So why fit a snorkel?  2 reasons – in dusty conditions (think deserts) the air at the roofline tends to be a bit cleaner than the air that is sucked in through the wing, and in stock configuration the “safe” wading depth of a Discovery 2 is only 500mm.  Which isn’t really very deep at all.  It is an absolute certainty that we will need to go swimming a bit deeper than that.  Raising the air intake by about a metre, as well as extending the transmission and differential breather pipes (planning this one at the moment) gives us peace of mind in this area.  We are also considering replacing the “Ram” snorkel head for a centrifugal pre-filter – these are very effective at removing 90% + of dust from the air, before it gets to the normal paper filter in the airbox.  BUT – they do slightly restrict airflow.  We shall see…

Fitting a snorkel is pretty straight forward – there are several designs out there, and we have settled for an Aussie one, from Safari Snorkels.  These guys have been around a long time, and have a premium product.  There are plenty of knockoffs available, however they are all compromised in one way or another compared to the original.  As getting clean, dry air is critical to the smooth running of our shiny rebuilt engine, shelling out for the best is a no-brainer.

Cutting holes in a car is scary.  Very scary.  Safari provide a handy template to tape to the wing, clearly showing where to drill and cut, but even so…

The bolt holes  are drilled to 16mm using a step drill, and the slot is made from two 70mm holesaw cuts, then two parallel cuts to complete the opening.  Deburred, then painted with hammerite.  Essentially, the snorkel bolts through those holes, and mates with the original air box (gunged up with copious quantities of sensor-safe silicone).  Obviously the drain holes in the air box are also blocked with silicone.  The snorkel is then riveted to the A Pillar, the air ram slapped on top, and job done…