RGH69

Well, I now know that you can get severe hand cramping from drilling spot welds. We first cut a square access hole in the cowl top to see how extensive the rust was so we could decide whether to just coat the surface from the access hole or take the cowl apart. We decided to take it apart. We bought a special spot weld cutter from Eastwood that worked really well for the first 75 or so spot welds (unlike the advertised 300). Then we switched to a 3/8" drill bit. Around the outer lip there is less chance of drilling entiely through since you are drilling 3 layers. After drilling we used a panel knife (also from Eastwood) to separate the upper and lower cowl halves. Here is what we found.


[IMG]local://upfiles/61121/47CB2560F59645B1BFC662340175796E.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/61121/588F03A34EB040CD8093CD43458E9FD9.jpg[/IMG]

RGH69

Also this on the drivers side....

[IMG]local://upfiles/61121/D906A6542F17453B950D50D6B9B1A1C3.jpg[/IMG]

RGH69

So we cut out the old hat and rust holes. Welded in a new hat, patched the big holes, weled the small ones, Wire brushed the whole surface then sprayed it with self etching primer. This is what it looks like now.



[IMG]local://upfiles/61121/65A6438B099441C896DF833AD68D1859.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/61121/1C4FF45A33D641B8B63D0DEF9694CE70.jpg[/IMG]

racin66coupe

nice work. how long did it take you?

RGH69

Drilling out the spot welds took about 2 hours. Clean, patch and fab took about 3-4 hours. We are considering what coating to do next because we don't want to have to deal with this ever again. What do y'all think about about rubberized truck bed coating?

Nick69

I did that on my 70 Cougar a few months ago. My rot was much worse than that though[&o]

zmetalmilitia

When I had mine all disassembled, I used epoxy primer, sealer, and a single stage paint, black to match the exterior. Once paint is in there, as you can see, that is what it is going to be, no access to it after reassembled. I think the factory got overspray in there. I didn't want that, so I taped paper on the underside of the cowl vents. I can access it to remove it through the hats on each side.

palerider

I'm doing mine right now - I'm definitely a lot slower than you. I'm using a donor and replacing the whole piece. My lower part is shot. Need to replace whole piece.

67 evil eleanor

Those are not in too bad of shape. Its good you fixed them right. After the primerI would use a catalized acrylic enamel and weld thru at the seems (3M) overlapping it. I doubt the car will be in the rain ever again but this will protect it if it is. Ford originally did nothing to this area as you now know except the little overspray that made it thru the grills. Welcome to the "Rusty Hat Club".

Reverb

Where did you get your parts from? I've looked and can't find 70's lower cowls anywhere - only both top and bottom prewelded.