Important tools to have:
- Fender Apron/Large Towel
- Clean Blanket (so you can work on the underside of the hood)
- Painter’s Tape
- 1/4-inch Drive ratchet
- 1/4-inch drive Metric socket set
- Pliers
- Small microfiber towel
- Sharpie or other suitable marker
- Philips-head and flat-blade screwdrivers
- Razor blade
- Trim panel tool
- Loctite 242 threadlocker (Blue, medium-strength)
- Several 11mm washers in various thicknesses to use as shims
So you’ve just purchased a brand-new hood from us here at Cervinis, and you’re wondering about the installation process. Well, you’ve come to the right place, as we’re going to walk you through the entire process from start to finish. This installation guide will assist you in ensuring that the hood you’ve purchased fits properly, lines up well with the existing body panels, and opens and closes easily.
It’s important to note that many of the steps involved will require the use of several hands, so it’s good to enlist a buddy to help you position the hood and move it around as necessary. Remember that there’s no rush, so take your time to read through these instructions and print them out if necessary. Always measure three times and cut once, and take care to protect the finish of your new hood, especially if you’ve spent the extra coin to have us paint it for you! It would be best to have a safe place to be able to lay your new hood on its top so that you can work on the underside without fear of scratching your new paint.
This how-to will cover installation of the 2010-12 Cobra R hood model, but the installation instructions are similar for all Cervinis hoods for the 2010-12 Mustang (PNs 1198/1199/1200/1202/1204).
Special Notes:
- PREFIT BEFORE PAINTING
- Painted or altered parts are non-refundable!
- Your new hood comes with new specific hardware to be used—DO NOT re-use the factory bolts. Additionally, we highly recommend the use of our hood gas strut kit. Other kits will not work properly and may damage your hood due to the angle at which they operate.
- After installation, you MUST make sure the safety catch is working properly!
Step 1:
Use painter’s tape to protect the inner edge of your fenders. This will lessen the chance of damaging the fender edge when you remove your old hood and install the new Cervinis hood you’ve purchased. One or two pieces should suffice; you don’t want to use too much to where it will affect the fitment of the new hood’s panel gap.
Step 2:
Remove the factory hood striker bar. This piece will be set aside and re-used, although the bolts will be discarded. The new bolts supplied with your hood will secure this piece during installation.
Step 3:
On the OEM hood, you must remove the underhood mat to access the factory windshield-washer hose so that it can be removed. Use the trim panel tool to pop out the push-pins as shown. Once the pins are released, the hood mat can be removed.
Step 4:
Use the trim removal tool to pop the factory washer hose line out of its mounting positions. There are three retainer clips which attach the line to the hood.
Step 5:
Remove the feed line from the washer hose that goes to the squirters. The retainer clips must be rotated slightly in order to disconnect the feed line.
Step 6:
Now it’s time to remove the factory hood. In the case of our donor car, there was an existing gas strut lift kit already installed. If you do NOT have one of these, you can skip to the next step. If you DO have one of these, it is wise to remove the fender-side mount while resting the hood on your shoulder as shown. It is also time for your helper to be in place on the opposite of the car, so that he or she can do the same. It is critical that you keep one hand underneath the rear edge of the hood during the entire removal process. This ensures that the hood doesn’t move around and damage anything else on the car. After you remove the strut kit, reinstall the rear hood bolt back into place and pass the tools to your helper. Remove the hood strut kit on the opposite side of the car.
Step 7:
Now it’s time to remove the hood bolts and take the factory hood off the car. A helper should be in place on each side of the car, with one hand underneath the rear edge of the hood to prevent it from sliding around and damaging the hood, or damaging the car. Ensure you have a firm grip on the rear edge of the hood and that it cannot contact the body. Rest the edge of the hood on your shoulder, and remove the bolts from the hood. Lay the hinge back into place, and repeat this process on the other side of the car.
Step 8:
Lift the hood up and remove it from the car. Find a safe place to put it where you can lay it on the painted side to finish removing the factory weatherstripping and squirters. A large blanket will be helpful here.
Step 9:
Use your trim panel tool to remove the weatherstripping. Be very careful to not damage the retainer clips, as they are very fragile. They do not require much force to remove. Once you have the weatherstripping removed from your factory hood, lay it off to the side. It will be reinstalled shortly.
Step 10:
Now it’s time to begin the installation process of your new hood. Install the supplied squirter nozzles with the included hardware. Make sure the tab is inserted into the indentation of the hood as shown, and that the crimped end of the squirter faces toward the rear of the hood.
Step 11:
Now we’re going to measure the locations for the squirter line to feed through the weatherstripping. Lay the weatherstrip onto the new hood, but DO NOT snap it into place. We’re only measuring the hole locations at this time. On the driver’s side of the hood, take your razor blade and make a small slice into the weatherstripping as shown.
Step 12:
Next, install one end of the squirter line onto the feed end of the squirter for the passenger side of the hood. Give yourself a nice, gradual bend toward the weatherstrip, and take your Sharpie to mark the location as shown, then make a small hole at this position.
Step 13:
You need to take apart the original squirter feed line to re-use some of the parts. From one end, push the line into the Tee, then pull it apart carefully. You need to remove the ferrule from the end of the line as shown. Using a flat-blade screwdriver, release the factory mount from the feed line.
Step 14:
Take the factory feed line and thread it through the soft side of the weatherstrip until you get to the first hole that you made in Step 12.
Step 15:
Install one of the supplied plastic Tees into the end of the feed line as shown. Then, take the supplied rubber hose, connect it to the other side of the plastic tee as shown, and feed the hose back into the slice in the weatherstrip towards the driver’s side of the car until you get to your second slice, and poke the hose out of that hole. At this time, all that should be poking out of the hole in the weatherstrip on the passenger side of the car is the plastic Tee. Lay the weatherstrip with the installed hose into the back of the engine compartment.
Step 16:
Now it’s time to set the hood in place. Just as you removed the old hood, set the new one into place. Make sure you support the rear of the hood with one hand as you do this so that the endges cannot make contact with the car. Also make sure that you have the new hardware ready to be installed and handy so you are not searching for it, as well as the ratchet with the proper socket. Lift up the hood hinge and install the bolts, then repeat the process on the other side of the hood and snug them up. Take care not to tighten them too much—just snug enough so the hood doesn’t move during the adjustment process.
Step 17:
Once the bolts are snug, it’s time to begin adjusting the hood for panel gaps and height. During this step you may need to remove one or more of the hood bolts to insert your washers as shims, so have your helper ready to raise and lower the hood as necessary. With the hood installed, lay it flat to see where the gap is from side to side, and also up and down with the height of the fender. On our donor car, the rear of the hood on the driver’s side needed to be adjusted down. To do this, we inserted one washer between the hinge and the hood at the rear position. One trick to make the process simpler is to use your painter’s tape on the edge of the washer to make it easier to insert and remove as shown. As you can see, inserting this washer brought the rear of the hood flush with the top of the fender as desired. We also had to adjust the passenger side with two different washers to get the hood height perfect with the edge of the fender.
Step 18:
On this car, the panel gap from the leading edge of the hood on the driver’s side did not line up well with the fender, so we adjusted the fender by loosening the front fender bolts and applying a small amount of force to get it to line up properly. Hood adjustment is the most time-consuming part of the whole installation process, so have patience and be careful. The end result will be well worth it!
Step 19:
Now it’s time to install the hood striker. Using the supplied bolts, run a small bead of Loctite 242 threadlocker and install the striker to the hood. Slowly lower it into place to check whether it will latch properly. Do NOT slam it down.
Step 20:
You may need to adjust the hood latch up or down as shown. It’s time to also check the rubber hood bumpers to see if the front edge of the hood lines up properly with the leading edges of the fenders. Turn them in or out as necessary. Once you are completely satisfied with the hood’s adjustment, it’s time to install the Cervinis hood strut kit.
Step 21:
Mount the lower support plate to the fender bolt as shown. The ball stud must be at the front of the plate: they are side-specific, so make sure you’re putting them on correctly. Same with the upper mount: they can only be installed one way. The upper mount is installed under the front hood hinge bolt. Once the mounts are in place, snap the strut ends onto the ball studs, with the strut body at the top end and the Cervini’s name facing inward toward the engine.
Step 22:
We’re in the home stretch now—it’s time to install the weatherstrip and adjust the squirters for spray pattern. Starting at the passenger side of the vehicle, snap the weatherstrip into place across the back of the hood. When you get to the driver’s side, the hose can be plugged onto the rear of the squirter assembly. Take a small piece of hose and attach it to the tee poking out of the weatherstrip on the passenger side of the hood as shown. Close the hood, get in the car, start it, and test the washer. If the squirt pattern is not how you would like it to be, open the hood, take your pliers and wrap the edge of the squirter in the microfiber towel. Then give it a small adjustment up or down, then test again. Once you’re satisfied with the performance of the washer system, you’re all done. Latch your new Cervini’s hood and enjoy being the envy of all of your friends!
If at any time during this process you are unsure or need technical assistance, just give us a call at 800-488-6057.
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