How would you fix this cowl rust?

-
R

robertob

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2008
Messages
347
Reaction score
9
Location
Long Beach, CA
My 1964 Valiant is a solid CA car, but for some years there has been a leak on the pass. side that rusted out the floor. I am repairing the floor and wanted to find and cure the source of the leak. I assumed it was the wiper pivot or the windshield, but nope, it was a blocked cowl drain. The cowl itself seems solid, I poked and prodded as much as I could. The only damage seems to be the 'dam' that keeps water out of the passenger vent/heater.

Problem is, now how do I fix it? I'm not sure I can get my MIG gun up in there, much less an angle cutoff wheel...
 

Attachments

  • cowlrust.jpg
    117.8 KB · Views: 976
Also where does the drain come out? I can not seem to find the other end of it. In my pickup the drains go into the engine compartment.
 
Man your gonna have fun with that.
I thought I seen a few threads with guys accessing from the firewall and patching back. On 67s the drains are located on each side behind the fenders. If you open the door you may see them with a light. you might graft a better section in or patch what you have. have fun:banghead:
 
Yeah I know the 'right' way to do it is to drill out all the spot welds and remove the top of the cowl, then weld it back on. Or like you say cut an access hole from the firewall, fix it and weld back up the hole. I was hoping to avoid that.
 
There isn't really a stellar way to fix that without taking the cowl off, and fixing it right. She's had a good run, 48 years. Time for some rest-o work. Or block it off and hope for the best.

You probably have more issues you need to address at the same time, for instance resealing around the hats, and a undercoating job in there anyway so the other side doesn't look like that in 5 years.

Think about body panel adhesive for re-installation, it's what I'm going to do in my build, no more rust issues. Seals nicely. :)
 
well there's possibly an alternative...the mustang folks have the same common problem with mustangs, and there's an after market plastic sleeve you can buy that you slide up inside, and it is siliconed into place. It's not the way I would personally fix it, but for those who can't, or do not want to weld in new peices, it's an alternative fix. I don't know if the mustang peice would fit, or could be trimmed to fit but it might be worth looking in to. Maybe call a mustang restoration place and if they have them in stock, see if they would give you the deminsions, and go from there
 
That's far too hokey for me. Right now here are the approaches I am considering:

1. Snake my hand up there with a die grinder and remove the old rust, do my best to weld in a patch and seam seal the crap out of it.

2. Use fiberglass filler or Metal 2 Metal after grinding away all the old rusty metal.

3. panel adhesive a patch in??

If all of that fails I will have to cut the cowl apart. I do plan to paint the car, I was just hoping to put it off for a little while longer.
 
I would grind out what you have and fiberglass it up tight.
Not with duraglass, but resin and fiberglass mat.
Boats are made this way, and don't sink unless the hull is compromised.
 
robertob said:
I did that when I converted my '64 Dart to MT with the tunnel. Worked great.
Click to expand...

Some good idea's here....... this is what I would do, make a patch for it, after it it cleaned up and use some panel bond, with may be some pop rivet's to hold it in place. Personally....... I don't like welding with mig in this position, as no matter what you do to protect yourself from spark's and other, you alway's seem to get burned up. Been there, done that!! My brother burn't half of his wig off, several year's ago, mig welding underneath of a car on a single post lift, when a big spark landed in his long hair, damn good thing he had a hat on, as I think it was winter time.LOL!! So, whatever you decide to do, be careful under there, and good luck with your fix!
 
We used to use a product called "All Metal" fixin rusty MacK Trucks.Works and mixes like bondo.That's over 20 years ago, maybe it's not made anymore.Just a thought.
 
There are 2 budget ways to fix it. 1 is pick up some fiberglass fabric sheeting & some por 15 & once you clean out & vaccume the area out. Then cut the sheeting to sizes that you can mold into place. Then brush plenty of por 15 on the area,let it tac up a bit then apply the fiberglass sheeting to the area's & then apply the por in multiple layers until you are happy with it. It is mouldable until it starts drying up. I did this to a 67 a body years ago & it held up well & is water proof when dry. I highly recommend rubber gloves & 1 of those small black foam brushes so you can dip it in the por & reach over the lip in the cowl to coat that as well. It's about a $30 repair or you can find someone parting 1 out who can cut that area out for you then tac & weld it into place. It depends on how far you want to go & how much you want to pay
 
Thanks for all the advice.

In the end I said F-it and decided to break out the mig. I cut out the old rusty metal and lap-welded in a replacement. Then coated it with zero rust, and seam sealed it. A second coat of ZR is going on when the urethane sealer cures. It's not perfect but should last for many years.
 

Attachments

  • cowlfixed.jpg
    112.7 KB · Views: 617
Thanks. I'm happy with it. It was a crappy angle and place to weld, I just cleaned it up as best I could and went for it.
 
Blast it and put either Fusor on it or Duramix. Both are epoxy base products and will not rust.
 
Looks nice. I'm cleaning mine up right now. Looking up through the opening of the duct on the bottom of the cowl is stamped "Sharon Steel and a number". I know they made sheet metal panels but wondered if they also stamped the parts.
 
PoisonDart74 said:
Looks good, what about in the cowl, and the other side?
Click to expand...


Looks fine, the problem was a bunch of leaves on that side. When my grandma lived in Sunnyvale, CA (1980 to 2008) it spent all of it's time parked on the street under a tree. The crown in the road meant that whenever it rained the water drained out to the right, and the leaves eventually stacked up against the hat and rusted it out. The left side is perfect, and inside the cowl there is barely even surface rust. The outer side was dried by air coming in the drain I suppose. There are a couple of pinholes where the a-pillar structure is spot welded to the top of the cowl from salt air, but I'll fix those from the outside with the fender off.
 
robertob said:
Looks fine, the problem was a bunch of leaves on that side. When my grandma lived in Sunnyvale, CA (1980 to 2008) it spent all of it's time parked on the street under a tree. The crown in the road meant that whenever it rained the water drained out to the right, and the leaves eventually stacked up against the hat and rusted it out. The left side is perfect, and inside the cowl there is barely even surface rust. The outer side was dried by air coming in the drain I suppose. There are a couple of pinholes where the a-pillar structure is spot welded to the top of the cowl from salt air, but I'll fix those from the outside with the fender off.
Click to expand...

Cool, all that matters is if your happy with it, I'd keep the cowl cleaned out and run a hose in there once in a while and it should keep the problems at bay. Maybe squirt some zero rust as deep as you can in the fender outlets towards engine after you clean and dry it. This is a nice tight area that likes to rust too. Steel is ok with the brush of water, but as soon as it stagnates with leaves on top of it watch out!

Nice work, good luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top