Cowl Prep

[Mike67]

So im in the process of replacing my floor pans and smoothing put the firewall, I reached up through the fresh air intake and everything felt solid but scale. So it kind of raised a question in my mind on how to address other than a wire brush, fogging it with some inhibitor and what to do with the cowl vents?
How do I make sure that the paint sticks to the floor and walls under the louvres?
Thanks

 

[moparnation74]

So im in the process of replacing my floor pans and smoothing put the firewall, I reached up through the fresh air intake and everything felt solid but scale. So it kind of raised a question in my mind on how to address other than a wire brush, fogging it with some inhibitor and what to do with the cowl vents?
How do I make sure that the paint sticks to the floor and walls under the louvres?
Thanks

If you have a blaster....then under light pressure slowly blast that area clean....Once finished and cleaned out. Spray primer to coat below the louvers...Wipe off the excess on the lovers....

 

[eldubb440]

those little cowl vent ribs warp way too easy

 

[Mike67]

those little cowl vent ribs warp way too easy

So what do you do to prep that area? Any advice is appreciated!

 

[eldubb440]

me? lmao, I remove the upper cowl if I have to.......seriously though, every job is different, I pretty much wing it

 

[Mike67]

Wow , the idea of drilling out spot welds prepping and welding back prior to paint never crossed my mind...

 

[66 Sat]

Both my cowl drains were blocked with mice nests, sand, leaves you name it. I chose to cut two hand sized access panels, one either side, in the front of the cowl (engine bay side) so I could reach in and clean out the cowl, wire brush the surface rust and treat and paint. I then hand fabricated a backing from new sheetmetal and bonded the whole lot including the pieces I cut out with some 2 pack structural panel bonder. It came up good and was a lot less work than removing the windscreen and whole upper cowl. There was only surface rust at either end of mine so this seemed the best option. Cheers

 

[moparnation74]

Very light pressure and a finer media and keep the gun 6 inches or more above the vents. You will have to play with the pressure a bit.......takes time but will do the job without warping...I have done it on 9 cars and zero warpage....but people today want it done in 5 minutes and increase pressure etc...