My mechanic tells me that to fix the rust holes on either side of my cowl it would be necessary to remove both front fenders, the windshield, the cowl, and both front doors. Does this sound right?
Cowel rust
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YES! pic's would help. How are the floors?
Dodge33
Well-Known Member
What year car are you working on?
Hard to say without pics.
63 Dodge 440 four-door
I'll get pictures of the cowl rust. Floorboards only have some pin holes.
PurpleBeeper
Well-Known Member
Sadly, he is correct. So….it’s decision time. How bad is the rust? How good do you need it to be once complete? How much will it cost? What is the car worth to you?
Pictures would help us determine.
Remember, pin holes can be fixed by blasting the immediate area and soldering the holes shut.
Then sand the lumps out and epoxy prime. It just has to be cleaned and tinned for the solder
to stick.
Then sand the lumps out and epoxy prime. It just has to be cleaned and tinned for the solder
to stick.
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Yeah, it is going to be worse underneath. Ask me how I know.
Dodge33
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IMO........ If you love the car, and it's your desire to fix it correctly, and you can do the work yourself preferably, go ahead and fix it.
But I agree with what most of your body man said. It will require his procedures for a well done job. If it were me, I would unbolt the dash from the cowl, at the base of windshield, and lay the dash on the front seat. You also have to remember that all of these vulnerable areas need to be protected from Welding sparks, etc. You will also need to pull the hood off, to access the front edge of the cowl, to drill all spotwelds off. Many things to remove, windshield, all the outside window moldings, and other pieces. IMO, on these 63 Dodges, why can't/hasn't AMD been reproducing these complete end to end cowl tops? I guess it would be to hard of a job to get it done! IDK. Your car looks nice in the first photo, so I do hope you fix it, but it's your call. I could fix it myself....... just ask member hunt2elk, he knows I have the skills to do it right. Good luck to you, whatever you decide to do!
But I agree with what most of your body man said. It will require his procedures for a well done job. If it were me, I would unbolt the dash from the cowl, at the base of windshield, and lay the dash on the front seat. You also have to remember that all of these vulnerable areas need to be protected from Welding sparks, etc. You will also need to pull the hood off, to access the front edge of the cowl, to drill all spotwelds off. Many things to remove, windshield, all the outside window moldings, and other pieces. IMO, on these 63 Dodges, why can't/hasn't AMD been reproducing these complete end to end cowl tops? I guess it would be to hard of a job to get it done! IDK. Your car looks nice in the first photo, so I do hope you fix it, but it's your call. I could fix it myself....... just ask member hunt2elk, he knows I have the skills to do it right. Good luck to you, whatever you decide to do!
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Remember - rust is like an iceberg......you can only see about 10% of it on the surface.
Looks like you're going digging if you want to keep that car.
Looks like you're going digging if you want to keep that car.
Also, there is an inner cowl which will need repair also. Complete disassembly for sure...
What would you ballpark the cost at?
Just fixing what you see may cost thousands.
Anyway to half-*** it and then repatch it every couple years till the front end falls off?
Dodge33
Well-Known Member
Pm sent.
Just fixing what is in the pictures the right way would be a huge project costing 1000s. If there are rust holes that big in the cowl, I would be amazed if there aren't serious rust issues elsewhere. As somebody already posted, rust is like an iceberg. You only see the tip. I would say your options are full resto, half-*** temporary patch job, or live with it as is. Fixing just that one spot the right way doesn't make sense to me.
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