I was just wondering if i could get some suggestions or some help for water proofing a 79 304. Thanx

Extend all of your breather lines to the firewall or inside the cab behind the dash. Top them off with a cheap fuel filter.

Spray the hell out of all of the electrical connections with WD-40 or any other silicone water displacing spray.

Run a small bead of RTV around the base of your distributor cap to make a gasket, now extend the vent as you did with everything else.

Put some electrically conductive waterproof grease (forgot the name, but most hardware stores have it) in the boots of your spark plug wires and any place on them where water can get in.

Extend the intake nice an high up. Again, Home Depot parts work great if you are cheap and don't care what it looks like. I was planning on just drilling through the hood on my XJ eventually and running it up to the roof.

Cut some holes in your floor and weld in some marine drain plugs.

Basically go through every critical component and ask yourself, "Could I spray this with my pressure washer and not worry?" If you worry, either extend it or coat it in silicone or grease. Gas engines really don't function well with prolonged exposure to water, so don't expect to be a sub captain in your CJ. You are just preventing as much water as possible from getting in there so you can make quick water crossings without damage. Good luck, it can be a real PITA getting everything done.

You can use a shock boot to seal up the trans. shifter.

Depends on what you got... but on a 92 YJ..

Distributer - I did nothing but pretty sure I have had it submerged in water and it kept running (Water was a little over 36" deep) My cap actually screws down to the distributer, tighter than a typical "clip-on" IMO.

Ignition - I haven't done anything exotic. I figured since oil and water don't mix. Use a reasonable amount of dielectric grease on the plug boots and connecters to keep the water out. Seems to work so far.

Intake - your lucky, you can run 2" PVC from your air box up to your firewall. That is not a perfect solution, but in my case the only one unless I drill through the hood. (Standard side mount snorkel would last 2 seconds for me on the trail, tight trails) This will do 2 things, one when entering water properly you will have a bow wake with a depression right where the intake is. 2 if it goes over the hood and you went slow in to the water, you got 20-30? seconds of air under the hood before you run out.

Breather Lines - As high as you can get them... also have heard of plumbing them in to the air box and have them breath through the intake. something I will probably do later.

On board Air - something I need to do yet. run the intake for the compressor in to the air box.

Fans - if deep water crossings are a regular. first NO flex fan, those will hit water and if too close will then hit the radiator. the standard stock steel clutch fan is ok, going to an electric fan with a kill switch is better.

Winch - here's the rub, if you stall out. only electric one will save your butt. (not milemarker) and the warns at least run fine under water, except for maybe the brakes when they are wet. Kicker is, the muddy water does a number on the motor and brakes. so if your winch dies it's your fault.. can't get that warrantied. Stupid I know. now the milemarker can run underwater all day, but what good is it when your motor is more than likely dead by the time you need it. :rolleyes:

drain plugs, get rid of them better to find them and pull them now, than when you got 4" of water in your Jeep. of course in deep water, it's gonna come through those holes. you gotta decide how far you want to take this. (e.g. pulling carpet and leaving it out)

electronics in dash - no idea, I wouldn't even attempt to water proof, to much work. Just don't get stuck that deep and let it flood in. :D

Passenger - Find a smart one. when you get stuck in water, and it's half way up your doors. make sure they know not to open them, it's not pretty when this happens. (what am I saying last time I saw it happen and heard the driver scream noooo!!! I laughed so hard I nearly fell off the bank in to the same mud hole! LOL)

there's some ideas.

There were many good ones in the above list. On a AMC V8 the distrib. is up front. I run a piece of duct tape on the front side of the distrib. The whole thing is not waterproof yet I've found they run a long way under water, but don't like the fan forcing more in. I usually have to dry mine after a deep (above the console/lap) crossing. in sunny Ca no prob. I pull the cap use some T.P. and mop it up it dries in about 60 seconds. I've seen the silicone trick. It just made it harder to drain the cap. I also duct tape the leading side/edge on the air cleaner of open elements. The closed snorkle type work better but I've run open elements for years. K&N's filter works best.

Oh, on the topic of passangers, just include a water breifing with the general breifing.. I do it every time.

"In the case of a roll over, grab your ankles and put your head between your legs. In the case of a water crossing do not open the doors."

As for all the hoses. I'm (eventually) going to plumb them all into the bottom of the snorkle. And water in the dash.. when going through a knowingly deep bout of water either pull all the fuses, or replace all the fuses later. Just let the whole thing short, and then dry out.. Shorting is probably one of the worst things that can happen in there, so if you pull the fusebox, they can't (unless there's water in the box itself) short. Meaning it only need dry out before going 100% again.

That's a good one I forgot. on the air filter, get K&N. A properly oiled K&N can stop some water from going through.

Thanx alot guys ur suggestions have been really helpful. We dont have many rivers down here to be sub captains but its just mainly for the mud holes. Thats been pretty much the only thing that has stopped me is the water proofing. But maybe someday we will find somethin to get that deep into.:smokin:

Originally posted by Josh 89XJ
Put some electrically conductive waterproof grease (forgot the name, but most hardware stores have it) in the boots of your spark plug wires and any place on them where water can get in.


It's called Dielectric Grease--and yes--it works really good for this.

It also works good for sealing the area around the vacuum advance arm where it moves in and out of the distributor. At least, it does on a 258. Not sure if the 304 distributor has an external vacuum motor like a 258 does. I think they're the same though...

Oh another thing that really helps is installing a GM HEI system. HEI has the ignition and capacitor right on the distributor as a unit (instead of being strewn haphazardly about the engine compartment like in a Jeep). The GM design keeps everything higer and drier. (as well as boosting power, mileage, and giving you a smoother idle).

HTH,
Jake Harsha

Originally posted by Josh 89XJ
[B}

Put some electrically conductive waterproof grease (forgot the name, but most hardware stores have it) in the boots of your spark plug wires and any place on them where water can get in.

[/B]

Dielectric Grease

http://www.classicgarage.com/classicgarage/dielgreas.html