I've done so many cowl repairs . . .

[PetesPonies]

on Mustangs, I was just wondering how many of you here have tackled it on your truck? This cab came from NC, but it was still plenty rusty. I replaced floor panels, rear cab corners, one cab support and fixed a ton of dents. But from leaves and such sitting in the cowl, it was very pitted to the point where lots of pinholes were going through to the inside. So . . off it came. Holes welded, coated with two coats of master Series silver, then sprayed a sealer. Then the tedious job of welding it back on. I believe I can get the welding done today on the cowl and then seal the welds. I'll post more pics.

[sargentrs]

Great work and thanks for showing us how you did it!

[PetesPonies]

More pics. First two are bare welds after grinding.The last pic shows the weld sealed with Master Series. As far as how I did it . . it would have been much less welding if I separated the cowl at the windshield pinch weld. But, there are 44 spot welds there ( about 115 on a Mustang all around it ). That would have been a chore in itself, I know this. So for me, I chose to do a long butt weld. I can do them well, so it was just a preference. If your welding skills aren't as good, then drilling out the pinch weld would save you a lot of welding.

[PetesPonies]

Here's a last photo as to where the cowl was welded across the front. I made my cut right through the holes for the cowl seal clips. This also gave me the opportunity to move two holes slightly, so the aftermarket cowl seal can clip in place. Any of you who have bought a new cowl seal know the problem I speak about. And this weld will be completely hidden by the seal, if welding here scares you Drill the welds at the windshield, cut/weld the front as I did and the only weld you will see will be the short welds on both ends. That's as easy as I can make it for you

[Madman]

You do solid body work my friend!

[PetesPonies]

Thanks, I do restoration work on cars, mostly Mustangs.I also taught auto and engineering in a high school. S I have taught many to do some of this and I show it here hoping some will take it on. I haven't seen or heard much about the cowls on these trucks, at least on line. There has to be others out there , , are you just avoiding it? I have a '71 that is rust free, a true survivor. His name is Gumby. But I also have a '69, that I put a 428/4 speed in. The cab from that truck is shot, and I mean shot. Terrible cowl rust, really bad. So I bought this cab ( the one pictured ) to replace the cab on my '69. I bought it long ago, when I lived in Maryland. I have had it probably 10-12 years I guess. I'm finally completing the body work and hope to get it painted this spring. I'm doing the '69 ground up, so I will be sitting the painted cab on a painted frame and go from there. So . . who else has terrible cowl rust?

[67mann]

So . . who else has terrible cowl rust?

I would probably venture out and say most of us You Sir did a beautiful job (got me thinking) but, that's a lot of work and past the skill level of a lot of people that are just hobbyist or wkend warriors. North/South, rainy to dry states would make the big difference in how bad or terrible the condition would be

[PetesPonies]

Absolutely and why I thought I was getting a decent one from NC, at least not too snowy, not the salt like we had in Maryland.

[Lone Ranger]

That turned out terrific! Great job. I had thought about just trying to oil my cowl or just spray some kind of film in there to help protect it a bit longer. I would be pretty nervous cutting such a big chunk out of my cab and trying to make it look good.

[PetesPonies]

Piece of cake. Like I said, if you follow my lead, drill out at the windshield to avoid the long butt weld, then the only part that will be seen are the ends. Here's mine after epoxy.

[Madman]

Thanks, I do restoration work on cars, mostly Mustangs.I also taught auto and engineering in a high school. S I have taught many to do some of this and I show it here hoping some will take it on. I haven't seen or heard much about the cowls on these trucks, at least on line. There has to be others out there , , are you just avoiding it? I have a '71 that is rust free, a true survivor. His name is Gumby. But I also have a '69, that I put a 428/4 speed in. The cab from that truck is shot, and I mean shot. Terrible cowl rust, really bad. So I bought this cab ( the one pictured ) to replace the cab on my '69. I bought it long ago, when I lived in Maryland. I have had it probably 10-12 years I guess. I'm finally completing the body work and hope to get it painted this spring. I'm doing the '69 ground up, so I will be sitting the painted cab on a painted frame and go from there. So . . who else has terrible cowl rust?

I'm in Colorado and the truck is from Nevada, so no real rust issues on my rig, only the front fenders. Reason I bought the truck because the cab was damned solid. I restored Mustangs with my da in the 80-90s, and I know the cowls area a cast iron bitch.

[Zorm]

Great work, I'm debating doing that. I don't have any rust issues just yet. Reason I'm thinking of it is to put a small screen mesh on the underside of the cowl vents. I have an old 83 Jeep Cherokee (last of the big ones, Grand Wagoner size) and the cowl vents unbolt, which is nice, kinda like the 67-69 mustangs. Anyway, after cleaning out all the crud in there, I used JB clear epoxi and glued that screen mesh to the under side of the vents holes. Looks good and no more large crap in the cowl area.
The other thought is to cut two holes, same diameter as the access hole in the center top firewall/cowl area and work it that way.

[PetesPonies]

69-70 Mustangs have an upper part of the cowl that unbolts. Once under, it is basically what a 65-68 is like.

[choppermike]

Has anyone successfully replaced the vented area with solid material? I know the wiper access has a drain hole, but I am thinking of doing this on my 69 F100 due to the fact that it gets clogged up regularly.

[PetesPonies]

If you want no air venting in the truck, sure do it. Why would doing this be any different than any other metal replacement? It wouldn't . So it could be done,not smart IMO.