Snorkel gave me an idea...

[ramsee1]

Well Volant has yet to call me back. But more searching has yielded more info. My assumption that the Volant intake goes to the vent is incorrect. It actually runs to the front of the grill. This is not to say it couldn't, but it wasn't made for it.
I found a bunch of discussions and even found some testing that Gadget did on his own site. Simply by cutting a 4" hole in front of the air box gave him roughly 8 more hp. The Tacoma guys took it a step further and fashioned a cover that could easily be replaced and seal the hole. I am assuming the hot air from the engine bay is somewhat cooled by the opening from the fender wall. Now to take even one step further and snake it to the front grill or bumper, it seems like that would help even more with the temperature issue. This pretty much seals the deal for me that another source of forced air in the air box will yield more power.
I'm not sure if the FJ is the same as the Tacoma for this next issue, but should be similar. There's an elbow in the fender wall that makes a hard turn and is restrictive. He removed the elbow and found an increase in power there as well.
I'm sure I am leaving a ton of information out. his site is GadgetOnline. Take a look at the air induction section.
Very interesting reading and as everyone knows, he's a very knowledgeable person.

[rbc24123]

I think it'd be great to have a snorkel system that you can detach when not needed (i.e. highway travel). Mayeb something that came out of the hood (close to the passenger side window corner)?

[ramsee1]

If I recall, that's what Hummers have. Well, not the detachable part, but the location. This would obviously be a more desirable mod if we could forego the cutting of fenders and hoods.
Update to the post. Volant said they haven't tried this on an FJ, but if the engine bays are the same, it should work fine. It would just be a matter of making a 3.5" opening on the front of the air box.

[ramsee1]

Looks like a pretty good match

[logan9967]

you know this would make a nice accesory to a snorkel kit, if someone didn't say this already i didn't read.

like along with the whole length of the snorkel theres also a sort of interchangeable attachment like this thats short and just sticks out a little so you don't have a huge thing hanging there (although that looks really cool)

oop nvm already been said

rbc24123 previously said:

I think it'd be great to have a snorkel system that you can detach when not needed (i.e. highway travel). Mayeb something that came out of the hood (close to the passenger side window corner)?

[oragon]

ramsee, to keep water out, check out UNI airfilters material and bel-ray oil. i use this stuff for my atvs. it kept water out of my snorkeled rubi500, after it was submerged 100% for at least 15 minutes while i was crossing a pond. ---my box wasnt water tight...there was an maybe half an inch but no water in my oil...its all good.

[ramsee1]

That is amazing. I think there are some other threads talking about waterproof filters as well. While it would be nice to kill two birds with one stone, and the interchangeable snorkel actually is a really cool idea, I'm just trying to think of a cool way to squeeze out a little more power with a NA system. When I got my CAI, I felt the difference in power. When I did the headers and cat back, I felt the gain in that as well. And I think this idea has something to offer too.
Here's a pic of the Volant installed. Cool idea. Too bad it's not more out in the open though.

[ramsee1]

I was taking a look under the hood the other night and I have to say the engine bay is packed pretty darn solid. There's not a heck of a lot of room to do too much in there. I also took a look under the passenger side wheel well and noticed an area that has a series of slits/openings that run up inside the well. Can anyone confirm this is where the CAI is drawing air from? If it is, it could really stand to be opened up more.

[layonnn]

i think FJoel tried to fit the volant box in his FJ. His results were that it was too tall and it would hit the lifting bar for the hood (i can't think of the name of that little gas tube that lifts the hood)

[ramsee1]

Hello. Yeah I PMed him and he said the same thing. I think they have a new CAI out but without the port on the front. I also saw another post that Volant is making a water resistant filter. Looks promising.