How To Install a Miata Cobalt Hood Lift Kit

In this video Alex Perrucci will walk you through the installation of a Cobalt hood lift kit for a 90-05 Miata without cruise control. It's an upgrade that is cheap, easy to do and makes your Mazda MX-5 Miata feel even better.

You'll start by looking for a hole in the firewall on the driver's side. This hole will not be there for earlier models, an 89 or 90. The car shown is a 90 so what we're going to need to do is drill a 7/16th hole on the firewall. We'll drill a half inch down and 3 and 7/8ths over from the edge. It's only the early models that you will have to do this, all other Miatas should have the hole there already. Now install the bracket into the hole in the firewall. Next take one of the ball studs and a lock nut and place it through the other hole in the bracket and tighten it up with a 13 millimeter wrench and socket. Now that we have the bracket on the firewall finished up, we're going to take the larger bracket that goes on the hood. Install the ball stud and then put it on the hood. Test fit everything, and then attach it with the nuts and the smaller bolts. Once they are tightened up they will hold the bracket in place on the hood.

Tip: It will be easier and faster if you have a power tool to spin the bolts while you hold it. Or you can use a ratchet, but you might have to hold the nut on the back side with your finger.

Because of the slots in the hood there are two positions you can mount that upper bracket in. You can slide it down to the bottom of the slot or you can slide it all the way up to the top, like shown in the video. The top position is going to be like the factory hood opening height. If you slide it down to the bottom the hood will open slightly higher. You might have a little bit of gap to the fender with the hood sitting slightly higher, but not much at all. Try them both out and see which way you like the best. Now all that's left to do is pop the strut on the ball studs. It will just push on. Make sure you put the fat end of the strut towards the top. Then we are going to slowly close the hood, making sure everything clears, and we are done!

See more videos from Alex on YouTube at /alexperrucci