Cowel rust

[BigFlo]

I removed my cowl on my 65 Belvedere to patch it on both sides. Yes - you need to remove the doors, hood and fenders to get at all of the spot welds holding the cowl on. Spot welds all along the bottom windshield frame, the firewall and inner fenders.
And as mentioned above, the lower cowl will need some TLC also, because that was not well rust protected by Mother Mopar and if there are holes there, water will leak under the dash and into the cabin. For me it was a must do - I hate rust.

 

[threewood]

Yep. Its' gotta come apart. Windshield, hood, fenders and doors. Can it be patched? Maybe. I'm curious to the condition of the inner cowl.

 

[hunt2elk]

Even if you do all the work yourself, you will be upside down in that one in a heartbeat. Better be a car you really love....

 

[matthon]

On my 62, I replaced the upper cowl, all 3 pieces, lower cowl, and the firewall, without removing the doors.
I still have an extra rust free lower cowl and my old upper.

Also replaced the floors, torsion bar crossmember, frame sections, uca mounts.

Removed the hood, fenders, windshield, and dash.

First time I ever picked up a welder. I would do it again, but not pay someone, lots of hours.

Project Larry - 62 Dart 440

What is the best way to separate the spotwelds at the front of the floorpan? I've thought of cutting along the edge of the seam to get at the welds, and yesterday I saw a tool advertised, somewhere, that is supposed to break spotwelds at the seam. Engine and trans are out, but I'm still not a...

www.forbbodiesonly.com

 

[kiwigtx]

Anyway to half-*** it and then repatch it every couple years till the front end falls off?

 

[62maxx]

THIS was my "surprise" when replacing the windshield! No rust on my cowl but as everyone else mentioned what LURKS hidden underneath. LUCKILY my "go to" guy was able to hand fabricate new metal so the glass would sit in and seal otherwise a regular glass shop usually cannot do fab work. Boy was I lucky...instead of S.O.L.

 

[jimbosride]

It started as a small rust patch on the back window ........

 

[BigFlo]

I Know!!

 

[BigFlo]

Mine 'looked' OK before I removed the top cowl. My windshield channel was near perfect. I knew there were pinholes in top cowl but I didn't think it was that bad underneath. Underside of top cowl was pitted badly also. I'm OCD with rust so it had to come off.

 

[BigFlo]

On my 62, I replaced the upper cowl, all 3 pieces, lower cowl, and the firewall, without removing the doors.

After looking at my pictures again, Matthon, I stand corrected. You don’t need to remove the doors to remove the cowl. But to do any bodywork / patchwork in that area where the doors and cowl meet, the doors really need to come off - or you risk damaging the doors.

 

[matthon]

FYI, if you need to align the doors, now is the time to do it, ask me how I know!
You should really check the alignment of the doors and door glass, and adjust both, when the fenders are off.

 

[BigFlo]

View attachment 1625955

You’re a brave man. Nice work! Well above my skill level and not sure this is what the OP had in mind either.

 

[toolmanmike]

It seems the rust you can see is 30% of what's there.

 

[matthon]

You’re a brave man. Nice work! Well above my skill level and not sure this is what the OP had in mind either.

Thank you.
First time I ever picked up a welder, and if it wasn't for fbbo I would not have got through it.
There's an entire thread of me asking if replacing a firewall is even a thing, or possible.
The good news is, it was worse than it looks.

It wasn't what I had in mind either, however, saving this car was in my mind, without farming it out, so I had no choice.

 

[PROSTOCKTOM]

Having had my 63 inner completely ate through I can tell the OP if the outer cowl panel looks that bad the inner will be worse.

The inners only got the overspray from when the outer was painted. Once the drain holes got clogged up (few years down the road) they were on there way to rotting out.

I don't feel that it's an overly difficult project, but it requires a lot of disassemble and time consuming work. However it's a bigger project than a lot of people want to tackle.

If you own an early car it's just an area that most of them will need repaired at some point.

Tom

 

[Rick McCool]

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?

II have a 64 Polara 440 2dr HDTP with rusted cowl on both sides (Also Left wiper arm area rusted through). They took the windshield out and dash out. They are going to sheet metal patch the areas. They are not planning on taking the doors or fenders off.

 

[Charlie Brown]

If you want to see what could (read probably) lurks underneath the surface, see this link.

Can of rusty worms

Bought this nice looking Polara last year and enjoyed driving it all summer. I thought a lot about rebuilding the poly but I'm just partial to big blocks. There's just something about the sound of a big block I can't explain...just love it! - - - Updated - - - So out comes the poly. Below is...

www.forbbodiesonly.com

 

[T Brashears]

No such thing as just a small rust patch,especially on 62-65.

 

[1974ChargerSE]

I finally got a patch for the area of the cowl that holds the wiper stem (drivers side) for my 64 Fury convertible. Now I need to try to find someone in northern Ohio who can (will?) do the job. Once the weather changes and we get past March's split-personality weather, that is on the list.

Any recommendations are welcomed...

Larry (Akron)