- Joined
- Jul 3, 2010
- Messages
- 702
- Reaction score
- 108
- Location
- The OC (California)
- My Car
- 31 Model A Station Wagon “Woody”
69 Mach 1 - 351C
72 Mach 1 - 351C
96 Cobra Convertible
I am finally re-assembling my '72 Mustang after repairing the cowl rust. Here are the images step by step.
Teardown Begins, ready to drill some spot welds:
A look inside the cowl before taking the top off. Lots of rags stuffed into the cowl hat and heater to absorb water?
Dash and HVAC is removed, here is the cowl hat area from the bottom inside the car:
The cowl top is off, here is the hat. Nice tin patch you can see from here.
I pulled a huge fiberglass patch out and it left these holes:
Cleaned up, cut a nice shaped hole, and ready to weld in the first patch:
The first patch welded in. Hmmm, do I really need a heater in California? Oh yeah, it is the A/C I want to work again... Time to cut another hole!
Hole and new "Hat" in place. Went to a local sheet metal shop and for $20 they rolled a edge onto a piece that became the "hat".
After some priming and paint, the cover is glued on using panel bonding adhesive. Welds were done on the ends and on the butt-weld/seam (after this pic).
Welding complete, finishing the welds with some filler. Had a near major disaster during this phase as welding sparks started a piece of cardboard under the car on fire. Thought for a few minutes I was going to lose the house as the fire was really going before I noticed. The only real damage was to the dashboard that was under the car--now I need a wiper knob and bezel--if you have one PM me.
Paint complete, and reassembly is underway.
Teardown Begins, ready to drill some spot welds:
A look inside the cowl before taking the top off. Lots of rags stuffed into the cowl hat and heater to absorb water?
Dash and HVAC is removed, here is the cowl hat area from the bottom inside the car:
The cowl top is off, here is the hat. Nice tin patch you can see from here.
I pulled a huge fiberglass patch out and it left these holes:
Cleaned up, cut a nice shaped hole, and ready to weld in the first patch:
The first patch welded in. Hmmm, do I really need a heater in California? Oh yeah, it is the A/C I want to work again... Time to cut another hole!
Hole and new "Hat" in place. Went to a local sheet metal shop and for $20 they rolled a edge onto a piece that became the "hat".
After some priming and paint, the cover is glued on using panel bonding adhesive. Welds were done on the ends and on the butt-weld/seam (after this pic).
Welding complete, finishing the welds with some filler. Had a near major disaster during this phase as welding sparks started a piece of cardboard under the car on fire. Thought for a few minutes I was going to lose the house as the fire was really going before I noticed. The only real damage was to the dashboard that was under the car--now I need a wiper knob and bezel--if you have one PM me.
Paint complete, and reassembly is underway.