Cyclone manifolds are still quite easy to find, but the cyclone specific brackets to make everything fit right can be much more difficult. I had no luck finding the support bracket that bolts to the bottom of the manifold and the back of the block. Because the runners of the cyclone are longer and curve downward much more than the stock USDM manifold, the USDM bracket is not a simple swap without modifications. But since all I had was a USDM bracket that’s what I had to do. This was a little more involved than I first expected, but not difficult, and it turned out very good in the end.
(Quick note: I had taken plenty of photos while I was doing the work but somehow I lost many of them. Hopefully the remaining photos help make sense of the write up.)
Beginning at the top of the bracket where it bolts to the underside of the manifold runners. At first I tried to simply elongate the holes to match the wider spacing of the bosses on the runners. The problem is that the holes end up being right at the inside edge of the bracket and the bolt head doesn’t fit, nor does it have a good surface to tighten against. You could probably use some oversized washers that completely cover the corner of the bracket and it might be good enough, but I wanted a better solution. I had a length of 1 inch wide, 1/8 inch thick steel from another project (available at any hardware store). First I measured the distance between the hole centers on the manifold runners, transferred that to the center of the new steel, and drilled holes large enough for the 10mm bolts. I made sure the new steel was longer than the bracket and had some overhang. I did a test fit, putting the bolts through the holes in the new steel, through the elongated holes of the bracket, and then bolted it to the manifold, making sure everything lined up correctly. I marked the relationship between the new steel and the bracket, took it all apart, and welded the steel to the back of the bracket. It really only needs a couple of tack welds. Then I cut off the excess and ground it smooth with a 3M disc on a die grinder.
A view of the piece of steel I added to the bracket. You can see how the new bolt holes are at the extreme ends of the bracket. You can also see
how much I elongated the original holes in my first attempt.
Next is the bottom hole of the bracket where it bolts to the block. The Cyclone bracket is quite a bit shorter than the US bracket and the holes are nowhere close to lining up. I drilled a new hole where I thought it should go and then elongated it with a die grinder and kept checking my work with a trial fit. In the end the hole needed to be right up where the bracket begins to bend. This causes a similar problem to the top holes. If you try to put a bolt there it won’t have a flat surface to clamp against.
The bolt hole ends up being right against the curve in the bracket, leaving no room for a bolt head on the other side.
I found another scrap of metal, this time a piece of aluminum about 3/8 inch thick. I cut and ground it so that it would fit into the “channel” of the bracket tightly. Then I beveled the top edge so that it would fit into the curve of the bracket. I used a file and just kept checking my work until I had a very good fit. You want to make a “nose” that matches the curve of the bracket. I marked where the hole needed to be and drilled through the aluminum. With the aluminum wedged into the bracket I could put a bolt through the hole and have the entire head of the bolt seated firmly on the flat aluminum and perfectly square to the bracket on the other side. The elongated hole I’d made in the bracket, and the ability for the aluminum to move a little as necessary gave me some wiggle room to line up the bolt.
With that all settled just cut the excess off the end of the bracket. You can see how much longer the USDM bracket is than the JDM Cyclone.
A final test fit revealed that the bracket did not sit snuggly against the block when everything was in place. There was a small gap still. I could have just tightened down the bolt to close up the gap, but I didn’t want to put any stress on the manifold. The easy fix was to simply find a washer of the correct thickness and slip it between the block and the bracket. A dab of JB Weld held the washer to the bracket so it would be easier to install the bolt one handed in a tight spot. With all the bolts tight the manifold was supported very securely without putting stress on any component.
The final steps were to give it a coat of etching primer, then paint, and to secure the vacuum canister to the bracket with a couple cable ties.
It's hard to get a pic of the bracket once it's installed. This was the best I could do, but it shows that everything fits nicely. Hope this helps someone.
(Quick note: I had taken plenty of photos while I was doing the work but somehow I lost many of them. Hopefully the remaining photos help make sense of the write up.)
Beginning at the top of the bracket where it bolts to the underside of the manifold runners. At first I tried to simply elongate the holes to match the wider spacing of the bosses on the runners. The problem is that the holes end up being right at the inside edge of the bracket and the bolt head doesn’t fit, nor does it have a good surface to tighten against. You could probably use some oversized washers that completely cover the corner of the bracket and it might be good enough, but I wanted a better solution. I had a length of 1 inch wide, 1/8 inch thick steel from another project (available at any hardware store). First I measured the distance between the hole centers on the manifold runners, transferred that to the center of the new steel, and drilled holes large enough for the 10mm bolts. I made sure the new steel was longer than the bracket and had some overhang. I did a test fit, putting the bolts through the holes in the new steel, through the elongated holes of the bracket, and then bolted it to the manifold, making sure everything lined up correctly. I marked the relationship between the new steel and the bracket, took it all apart, and welded the steel to the back of the bracket. It really only needs a couple of tack welds. Then I cut off the excess and ground it smooth with a 3M disc on a die grinder.
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A view of the piece of steel I added to the bracket. You can see how the new bolt holes are at the extreme ends of the bracket. You can also see
how much I elongated the original holes in my first attempt.
Next is the bottom hole of the bracket where it bolts to the block. The Cyclone bracket is quite a bit shorter than the US bracket and the holes are nowhere close to lining up. I drilled a new hole where I thought it should go and then elongated it with a die grinder and kept checking my work with a trial fit. In the end the hole needed to be right up where the bracket begins to bend. This causes a similar problem to the top holes. If you try to put a bolt there it won’t have a flat surface to clamp against.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
The bolt hole ends up being right against the curve in the bracket, leaving no room for a bolt head on the other side.
I found another scrap of metal, this time a piece of aluminum about 3/8 inch thick. I cut and ground it so that it would fit into the “channel” of the bracket tightly. Then I beveled the top edge so that it would fit into the curve of the bracket. I used a file and just kept checking my work until I had a very good fit. You want to make a “nose” that matches the curve of the bracket. I marked where the hole needed to be and drilled through the aluminum. With the aluminum wedged into the bracket I could put a bolt through the hole and have the entire head of the bolt seated firmly on the flat aluminum and perfectly square to the bracket on the other side. The elongated hole I’d made in the bracket, and the ability for the aluminum to move a little as necessary gave me some wiggle room to line up the bolt.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
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With that all settled just cut the excess off the end of the bracket. You can see how much longer the USDM bracket is than the JDM Cyclone.
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A final test fit revealed that the bracket did not sit snuggly against the block when everything was in place. There was a small gap still. I could have just tightened down the bolt to close up the gap, but I didn’t want to put any stress on the manifold. The easy fix was to simply find a washer of the correct thickness and slip it between the block and the bracket. A dab of JB Weld held the washer to the bracket so it would be easier to install the bolt one handed in a tight spot. With all the bolts tight the manifold was supported very securely without putting stress on any component.
The final steps were to give it a coat of etching primer, then paint, and to secure the vacuum canister to the bracket with a couple cable ties.
It's hard to get a pic of the bracket once it's installed. This was the best I could do, but it shows that everything fits nicely. Hope this helps someone.
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