Here's my latest project, a dual snorkel 92-96 Dakota air hat:



and another one, slightly modified:


The first one with a port cut:


The coupling:


The finished product,painted and ready to put on:





The problem I'm having is the tubes that go onto the air hat snorkels are slip on, and don't seal well. Anybody got ideas that might work to seal them? I've got some HVAC tape and somebody else suggested pipe couplers, but are there others?

 

Heavy duty zip ties.

 

aim that is pretty badass looking! and quite an idea at that!! Where did you ever find 2 old dakota airhats in that good a shape? Can't wait to see it all together on there

 

Junk yard. The pick pulls were stripped bare, but a few other places Had good ones. Paid $65 for 2 boxes, 4 tubes and 4 scoops.

 

What did you cut that with? Those are some clean cuts.
Something like this http://www.electrotape.com/electrica...-tapes-40.html should work to seal it up. I would put it on the inlet and maybe dust it with a little baby powder or something to take the tack off it so the tube will slide over it.

 

Die grinder with cut off wheel. Cleaned them up with a burr and sanded them so they weren't wicked sharp.

 

I have some heavy duty HVAC zip ties at home, but they won't create the seal I'm looking for as the tubes are rectangular in nature.

I have some tape that should work, but I was hoping to find a more reuseable solution.

I'm not sure how tight the tubes need to be honestly, the air box will seal very tightly and that's where the pressure will build up. I might walk the various aisles at Lowes or HD and see what's available. There are rubber pipe couplers that have band clamps on the ends, or I might try some sort of weather stripping to seal from the inside. Something thin, but enough to widen the snorkels on the hat to suck up the extra space.

 

Lookin realll goood!!
Was wondering when you were finally going to share with everyone

Been thinking about this further since my dumb suggestion of the alum hvac tape of how to attach the hoses & keep them on firmly & sealed.

You know the latches for securing things like tool boxes?
Rivet the 1/2s to the each side of both inlets with the other 1/2 on each side of both hose/ducts.
Be a bit of work but it would keep them from coming off & hold them securely in place.

Then when you have that altogether get some black plastic dip (Hammer will love u) & lay a semi thick bead around each inlet up to the point where the hose/duct will stop. Allow it to semi set up.
On the inside of both ducts put a thin coating of grease as far in as the inlets will go into them if you get my drift.
That way when the plastic dip dries it will be conformed to the inside of the hose perfectly & give a decent seal & the grease will stop the plasti dip from making a permanent seal so you can seperate them easily if you need to remove things or access part of the motor the hose maybe blocking.

Edit - Or just forget the rivet/latch idea but use the plastic dip if the hoses will stay on ok.
I just looked again at the detents ***** that hold the ducts on.

 

On my ramairbox I used window/door weather stripping.
Get the rubber foam, it comes in a wide variety of thickness & widths, maybe easier that the plasti dip (sorry Hammer )

 

Go with the plasti dip or some type of silicone RTV. Coating the inside of the tubes that go over it with a thick coating of RTV might create a good seal so the permatex is not visible.

For plasti dip, I would dip the duct tube plasti dip so there is an even coating. Then cut off the plasti dip from the outside (razorblade and just peel off like you had just masked the area). THat would make it look clean and not visible to the outside. If it is still not tight enough...RE-DIP. THat would look the cleanest. If there are any minor leaks in uneven spots, just use a bead of RTV to seal it off.