I am not kidding...I will tell Street Wolf to post pics of his Safari Snorkel setup...if memory serves me we had to stretch the ends of the bottle (any good size oil bottle will do.) out to fit over the pieces that section attaches too...I also think we used some rubberized weather stripping on the other pieces, once we got it all together and lined up we sealed it with a generous amount of Silicone (RTV) and i think some clamps IIRC, let it dry and rattle canned it black to match...we did this probably 2mo after he got the vehicle after we went through a deep water hole and choked the engine...his was completely dry rotted. as far as leaks go...its good. Back in Aug 08 we had a very bad flood here. I drove his truck through water deep enough it was 5 inches up on the front and side windows (all his doors are double sealed) for about a half mile stretch down and half mile stretch back. Engine was completely under water, couldn't even hear it running except for the air being sucked in by the snorkel...creepiest feeling I have ever experienced...whole way there and back I was saying, please don't stall, please don't stall...it didn't and we were able to rescue a group of about 7 people including a 90+ year old lady with a heart condition that needed to go to hospital...anyway...I will stop rambling...suffice to say it works.
I guess your issue solidifies my belief that the above piece is a major weekpoint that both Mantec and Safari should have engineered a fix for...if anyone knows of an aftermarket replacement for it I would love to know because we couldn't find one which is what led us to do what we did.
Come to think of it, I believe we used the end pieces from that section wrapped in weather stripping shoved inside the ends of the oil bottle and sealed with RTV..then the whole thing was installed back in...street can verify/clarify for sure though...and no it doesn't look bad after it was rattle canned...most don't even notice its been replaced.
I never understood why that was a flex piece...if yours isn't dry rotted and is in good shape maybe just coating the entire rubberized fabric area with a good coating of black RTV would solve the problem and still be slightly flexible (if you found some need for it to be).
Oh and believe me we didn't just imediatly think of the oil bottle..I know we walked around Lowes, Home Depot, and couple other places before we were in the auto parts store and it hit me
