the intake would be more of an issue in reducing airflow.....and it certainly doesn't stop any dust....he apparently has the studies to back up his claims.

He recommends the larger intake cap from the Airflow brand, even on the safari snorkel, this apparently flows quite well.....
In the end, cooler cleaner air can only benefit the engine. Brands like Safari are not going to make a snorkel that will adversely effect the vehicle, what would be the point of that...I seriously believe those who have lost fuel economy have other issues.....and are wrongly attributing the issue to the snorkel.....and there is very little noise.....let's face it, the td5 is not exactly quiet anyway.

If you're worried about the black on your car, consider getting it color coded, seen some done and they look ok, not for me though, but I appreciate others have their own taste regards things like that....

Cheers
Kev

Thanks kelvo, I do understand that snorkels will supply cooler air and I get it. From what ive been reading here (i need to learn how to attach other posts) is, that the snorkel is also a major contributer to catching and putting more bugs in your filter as well. Yes I know you can get the different tops to them, or turn them around. But the only pro for my type of driving is the cooler air (but then I will be getting bugs as others put it). Being in QLD and especially coming from the north,there is a surprising amount of bugs that may lead to more filter checks if this is the case. I don't really know, I can only state what ive read and what sounds reasonable to believe for me. Plus the main factor is, I still don't like the look of the snorkel.

Cheers Kev for the information! Don't get me wrong matey, i'm not putting others who own a snorkel down, It just dosn't float my boat or seem very necessary to add if all I get is some cooler air (and maybe bug problems). Personally A snorkel does look the part when the whole truck is decked out with all the gear. But thats something I don't want, well at least for the moment anyways. And with a white D2 the black snorkel would look fine, but I still like that fairly basic factory look with a few mods.

So am trying to go for a more subtle look, with a good way of recieving clean cool air. If these vents fit, would I actually need to duct them to the vent? The way I am thinking this morning is if I reattach the filter breather into the guard with the guard recieving cooler air from the vent, caused by the tunnel effect from the guard lining. This should be far better than the original fitting just going into that same tunnel to who knows where? Im guessing road height? Or am I totally wrong with my way of thinking?

Are those vents for air intake are they......jeez shows what I know, I grew up with modified cars and vents in guards and bonnets were to let hot air out from brakes and/or engine bays...

Yes mate I can appreciate the subtle look, and maybe some lateral thinking here might be the go.

Firstly though, those vents really are in a bad place for any off road air because dust dirt etc is likely to be fairly heavy there and as far as water, yes static water crossing on a known ford might be ok, but a bush creek can always surprise with a hidden hole that drops your car down and it gets a lung full of water....and the air intake would have to be directly connected to the vent to get any cool air value.

Ok, plumbing from the airbox under the fender is easy, it can be Bunnings drain pipe or round steel exhaust pipe or even flexitube stuff, as long as the diameter is such that airflow is not compromised.....it doesn't even have to be pretty as its hidden, obviously.
What about plumbing up to the rear under the guard, then having a Mantec type setup, but with a difference. Have a removable snorkel.
Now being a pedantic type myself, I would make a forward facing scoop, shaped to curve around the fender to attach to the pipe outlet and cover the hole....this for most of my driving....picture this as a wider flatter curved safari scoop bent to the same contour as the fender starting at the bonnet edge and following the fender shape out and down for the required size, again big enough so that airflow is not compromised.
Now when going offroad that would still be ok in most circumstances, but for those days where a "proper" snorkel is required, simply take that hat off, and attach your Mantec style snorkel.
It would mean having a small bracket along the door pillar to windscreen somewhere, but that would be somewhat less intrusive than the whole snorkel.

Depending on how handy you are, this could be done with plastic pipe...somewhat less than the cost of those vents I would think.. The special hat could be made of fibreglass and painted white so it really was stealthy....it doesn't have to be a boxy square edge thing, it can be rounded and contoured to any shape so it has some sort of aesthetic appeal.

The only issue would be to make sure the connection point was a good seal, but that's what "custom" work is all about.....

Cheers
Kev

I'm not a fan of snorkels either, but do a fair bit of dusty road and track driving and have been looking for alternatives.

Microcat shows a cool air intake which runs inside the guard to a cutout in the passenger door frame. You can see where this cutout is on Urban Panzers Mantek install, however there it is incorrectly referred to as a "cover plate that is used for extra cabin air on "gulf spec" vehicles".



The "gulf states" cool air intake isn't going to do much for wading depth but should definitely reduce the amount of splashed water and dust ending up in the air box.

The main problem is that the listed price is around £330-350 ($540-575) plus shipping (eg http://www.brit-car.co.uk/product.ph...intake_disco11 ). I have hopefully scored a new one from an ebay seller for a much more reasonable price. I suspect it is missing the seal for the door frame but as these are about $30 I can live with that.

cheers
Paul

Thanks Kev, that sounds like an excellent idea! I get most of what you are saying and can envisage your idea by utilising the Mantec snorkel kit with a few modifications. Try to see if Mantec would patent your idea..

I have decided on the grills/vents, as I have found a set on ebay that are chrome that suit the new Range Rovers and Landies. The only **** factor about them is across the grill they have a supercharged emblem. but they should let in loads of cleaner air, and once painted black to fit the white and black theme i'm going for with mine, at 152 bux I believe they should do a better job than the original setup. I'm on an Android tablet and don't know how to copy paste the info, but if anyones interested they can find them on ebay by searching for fender grills/vents.

It seems to me that if I ever do want to add a snorkel then the Mantec would look more subtle and go with the air grills better. This thought has just come as i'm writing, and if I would need to do a water crossing that is higher than the air grills, then I suppose I could just take out 2 nuts from the intake and let the breather sit against the inside of the bonnet, (giving me an extra 400mmish).I am also starting to think whether turning the intake upside down against the inside of the bonnet that fitted nicely against a small bonnet scoop type grill would also be a solution, as you know you have clean fresh air unless your bonnet is underwater. (Just a thought). If I do add the Mantec later, I could also run a second set of ducting with another air intake outlet cut out inside the bonnet next to the otherone, that allows me to change over to a snorkel setup, (if you get my drift). And if need be, I could have the plastic grills plastic welded to be watertight and only be for show. I think ive just reasoned myself into this ;-)

I believe we are both right Kev, about the grills,vents,bonnet scoops. I know that they are used for allowing heat out, and I know that they are used for letting cool air in, as I had a Phase 2 GTHO with a shaker and every time my foot got heavy you could hear it gurgling and sucking.

Thanks Paul for the install post! Matey this was invaluable to me, and allowed me to see how the inner guard setup is. As far as I can tell, with the air intake into the guard, it looks as though it is only stale air, heat, and whatever dust is in that guard is going to be picked up into the filter. I think even by only adding a guard vent will be many times better than what is there as stock, as even fresh road air would be better for the lazy man, although I think i'm still going to duct it. I guess by pulling the intake from the guard and running a hose and some high pressure air into inside the guard occasionally to clean out dust and debris will help keep the filter cleaner also.

It looks like ive decided what I need to do, and am only left with taking some photos and seeing where the best positioning would be for coolest and most clean air and also looks.

Would anyone know whether it is legal to leave the guard blinkers off? I couldve bought a guard grill with blinkers all in one, but they looked too small for the application i'm after. I think they were from a VL dunnydoor or something..

Cheers!