I wanted to add a second battery but the engine layout in the discovery didn't make it easy. There is a vacant space behind the nearside headlight which matches the battery tray on the offside. Unfortunately the air intake passes right through this space.
This was all done at the same time as a major revamp of the boot floor, a respray and fitting rock sliders to name a few
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In order to access the space behind the nearside headlight you have to remove the air intake leading into the air filter box. I don't like the look of the snorkels than run on the outside of the wing so I chose the Mantec model fitted to Camel Trophy, Trek and G4 discoveries. To access this you have to remove the outer wing and trim it using a template. The 200Tdi model enters the inner wing over the wheel arch rather than right at the front. I originally fitted a 200 Tdi air box but this wasn't too successful. |
The first step was to thoroughly rust proof the battery tray so I wire brushed it and gave it a coat of Kurust and hammerite. |
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I didn't take as many pictures as I should have to show the stages but here you can see how I have removed the front inlet to the air box, ground it flat and riveted a sealing plate on it. I used plenty of silicon sealant. |
A hole was cut in the side and a short length of trunking was made up using duct fittings for a tumble dryer. The fittings were sealed with silicon and screwed together. Here you can clearly see the original inlet hole at the front of the wing. |
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The ducting was 110mm but those nice tumble dryer people make an adapter piece which reduces it to 63mm, the same diameter as the snorkel. |
The airbox is secured to the wing with 2 rubber feet. I simply re-drilled the holes for these feet a few inches to the side. There are drain holes in the bottom of the airbox. These were blocked with small bolts and silicon. |
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While the outer wing was off I took the opportunity to give the inner wing a coat of underseal. |
The powder coating on the upper part of the snorkel had chipped and peeiled so I got it sand blasted and I resprayed it with satin finish hammerite. This gave a much easier finish for future repairs. The two sections were then joined with the flexible tube that came with the snorkel. |
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Finally the outer wing was refitted. |
I bought another battery clamp off ebay for a couple of pound for the 2nd battery. The end result gave me two matching and secure places to take two full size batteries.
I used 2 Numax CVX-1000s as these were getting good write ups. However I do seem to have had more than my fair share of flat batteries and starting problems so I am having second thoughts.
Most people add a second battery to take all the additional accessories. I wanted the starter battery isolated so that there was no chance of it going flat in camp or overnight. Therefore I moved the starter motor wire from the original battery to the new one and routed the ignition circuits from the old fuse box (through and inline 60A fuse holder) to battery 2. This meant that if I left the car radio, interior light or just about anything on it couldn't flatten the starter battery. One circuit I did forget was the pre-heaters and fuel solenoid but this is easy to 'jump across' if the need arises.
To deal with charging I have fitted a 180A relay supplied by X-Eng. This is a simple piece of kit which should be wired to the alternator so that it only engages when the alternator is running. Unfortunately if you do this on a disco the charge light stays on all the time. So I have wired it to the radio feed. This feed is disconnected when the starter motor is cranking and so you are only using one battery to start but it is live (obviously) once the engine is running. I am thinking of changing this so that it is operated by a switch manually. This gives me the choice wether they are connected or not.
This is a simple set up but due to the number of problems I have been having I intend to get it thoroughly checked by an auto electrician.
Comments
how do you made the wing cut out for the snorkel?
do you have any outline drawing?
Yaki
There is a round shape stamped into the inner wing which clearly marks the place for the snorkel entry.
I used a 5mm drill and drilled aseries on holes in a chain to cut the shape. Once all the holes were drilled I used a small 'Dremel' tool with a disc cutter to cut between the holes until the centre dropped out.
I filed off the rough edges but I also wrapped a length of cut plastic tubing around the hole edge for added protection.
The snorkel itself came with a template to cut the outer wing but the positioning of the rest is fairly self apparent once you get the wing off.
I hope this helps.
Cheers
Ralph
Thanks for the information
since I made a homemade snorkel I don't have a template.
Yaki
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