Ive got a 66 coupe and it sounds to good to be true but i dont think that the cowl vents are rusted out! The only problem is that they have leaves and stuff in them and the paint on the inside of the cowl is pretty crappy. Should i take the cover off and clean it out and paint it or is their another way to do this without removing the cover?

 

The water etc. is supposed to exit right behind your front wheels in the door area. I would first try pouring a lot of water in the cowl vent to see if that clears out the leaves. Try using a coat hanger to help dig it out at the exit point. If that doesn't work, then maybe the hats have to be removed to get the leaves out. This is the weakest part of our classic mustangs, and there have been a million articles written on how to replace the cowl. It is the most troublesome and expensive repair we have to do. But, if you leave those leaves and debris in the cowl, it will most definitely rust out then you will get water on your legs in a rain storm or when you wash the car which will cause the floor pans to rust out.
Get on top of it right now before it is too late.

 

Thanks for the idea! The car is inside right now and is being restored so its not goin to get any worse than it is. i stuck a shop-vac up through the hole inside the car and got some of the leaves out and from what i felt when i stuck my hand in it it didnt feel rusty so im hoping thats the case. I'm probably gonna pull the top off anyway to clean it out. Between me, my dad, and the miller welder i think we can fix it [8D]

Daniel

 

You can feel the cowl from inside the car??? i didn't know that.

 

He's probably referring to the hats. Yeah, if you are in the restoration process, and have welding skills, then take off the grate and vacuum that sucker out. After sanding out all the surface rust you can, then put on a good coat of POR 15 and a coating of red oxide before you paint it the color of the exterior. See if you can reach in far enough to put in some seam seal before you put down a layer of POR 15. Also, take the hats off and see if they are rusty. Do the same as above with them. If the hats are rusted out, several vendors sell new hats.