Fibreglass snorkel (attempt)

[shokenore]

Had been toying around with the idea of trying something in fibreglass for a while, initially was looking at a front bumper, but as luck had it managed to get a good steel bumper off here.Cheers Vince

So obviously the next easiest thing for the complete novice to make is of course a snorkel.
I am not paying out £300 for the original and the £100 copies seem sh1te and don't even look air tight which seem like bit of a risk.

I didn't want to further hijack Andy's bumper thread either so here is my snorkel thread.
Thanks for everyone's input so far I will post up some pictures later of the attempt so far.

[gwh200]

Is it done yet ?

[MudSurfer]

Is it done yet ?

Leave him Gwa, it's been raining......



.....somewhere..

[shokenore]

Leave him Gwa, it's been raining......



.....somewhere..

hang on hang on...

[shokenore]

feast your eyes on this prime example of engineering excellence.not.

I need a working snorkel, not just for show or Salisbury Plain but on the worst of the winter days when it is borderline if the Mrs will get to work she could take my truck and not have to detour or risk hydro locking her car.
Like I have mentioned I am not prepared to shell out on £300 worth of injection moulding just to have "african journey" stamped on the side and quite frankly after seeing the build quality of the chinese copies I very much doubt that they would work when needed.
I also want my truck to stand out from the rest, no offence to those that like it OEM but the only way I would want my truck looking OEM is if it was a Lexurf in sleeper guise.
The home made snorkels do look home made and again no offence to those that are happy with that, the main thing is you have at least made the effort and had a go.The best one I think I have seen on here was a stainless affair from down under.

Hence my experiments in glass.
This is my first attempt at working with glass and it is a steep learning curve.
Steep.

The upright section I am happy with it is uniformly the same section and it follows the curve of the A pillar.
It is also of sufficient diameter to allow for good air flow over the extended air intake path.

The head section is another matter, I may re do it to make it flatter or it might just need re shaping with extra cloth.
The base follows the A pillar line again but with small raised sections on the part that will fix to the pillar to allow for rain water to be dispersed when the windscreen wipers are on.

[MudSurfer]

Well, I like it. It's a nice colour too, kind of blends in when muddy. The only thing I would say Ade is you may want a slightly smaller gap between the snorkel and the air box, maybe just my preference though....

[andyverran]

How's visibility at junctions?

[TomR-G]

How's visibility at junctions?

Does it come with its own monkeys too?

Do you think you'll get fruit in the first year?

[shokenore]

How's visibility at junctions?

The upright section does need trimming to fit to the base so the shape will change from an O section to more of a U shape in the process I think it will lose about 1 1/2 inches of its height.
But yes there is some obstruction, however I don't know much vision is lost with the 'original'

[andyverran]

The upright section does need trimming to fit to the base so the shape will change from an O section to more of a U shape in the process I think it will lose about 1 1/2 inches of its height.
But yes there is some obstruction, however I don't know much vision is lost with the 'original'

I've never actually seen one "in the flesh"...any mileage in taking a mould from the 'A' pillar to get it flatter (wider rather than high if that makes sense)?

[shokenore]

A flatter section would still flow air and not be as obtrusive.

Back to the mixing cup.

[andyverran]

A flatter section would still flow air and not be as obtrusive.

Back to the mixing cup.

Its a much steeper learning curve than I imagined....

[shokenore]

Its a much steeper learning curve than I imagined....

Very true
But the satisfaction gained is worth the effort.

[yoshie]

The cheap £100 are actually £65 and they are ideal.

[shokenore]

The cheap £100 are actually £65 and they are ideal.

Oh Gawd really
I will pretend I didn't see this.
Still I've started now.