ebay 71 340 Duster in PA 5K with 1 day left and no bids

Killer6 said
I've welded panels, cast iron, aluminum, stainless, ...with a MIG, I've stick welded all but the aluminum the same, stutter boxes, guns, I've Oxy/Acetylene welded steel, cast,
brazed, soldered everything from plumbing to an old Zildjian Amir Ride Cymbal that had the nicest tone for certain songs, takes some heat and quench to bring the tone back
but it's still there for about 3 songs worth of recording.....then it needs done again,....no they're not just "out there" to find.
The s#*t that's done to the cowling(which is the least of this things worries) would make cutting it off at the welds & repairing it, then re-installing it..correctly, I say at least
3 days of honest effort. Anybody can MIG the holes shut & grind & fill/block, but what's on the back-side.....? S#*T, that's what.......the car is a disaster & if not done right
will be a rip-off to the recipient of a "flip" ordeal....

Remove the whole cowl to repair the holes from the hood pin brackets? Appropriately sized patch panels with good welds is a perfectly acceptable way to make that repair. If the welding is done correctly there shouldn't be any weld boogers on the backside, though of course there will be evidence of the weld. If the gap on the patch is set correctly though the weld on the backside should be close to flush or slightly raised.

Removing the whole cowl to do that repair adds nothing to the car or to the repair, it just adds to the price and the time. If anything, you're adding more welds that aren't correct, because you'll have to remove the whole cowl and then plug weld the old spot welds you drilled out. The only other option would be a brand new reproduction cowl with installation using a spot welder, factory style. Of course that's moot for now because there are no reproduction cowls made at the moment.

So, no matter how you do the repair, the result isn't going to look factory somewhere. If you remove the whole cowl it won't look factory at the spot welds, which you can see. Or, it won't look factory on the inside of the cowl, which you can't see from the outside. The latter is the better choice for this car IMHO. Of course, it makes it harder on future buyers, because the only way to identify a repair has been made is to check inside the cowl. The alternative though is having everyone that looks at the car know that the cowl has been removed, unless you're going to bodywork all the plug welds to look like spot welds. Which is no better than leaving the remaining evidence inside the cowl, you're bodyworking the evidence just the same. Honestly, I'd rather have weld boogers on the inside of the cowl from a less than ideal patch and weld repair than plug welds everywhere the cowl is spot welded. The repair is the repair, and the integrity of the rest of the cowl is left alone.

These cars are 50 years old or closing in on it. There are going to be repairs, that's just how it works. I'm not suggesting repairing the thing with pop rivets and bondo, a properly installed patch panel is not a "flip ordeal" and there's no reason anyone would have to deal with it again later if it's patched correctly.