- Joined
- Jan 7, 2015
- Messages
- 8,032
- Reaction score
- 530
- Location
- Western North Carolina
- My Car
- Multiple Mustangs!
It is fall and we are going to be putting the Mustangs away for the winter for the most of us. Another thing going on right now our little friends, mice and chipmunks are running around stashing their acorns, nuts and seeds in their cozy nests made from our insulation and padding in our seats.
When I had the heater box out of my 73 vert I decided to do something about the entry points into the car. If your car does not have rust holes or missing rubber plugs there is pretty much only one wan it, through the cowl into the heater box and into the car. I am sure you have seen how smart these guys are when they put them into a maze and in no time the know the path in and out.
I was taking another parts car apart last week and sure enough right there in the cowl above the drivers feet was a big nest. This car had always been in garage before crashed and after crash. With that nest in there when water went in the cowl vents it would soak the mouse nest and the rust could feed for days. Not to mention all the pee and poo they leave and the food.
The plastic screens over the cowl vents will keep most mice out but Ford built two neat little tunnels joined by a nice walkway that leads right into the cowl on both sides, see this pic.
The opening is jut to the left and above the date. That is the drain for the water that gets into the cowl vents at the base of the windshield. The only thing I have thought of that would work to block this off would be to get the coarse stainless steel scrubbing pads and stuff them into the opening. It would plug the hole so they cannot get in but still allow water to get out and will not rust. Here is link to what I am talking about. https://www.zoro.com/scotch-brite-scrubber-ss-silver-84/i/G5169735/feature-product?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4IGM2qrc1gIVg0SGCh3EAQwuEAYYCCABEgIeJ_D_BwE
I have used tin foil in the past around water and sewer pipes to keep critters out and they never chewed it out. So that takes care of the drain holes on the left and right sides.
I think you can reach into the cowl and push the steel scrubbing pads into the two drains without removing your fenders. Although it is a good idea to remove the fenders and clean the trash out from behind them sometime in your cars life. The sealer behind the fenders cracks and lets water in. The sealer was put on bare metal so rust just loves those cracks and there goes the torque boxes.
Here is pics of the nest in the cowl.
https://ibb.co/da6O3w[/URL]
So in the past I have posted what I did to my 73 vert air conditioned car to block the entry through the plastic vents in the cowl and also into the heater box. Here is pictures of the mesh wire that I cut, painted satin black to hide and attached to the back side of the plastic cowl vent covers with small zip ties.
As you can see in the pictures once installed you would never notice them unless someone pointed them out. In the picture of me holding one you see the other one on the work bench. They were all bowed up and warped so I heated with heat gun and placed some steel rings on them and when they cooled they were back flat. I also blasted the plastic parts with walnut shells that really makes them look new. No paint after just blast at low pressure.
Here is link to type mesh I used you can get at any hardware or home supply. https://www.betterbee.com/hardware/...MIuLax5q7c1gIVgl6GCh1OYguwEAYYBCABEgIY9PD_BwEhttps://www.betterbee.com/hardware/ghc-10-mesh-hardware-cloth.asp?mkwid=s&pcrid=203922283370&pkw=&pmt=&pdv=c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuLax5q7c1gIVgl6GCh1OYguwEAYYBCABEgIY9PD_BwE
Now to the heater box and if you have non air conditioned car you will need to do to both fresh air vents to close them off. Cut a piece of the mesh hardware wire that will go between the cowl and the heater box or fresh air vent. Install it so that the foam seals everything off and keeps in place. Once there nothing bigger than 1/4" is getting in. You could use smaller size if you want. Old Ford cars had probably a 3/16" or maybe even 1/8" mesh over the vents to keep them out.
Once you have blocked all these entry points there should be no other places for them to get in unless you are missing a rubber plug somewhere or have a rust hole big enough for entry. I am sure non of our cars are that rusty, lol.
So that is my solution to keep the critters out of our cars. I found a nest that filled half of the cowl with a huge nest and hundreds of nuts in one parts car that sat in barn for many years.
When I had the fenders off the 73 vert I clean, removed the loose sealer, put some POR on bare spots and put new seam sealer on and sprayed some undercoat to finish off. You can see the POR running out of the drain hole in the cowl.
The system would not let me add any more pictures said it was too large. I tried to copy paste and that would not work either. I might do a video slide show to have the info off the post. I will return later and finish.
When I had the heater box out of my 73 vert I decided to do something about the entry points into the car. If your car does not have rust holes or missing rubber plugs there is pretty much only one wan it, through the cowl into the heater box and into the car. I am sure you have seen how smart these guys are when they put them into a maze and in no time the know the path in and out.
I was taking another parts car apart last week and sure enough right there in the cowl above the drivers feet was a big nest. This car had always been in garage before crashed and after crash. With that nest in there when water went in the cowl vents it would soak the mouse nest and the rust could feed for days. Not to mention all the pee and poo they leave and the food.
The plastic screens over the cowl vents will keep most mice out but Ford built two neat little tunnels joined by a nice walkway that leads right into the cowl on both sides, see this pic.
The opening is jut to the left and above the date. That is the drain for the water that gets into the cowl vents at the base of the windshield. The only thing I have thought of that would work to block this off would be to get the coarse stainless steel scrubbing pads and stuff them into the opening. It would plug the hole so they cannot get in but still allow water to get out and will not rust. Here is link to what I am talking about. https://www.zoro.com/scotch-brite-scrubber-ss-silver-84/i/G5169735/feature-product?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4IGM2qrc1gIVg0SGCh3EAQwuEAYYCCABEgIeJ_D_BwE
I have used tin foil in the past around water and sewer pipes to keep critters out and they never chewed it out. So that takes care of the drain holes on the left and right sides.
I think you can reach into the cowl and push the steel scrubbing pads into the two drains without removing your fenders. Although it is a good idea to remove the fenders and clean the trash out from behind them sometime in your cars life. The sealer behind the fenders cracks and lets water in. The sealer was put on bare metal so rust just loves those cracks and there goes the torque boxes.
Here is pics of the nest in the cowl.
https://ibb.co/da6O3w[/URL]
So in the past I have posted what I did to my 73 vert air conditioned car to block the entry through the plastic vents in the cowl and also into the heater box. Here is pictures of the mesh wire that I cut, painted satin black to hide and attached to the back side of the plastic cowl vent covers with small zip ties.
As you can see in the pictures once installed you would never notice them unless someone pointed them out. In the picture of me holding one you see the other one on the work bench. They were all bowed up and warped so I heated with heat gun and placed some steel rings on them and when they cooled they were back flat. I also blasted the plastic parts with walnut shells that really makes them look new. No paint after just blast at low pressure.
Here is link to type mesh I used you can get at any hardware or home supply. https://www.betterbee.com/hardware/...MIuLax5q7c1gIVgl6GCh1OYguwEAYYBCABEgIY9PD_BwEhttps://www.betterbee.com/hardware/ghc-10-mesh-hardware-cloth.asp?mkwid=s&pcrid=203922283370&pkw=&pmt=&pdv=c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIuLax5q7c1gIVgl6GCh1OYguwEAYYBCABEgIY9PD_BwE
Now to the heater box and if you have non air conditioned car you will need to do to both fresh air vents to close them off. Cut a piece of the mesh hardware wire that will go between the cowl and the heater box or fresh air vent. Install it so that the foam seals everything off and keeps in place. Once there nothing bigger than 1/4" is getting in. You could use smaller size if you want. Old Ford cars had probably a 3/16" or maybe even 1/8" mesh over the vents to keep them out.
Once you have blocked all these entry points there should be no other places for them to get in unless you are missing a rubber plug somewhere or have a rust hole big enough for entry. I am sure non of our cars are that rusty, lol.
So that is my solution to keep the critters out of our cars. I found a nest that filled half of the cowl with a huge nest and hundreds of nuts in one parts car that sat in barn for many years.
When I had the fenders off the 73 vert I clean, removed the loose sealer, put some POR on bare spots and put new seam sealer on and sprayed some undercoat to finish off. You can see the POR running out of the drain hole in the cowl.
The system would not let me add any more pictures said it was too large. I tried to copy paste and that would not work either. I might do a video slide show to have the info off the post. I will return later and finish.
