Safari Snorkel install - '91-'97 Land Cruiser • by: Christo Slee
Adding a snorkel to your 80 does have advantages, cleaner cooler air for the motor, avoids sucking in water when crossing rivers and most of all you get to drill a big hole in the fender!
Here are some random thoughts on the installation of a Safari Snorkel on a US spec 80 Series
Trust the template. I measured about 10 time and were only convinced when someone with prior install experience convinced me the template was correct, even thought I wanted to lower it.
With the template in position the middle upper hole is VERY close to the antenna.
Cut a notch out of the template around the antenna to ensure that it template lays flat on the fender.
After getting the template in the correct position, recheck the position by holding the snorkel up to the template.
Ensure that you clearance around the mirror and that the door can open.
Mark the holes and remove template. Use masking tape over the marks (liberal amount) and also tape the whole area where the big hole must go. This will protect the paint in case the drill slips.
Put the template back and then mark the holes again. Remove template and your marks should be on the masking tape. Center punch the mark for big hole first and drill a small pilot hole.
Use hole saw to make big hole FIRST. The tape on the whole area help the saw from sliding and would protect the paint if you slipped.
After you have cut the big hole and calmed your nerves, put the template back on and cut the template to also have the big hole.
File the edges of the big hole to remove burs and treat all exposed metal to prevent rust. I used touch-up paint.
Insert the studs into the snorkel and then do the final fitting. Ensure that the studs lines up with the small holes on the template.
Once you have the location of the small holes verified, drill them as specified in the instructions.
Once this is done you can now start to fit the snorkel around the antenna. The snorkel will hit the antenna if not modified. Since Australian 80 series have the antenna on the other side, this modification is not needed for them.
We did this with a small plumbers propane torch. I am not sure if a heat gun will be enough to soften the plastic. I found the torch to be more controllable because the heat is concentrated and you can hear a smaller area.
Fit the snorkel and mark the location where it meets the antenna. Remove snorkel and put down in workbench with the side that goes against the vehicle upwards. Now the fun starts, heat the area around the mark you made with the flame and be careful not to get to close. Push down with a piece of 1" diameter pipe. You can use it to roll the material back and forth.
The key is to not heat the top part of the snorkel (position the snorkel such that the bottom faces away from you on the bench). The heat tends to smooth the textured finish on the snorkel. You want to limit this to the back side that is against the car and not the top that you can see.
Be patient and just do small amounts at a time, fit and then do it again. On our installation the snorkel ended up flush at the top with the antenna and we made a "notch" that was about 1/2" deep into the side. The last fit was done by first heating the area, and then fitting the snorkel in place and pushing against it to get a flush fit.
Once you have it flush against the body, you can mark the top holes for the top bracket as per the instructions.
IMPORTANT. I did not drill the holes the size as recommended. Fitting a square plug to a round hole did not make a lot of sense to us. Either get round nutserts (they are like drywall plugs that expand when you screw into them) or do what we did.
Drill a whole that is smaller than the square size of the insert, then using small files, shape the holes to be square and fit the inserts snugly. This will make a much better fit than doing the big round holes as stated in the instructions.
The rest of the install is just as per the instructions.
