90 Gets a Snorkel

Now that Helena’s new insurance policy is in place, I have been able to fit the Safari Snorkel; with the delivery delays of the vehicle, we have actually owned the snorkel longer than the car.

The job was combined with replacing the aerial which was broken by a sea gull hitting it at 60mph.  Replacing the aerial requires removal of the wing intake duct, so it makes sense to combine the jobs.  Replacing the aerial does need the centre dash panel with the stereo to be pulled forward for access to the antenna plug and to feed the new cable through.  This is done by removing the two Torx head screws and then pulling the whole panel straight out (it’s clipped, so it takes a bit of a tug).  The antenna end of the cable was cut and taped to the plug end of the new antenna’s cable to pull the new cable through the bulkhead and dash void and was then removed.  The plug of the new cable was inserted in the stereo unit before refitting the dash and its screws.  With the wing side intake and the wing top blanking plate (dummy heater intake) removed, the old antenna base could be removed and the new whip antenna fitted in its place.  The bottom of the old antenna is clipped in place and will need an effort to pull out, but it will pop out with lateral movement (take a look at the clip to see which way to push it).  The new £5 antenna was from Maplin and is the same as the one on the 109 – it is flexible and resilient and seems to have pretty good reception – why they aren’t fitted as standard I don’t know.  It needed the plastic base of the old antenna and a large washer to make up for the very large hole that LR make in the wing top, but that aside, fitting is simple.

The Safari instructions say the snorkel installation takes two hours.  That may be true if you are already familiar with how to remove the intake trunking and the air cleaner box for sealing, but between figuring those tasks out and also repainting the poorly protected upper bracket that screws to the wind screen (before it corrodes), it took me nearer three and a half.  It’s horribly messy as you try to seal the trunking sections with silicone, too.  Unfortunately, the task is made harder for those unfamiliar with the TDCI by failing to mention in the instructions that the intermediate intake trunking, which needs shifting to apply the sealant, is fixed in its middle to a lug on the inner wheel arch shared with the wing top support bracket, making it impossible to shift the trunking until you spot this and undo the bolt (which is later a pig to refit unless you undo the bolt at the top of the wing bracket too to refit the bottom bolt first)… Anyway, the result is good and Helena is very pleased at having a slightly more personalised 90 that also stands out more as being an enthusiast’s vehicle.