Cowl repair?

[classicsguy]

If there are no reproduction cowl replacement parts for 1971-73 stangs,how do you properly repair the cowl?

 

[Don65Stang]

If there are no reproduction cowl replacement parts for 1971-73 stangs,how do you properly repair the cowl?

No reproduction for the cowl but they are repairable. See Scotts video in the Saturday Morning Garage. It's an excellent video that shows what's involved. Almost all of our cars have bad cowls. :-/

 

[Qcode351mach]

If there are no reproduction cowl replacement parts for 1971-73 stangs,how do you properly repair the cowl?

There are no repops yet..see my repair vids here

www.saturdaymorninggarage.com

and here

http://www.youtube.com/user/fuzzenut#p/u/25/t-Axb-OpMDQ

 

[don29163]

Just info, If you plan on using an aftermarket A/C unit...the fresh air vents are not needed.

I closed them off and sloped the metal toward the side drains.

 

[Mister 4x4]

Did you use a Classic Auto Air set-up? That's my plan, and if I can get away with what you did, I might just go that route.

 

[Obsidian11]

Just info, If you plan on using an aftermarket A/C unit...the fresh air vents are not needed.

I closed them off and sloped the metal toward the side drains.

Information that would have been useful to me about a month ago when I fabricated my own patches:huh: That's good to know though, I haven't put my patches in yet...although out of principle I may still since they're already made:dodgy:

 

[87fox72mach]

u can try finding some in the junkyard i got lucky and found an intact one here in pa, i basically cut half f the car off with a cordless sawzall lol the guy even let me have it for free.

 

[don29163]

If you use vintage.. It will come with a plate to block off the Pass. side fresh vent...so, I figured eliminate both of them.

 

[Mister 4x4]

Which kit are you using? I thought Classic Auto Air was the only one that made a kit for our year models (they have a block-off for the passenger side as well).

 

[don29163]

Sorry, it is Classic.

 

[Mister 4x4]

Whew! Thanks for clearing that up - I was afraid I'd missed something.

How do you get fresh air in with both hats blocked off? (aside from the obvious, 'crack a window')

 

[Don65Stang]

Whew! Thanks for clearing that up - I was afraid I'd missed something.

How do you get fresh air in with both hats blocked off? (aside from the obvious, 'crack a window')

Rust holes in various locations...the cowl isn't the only location for the rust to infest.

 

[Obsidian11]

Whew! Thanks for clearing that up - I was afraid I'd missed something.

How do you get fresh air in with both hats blocked off? (aside from the obvious, 'crack a window')

Rust holes in various locations...the cowl isn't the only location for the rust to infest.

rofl

 

[rolandmhall]

We had to cut out the top of my cowl and rebuild it. I couldn't find any aftermarket pieces:

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3004129/1972-ford-mustang/page-12

 

[URUGUAYAN_FASTBACK]

We had to cut out the top of my cowl and rebuild it. I couldn't find any aftermarket pieces:

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3004129/1972-ford-mustang/page-12

Theres not aftermarket cowl metal sheet but with the guide of Scott's videos and some other caring member that have posted in this forum the way they solved the cowl issue I can say that it is not such a big deal to fix it correctly...

Our cowls rusts but they don't tend to loose it's shape or its structural strength and that is a point in favor of our era stangs... I have a good friend of mine that owns a 66 coupe and his cowl not only is rusted but now he has cracks all over...

 

[rolandmhall]

Another set of pics of cowl work:

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3004129/1972-ford-mustang/page-13

 

[cobrajet99]

I am so glad I bought a Southern California Mach 1, I didnt have any rot to repair,,,, The only way to go!!!

 

[Tomahawk715]

I had a guy from texas over in VM forum that was going to cut one out for me but never came thru. I spoke with a stamping place near Grand Rapids that said they could punch them for me but wanted a good original to computer map.

 

[danoreilly]

My passenger side cowl was totally shot. The top hat was nearly gone. The car had sat in a pine forest in Oregon for 10 years before I got it. Pine needles - a LOT of them - got into the cowl and stopped up the side drain, allowing rust to form. Because of that rusted cowl, I also had to replace the entire passenger side floorpan as well. It was a minor miracle the torque box & seat pan didn't have to be replaced, especially since the seat pan at that time wasn't available aftermarket. It was kinda cool, though: once I removed the carpet, I found I had a Flintstones car, open from toe board to seat pan! Luckily, I didn't have the same problem on the driver's side.

I had to have a cowl cut from a donor car and replaced by the guy here who did my rust repairs. He did an absolutely beautiful job on it, you would never know it was replaced. Cost me about $500 for parts and labor, but well worth it.

Moral of the story: make sure your side drains are all free while you have your car apart. You can get to them easily with the fenders removed, as they drain down behind the front fenders.