YELLAHEEP
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Littleton, Colorado
Ok, so when I first got this new-to-me '97 I kinda liked the whole look it had...... but as time has passed, I found I'm just not into the snorkle. I wanted it to go - but knew I'd have to deal with a 3" hole in the fender...... Hmmmmm, what to do about that? Sure, get a fender have it painted and be done...... but got to thinkin' I could still save the cold air quality the snorkle provided...... I just didn't know how. Then someone pointed me in the direction of a marine parts store. Looked like a marine vent would do the trick.
So, I tore that snorkle off to see what I was going to have to deal with. Wasn't pretty. 3 bolt holes and one 3" hole.
Before:
Here's the holes:
Cut and test fit of the vent:
Once I had it fitting snug......... I kinda forgot that the washer reservior had to go back in behind it. The vent has a deep recess to it and several inches of it's position was over the washer res. I originally figured I'd have the vents angled to the back in "traditional" form, but the vent recess was off-set and less of the recess interfered with the reservior if I turned the vent facing forward....... and I also got to thinking that in that direction, it might even provide a little ram-air benefit, not much, but maybe a little so flip it around I did.
Because the 3" hole cut down into the body line, the vent wouldn't sit flush on the fender surface. I started thinking of how I was going to fill the gap on the ends of the vent. I found some black foam generic use weather strip and made a sort of gasket on each end. I also used some stainless hex-head screws to match the screws on the Bushwhackers. Worked out pretty good!
Here it is bolted up and done:
Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out - considering the alternative. It's bigger than I'd like, but not hideous and it ended up being JUST big enough to cover all the holes - barely! And because the vent was 3 1/4" wide and the hole was 3", I didn't have alot of room to position it much different than how you see it. If I'd have put this vent on a fender that didn't have holes, it would have been a bit above the body line rather than on it, and a bit farther back. But I'm kinda diggin' it and it serves a purpose.
Tomorrow, I'll be re-configuring the intake under the hood a bit. I think I'm going to get rid of the K&N cone filter and filter housing in favor of a stock air box - but I'm gonna cut a 3" hole in the rear of the box and run the flexible air hose from that to the fender hole and put a rectangle K&N in the box.
More tomorrow. :thumbup:
So, I tore that snorkle off to see what I was going to have to deal with. Wasn't pretty. 3 bolt holes and one 3" hole.
Before:
Here's the holes:
Cut and test fit of the vent:
Once I had it fitting snug......... I kinda forgot that the washer reservior had to go back in behind it. The vent has a deep recess to it and several inches of it's position was over the washer res. I originally figured I'd have the vents angled to the back in "traditional" form, but the vent recess was off-set and less of the recess interfered with the reservior if I turned the vent facing forward....... and I also got to thinking that in that direction, it might even provide a little ram-air benefit, not much, but maybe a little so flip it around I did.
Because the 3" hole cut down into the body line, the vent wouldn't sit flush on the fender surface. I started thinking of how I was going to fill the gap on the ends of the vent. I found some black foam generic use weather strip and made a sort of gasket on each end. I also used some stainless hex-head screws to match the screws on the Bushwhackers. Worked out pretty good!
Here it is bolted up and done:
Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out - considering the alternative. It's bigger than I'd like, but not hideous and it ended up being JUST big enough to cover all the holes - barely! And because the vent was 3 1/4" wide and the hole was 3", I didn't have alot of room to position it much different than how you see it. If I'd have put this vent on a fender that didn't have holes, it would have been a bit above the body line rather than on it, and a bit farther back. But I'm kinda diggin' it and it serves a purpose.
Tomorrow, I'll be re-configuring the intake under the hood a bit. I think I'm going to get rid of the K&N cone filter and filter housing in favor of a stock air box - but I'm gonna cut a 3" hole in the rear of the box and run the flexible air hose from that to the fender hole and put a rectangle K&N in the box.
More tomorrow. :thumbup:
.
