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Ported Cobra Jet Manifold Overview install on 2018

OrangeFury1

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Wanted to go ahead and try to make some notes of what I had to do to install my Cobra Jet. I looked around, couldn't really find a post that detailed certain things. Want to give a huge thanks to HeavyHittersMaryland on here, on the forums, he has been a huge help!! Hopefully this helps some people out.

The first pictures just show the manifold still assembled on the car, I always like to take tons of pictures for reference. I started by unplugging all the hoses, plugs and of course your cold air intake...

The manifold will have 6 bolts, 3 on each side. You will also have 4 bolts for the fuel rail, 2 on each side.

IMG_9772 - Copy.jpg


IMG_9775 - Copy.jpg


Most of these hoses you will get rid of once you get further into the install.

IMG_9806.jpg


Make sure that you unplug injectors from both sides.

IMG_9808.jpg


You will find three plugs on the back of the 18 Manifold, these are your IMRC plugs, two should be pretty easy to get to, the third one will be kind of a pain, you can get it from the left side if you pull on the manifold a bit once its loose.

Here you can see two of the plugs, a white one and a blue one.

IMG_9809.jpg


Here is the third plug... There are also two push pins on the back of the manifold, one on each side, make sure to pull those off, otherwise the manifold wont come off.... In the end, I ended up zip tying the three plugs to the harness away from everything.

IMG_9814.jpg


IMG_9882.jpg


Putting the manifold back on is pretty straight forward. You remove the fuel rails from the 18 manifold and just go ahead and put them on the cobra jet. However, you will have to cut two tabs on the fuel rails in order to make it fit underneath the manifold. This is what I did.

IMG_9865.jpg


IMG_9864.jpg


Instructions to torque down the manifold are located here. Page 22. https://performanceparts.ford.com/download/instructionsheets/FORDINSTSHTM-9424-M50CJ_.PDF

Now, for the mess of hose that we got rid of, this is what I did with mine. With the advice of HeavyHitter, I went out and bought 3/8s hose and connected my brake booster to the bottom port of the CJ and the evap to the bottom port. I then went ahead and zip tied everything to the coolant hose.

IMG_9880.jpg


On this picture I still have the sound tube on, but I will be deleting that..

IMG_9879.jpg


Here is a picture of how the other side looks.

IMG_9883.jpg


Now, the big question that a lot of people have asked about. I decided to install BMR brackets, I will tell you, it DOES hit, even with the brackets. I have circled where its hitting, it hits right in the middle of where it says "Ford racing". I will be cutting my hood right in the middle.

InkedIMG_9877_LI.jpg


These are the new brackets compare to the older ones. One of the most challenging things for me when raising the engine was where to position my jack since I was doing it on Jack stands.

IMG_9817.JPG


I had to rig something up since my car is an Auto.

IMG_9821.jpg


Now, there is a cable running from the starter to a stud that is on the passenger motor mount bracket, instructions call for bending the tabs that are on the cable or just cutting the factory stud and reusing it. I ended up cutting the stud and reusing.

IMG_9827.jpg


Overall, this install is not so bad, since there really isn't any write ups out there that are detailed you are left wondering what to do with certain things. Hopefully this can help out some people later on.

I have also added a video
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turnswrench

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Nice work and thanks for sharing your knowledge. When will you cut the hood?
 
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OrangeFury1

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Nice work and thanks for sharing your knowledge. When will you cut the hood?
Maybe sometime today or tomorrow. I thought I had a cutting disc but I don’t like the one that I have, I need to go buy one.
 

jmeiers

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Nice! Getting ready to order my ported CJ today since I am now stuck at home and none of the tracks are no longer open until further notice.

That sucks to hear about the BMR brackets. I already have them installed on mine when I did my longtubes back in January. Although they are much nicer than the stock brackets, I would have stayed stock brackets if I knew I was going to have to cut the hood anyway. On my BMR bracket install, I just used some big pliers and bent the tabs straight and flat on the ground cable so I could use the provided bolt. Your way works too.

I also wonder if the hood blanket will be usable after cutting the hood cross??? Might be cleaner looking that way.

What did you cut the fuel line tabs with? Dremel with cutoff wheel?
 
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irmoviper

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Wanted to go ahead and try to make some notes of what I had to do to install my Cobra Jet. I looked around, couldn't really find a post that detailed certain things. Want to give a huge thanks to HeavyHittersMaryland on here, on the forums, he has been a huge help!! Hopefully this helps some people out.

The first pictures just show the manifold still assembled on the car, I always like to take tons of pictures for reference. I started by unplugging all the hoses, plugs and of course your cold air intake...

The manifold will have 6 bolts, 3 on each side. You will also have 4 bolts for the fuel rail, 2 on each side.

IMG_9772 - Copy.jpg


IMG_9775 - Copy.jpg


Most of these hoses you will get rid of once you get further into the install.

IMG_9806.jpg


Make sure that you unplug injectors from both sides.

IMG_9808.jpg


You will find three plugs on the back of the 18 Manifold, these are your IMRC plugs, two should be pretty easy to get to, the third one will be kind of a pain, you can get it from the left side if you pull on the manifold a bit once its loose.

Here you can see two of the plugs, a white one and a blue one.

IMG_9809.jpg


Here is the third plug... There are also two push pins on the back of the manifold, one on each side, make sure to pull those off, otherwise the manifold wont come off.... In the end, I ended up zip tying the three plugs to the harness away from everything.

IMG_9814.jpg


IMG_9882.jpg


Putting the manifold back on is pretty straight forward. You remove the fuel rails from the 18 manifold and just go ahead and put them on the cobra jet. However, you will have to cut two tabs on the fuel rails in order to make it fit underneath the manifold. This is what I did.

IMG_9865.jpg


IMG_9864.jpg


Instructions to torque down the manifold are located here. Page 22. https://performanceparts.ford.com/download/instructionsheets/FORDINSTSHTM-9424-M50CJ_.PDF

Now, for the mess of hose that we got rid of, this is what I did with mine. With the advice of HeavyHitter, I went out and bought 3/8s hose and connected my brake booster to the bottom port of the CJ and the evap to the bottom port. I then went ahead and zip tied everything to the coolant hose.

IMG_9880.jpg


On this picture I still have the sound tube on, but I will be deleting that..

IMG_9879.jpg


Here is a picture of how the other side looks.

IMG_9883.jpg


Now, the big question that a lot of people have asked about. I decided to install BMR brackets, I will tell you, it DOES hit, even with the brackets. I have circled where its hitting, it hits right in the middle of where it says "Ford racing". I will be cutting my hood right in the middle.

InkedIMG_9877_LI.jpg


These are the new brackets compare to the older ones. One of the most challenging things for me when raising the engine was where to position my jack since I was doing it on Jack stands.

IMG_9817.JPG


I had to rig something up since my car is an Auto.

IMG_9821.jpg


Now, there is a cable running from the starter to a stud that is on the passenger motor mount bracket, instructions call for bending the tabs that are on the cable or just cutting the factory stud and reusing it. I ended up cutting the stud and reusing.

IMG_9827.jpg


Overall, this install is not so bad, since there really isn't any write ups out there that are detailed you are left wondering what to do with certain things. Hopefully this can help out some people later on.

I have also added a video
427963-f0796e62e7581db59d37b709507163c1.jpg
427964-870906e9cb932a9e797b690c08edc815.jpg
427962-ff5e600d359e4671596caab9fd4b26e3.jpg
427965-1a11c8328ee125e95f5b907a6aa48c42.jpg
427966-719a7b1479c7017f7feb0f2612a8387a.jpg
427967-073ed04c110548757abc71ab9fa41b20.jpg
427968-37e87783f108daa8fbe5118bb3eecc0b.jpg
427973-b0870e2c8cac20ad528500f2abdffd8d.jpg
427972-4bc83d1a21fac12fff3298835f6c57d6.jpg
427975-899e50a7296a7b842be684dd952fda5e.jpg
427974-704c600ca3e96e84e5d8c02c8d056d28.jpg
427976-361c71d834fc08deef0d6e4f376cf88b.jpg
427977-11b53f7b46abe7417d360c2878cc1af6.jpg
427969-bcf7a0c2ae99195bfe428948d274cb99.jpg
427970-749393c1205c0cd81088d2216a127ec8.jpg
427971-243c06f3ba11fcdb65d4624cbe37eec3.jpg
Excellent write up!! Thanks for the info and spreading the knowledge - Can't wait to get mine put on.
 

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OrangeFury1

OrangeFury1

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Nice! Getting ready to order my ported CJ today since I am now stuck at home and none of the tracks are no longer open until further notice.

That sucks to hear about the BMR brackets. I already have them installed on mine when I did my longtubes back in January. Although they are much nicer than the stock brackets, I would have stayed stock brackets if I knew I was going to have to cut the hood anyway. On my BMR bracket install, I just used some big pliers and bent the tabs straight and flat on the ground cable so I could use the provided bolt. Your way works too.

I also wonder if the hood blanket will be usable after cutting the hood cross??? Might be cleaner looking that way.

What did you cut the fuel line tabs with? Dremel with cutoff wheel?
Yea I thought the same, about not installing the brackets if I had to cut the hood either way, but I really don't think that it would have worked without dropping it.

I mean it closes right now, but it definitely hits. Yea I was going to bend the tabs as well but I thought it was going to be quicker to just go ahead and cut it off, really had no room with how short that cable was for me.

I was wondering the same thing about the hood blanket, trying to make it so it can look clean. Don't want it to look sloppy, once I cut it, I'll see how I can put it back together.

Yes I used a dremel with a cutting wheel.
 
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OrangeFury1

OrangeFury1

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Excellent write up!! Thanks for the info and spreading the knowledge - Can't wait to get mine put on.
No problem!! You'll love it, she definitely feels stronger up top. I already have my E85 tune on and ready to go.
 

irmoviper

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No problem!! You'll love it, she definitely feels stronger up top. I already have my E85 tune on and ready to go.
Awesome, i'm finishing up my Coilovers, BMR suspension goodies and upgraded axles before I tackle the CJ manifold, need to get it from my buddy and find the right time to do a swap, he's going whipple from what I understand. This dang virus is affecting our ability to meet up!
 

irmoviper

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Nice! Getting ready to order my ported CJ today since I am now stuck at home and none of the tracks are no longer open until further notice.

That sucks to hear about the BMR brackets. I already have them installed on mine when I did my longtubes back in January. Although they are much nicer than the stock brackets, I would have stayed stock brackets if I knew I was going to have to cut the hood anyway. On my BMR bracket install, I just used some big pliers and bent the tabs straight and flat on the ground cable so I could use the provided bolt. Your way works too.

I also wonder if the hood blanket will be usable after cutting the hood cross??? Might be cleaner looking that way.

What did you cut the fuel line tabs with? Dremel with cutoff wheel?
Sucks you couldn't get to the track this weekend, was looking forward to seeing what you ran.
 
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OrangeFury1

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Awesome, i'm finishing up my Coilovers, BMR suspension goodies and upgraded axles before I tackle the CJ manifold, need to get it from my buddy and find the right time to do a swap, he's going whipple from what I understand. This dang virus is affecting our ability to meet up!
I think, the axles will definitely come in handy, don't know how much these stock ones can take, but I have stock axles, I feel like since my last time out to the track my rear end whines quite a bit now. I actually thought I had broke something in the rear because when I went to do a burnout it made a really weird noise, but she still kept going, except now she whines.
 

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jmeiers

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Just placed my order with Air Flow Solutions / Brett Barber for the Ported CJ. 7-10 business days. Can't wait!!!

I am also bucking the trend and going with the VMP Monoblade 137 throttle body instead of the Twin 69. My tuner (Palm Beach Dyno) says he get can get drivability the same. Everybody has 10% off on VMP throttle bodies right now so that is a plus for anyone else out there going Cobra Jet.

I am also going to reuse my JLT intake and just get the CJ elbow conversion they sell.

Just going E85 out the gate and will ask my tuner for a "limp-home" only 93 tune in case I ever need to switch back to 93. Which hopefully is never!
 

irmoviper

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Just placed my order with Air Flow Solutions / Brett Barber for the Ported CJ. 7-10 business days. Can't wait!!!

I am also bucking the trend and going with the VMP Monoblade 137 throttle body instead of the Twin 69. My tuner (Palm Beach Dyno) says he get can get drivability the same. Everybody has 10% off on VMP throttle bodies right now so that is a plus for anyone else out there going Cobra Jet.

I am also going to reuse my JLT intake and just get the CJ elbow conversion they sell.

Just going E85 out the gate and will ask my tuner for a "limp-home" only 93 tune in case I ever need to switch back to 93. Which hopefully is never!
My buddy has the 137mm TB and loves it! Works great! That is the one what will eventually wind up on my car, also ported. He car is a beast on e85 with the CJ. He said it felt like a new car after he had it installed, so of course i'm excited to get this swap made and take it to the track whenever they open back up.
 

Rich D

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Nice write up!

FYI the CJ clears the hood without cutting if you have a BMR K-Member.
 
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OrangeFury1

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Just placed my order with Air Flow Solutions / Brett Barber for the Ported CJ. 7-10 business days. Can't wait!!!

I am also bucking the trend and going with the VMP Monoblade 137 throttle body instead of the Twin 69. My tuner (Palm Beach Dyno) says he get can get drivability the same. Everybody has 10% off on VMP throttle bodies right now so that is a plus for anyone else out there going Cobra Jet.

I am also going to reuse my JLT intake and just get the CJ elbow conversion they sell.

Just going E85 out the gate and will ask my tuner for a "limp-home" only 93 tune in case I ever need to switch back to 93. Which hopefully is never!
Wanted the Mono as well, just didn't know how the drivability was going to be, although not my daily, I do drive it a lot! Also, my VMP was very very cheap lol. I'm sure if you get the mono she will pull very nice!
 
 




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