Cowl area

[44o gts dart]

I am getting to spray my 69 dart gts, got the wiper cowl at the back of hood,,, I have sanded the grids carefully, while I was sanding, I noticed alot of debris in the fresh air duct I have tried with vacuum,,, no access to bottom.. even when I get clean enough… how do I get coverage in that area? Gets alot of water in there,, but my two questions are how to clean and how to get coverage in there ?? Thanks in advance

 

[Kendog 170]

Thats a tuff one. Lower your heater box on right side and fresh air vent on left side and there's a 5 or 6" hole you can get your hand up in there. Maybe get creative and fix a hose with a spray fitting to a sprayer to get some primer or whatever up in there before painting your ride.
Amazon.com : mini pump sprayer

 

[Professor Fate]

I am far from a pro body and paint man, but here is what I do.
Excessive debris can be removed by reaching up through the fresh air vents from the interior. Thoroughly flush the cowl area, pushing any remaining debris towards the sides and out the cowl drains. Use a pressure washer if you can. Let it dry out for a couple days.
Then using a spray bottle, spray in some surface deglosser (No Sand, Liquid Sandpaper, and other names) into as many surfaces and crevices as you can. Again, let it dry for the day.

Then take a can of spray paint (from your paint supplier loaded with factory color, or even generic in a color close to your particular color) and pull the nozzle off. Replace it with the "Smart Straw" assembly from an old can of WD40 (after thoroughly rinsing it with solvent to remove any residue, of course) and use that to spray through the grid, covering as much area as you can, paying extra attention to corners and such.
You could also paint with a contrasting color like black or dark gray.

I'll be the first to say it ain't perfect, but nobody will ever know since it's basically hidden from plain view.
I know some guys have even used an airbrush to paint the area by reaching in through the fresh air vents, but be prepared to get more paint on your arms and hands as on the surfaces...

 

[jbc426]

On my '68 Barracuda, I pulled my fenders off and gained access to a small 2' by 3" opening on each side of the cowl under the fenders. I also pulled both the fresh air vents with heater on the passenger side.

Once all that is out of the way I was able to blow out the cowl using a coat hanger to coax the stuck on debris' I then used a power washer and that purple cleaner to get the rest of the debris out.

After it dried for a few days, I treated any rust in there with Ospho, and then mopped in a rust preventative top-coat paint using a brush and some rags on a coat hanger to slop it around into the crevasses.

Later on, I cut out 2 - 4 inch holes to vent the cowl air to my air cleaner. The passenger side fresh air/heater vent was blocked off for the Vintage Air Gen IV evaporator install.

 

[burdar]

Good timing on this post. I'm assembling my Dart after getting it back from the body shop. During the cut/buff process, some compound found it's way down into the cowl. It's really noticeable. There is obviously some overspray down in there too that doesn't look the best. I was wondering what I was going to do about it. Now I'm thinking that I could tape off the cowl vents and stick a can of flat black spray paint up through the fresh air ducts and fog the entire area that way. Trying to spray something through the cowl vents would get overspray everywhere.

 

[pyrogen007]

I have the engine bay and interior stripped and the cowl area is one of the places I am working on soon-ish, my plan was basically compressed air anywhere I can get it to fit and a vacuum in either the fresh air or heater box hole for all the debris, then a phosphoric acid solution like Ospho and probably chassis paint or similar, strongly considering putting a mesh of some sort under the existing grill to keep large stuff out. Also bought an undercoating gun with 360º spray nozzle on a tube to help. I haven't got to the cowl yet other than before I removed the fresh air box, I shot compressed air through the cowl grill and vacuumed out the the interior afterward. I am attempting to not cut anything out but I have considered cutting out around the cowl grill and welding on tabs with riv-nuts so that it would then be removable like my Jeep XJ was. But here is the undercoating gun I bought, haven't used it yet but will update when I get there. I also plan on using this with undercoating gun anywhere that there is a cavity that may have rust, ie frame rails and between body panels like C pillar and rocker panels.

 

[pa340dart]

I have same problem so following 70 swinger 340
1st pic. Pitted windshield across top of cowl
2nd pic Excess overspray thru cowl vent from po Gold metal flakes
3rd pic. 71 cowl cut off from parts car i saved
Plans are to trim the 71 cowl
Clean up the 70 pitting
Then decide wether to replace the 70 with the 71
It’s hard to get in there though the interior openings with my big hands.
Oh. I did find a mouse nest up in there.
Also with the 71 cowl I want to investigate/follow up on Oldmanmopar ‘s post concerning cowl leaks.

Keep the idea’s coming
Thanks