Christophers 66 Mustang Restoration and Modification
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Cowl Repair

Cowl leaks are a common problem for all classic Mustangs. Ford did not prime or paint the bare metal inside of the cowl where the rain water drains. The fresh air intake "tophats" rust causing water to leak inside the car which causes the floors to rust out.
   We did not have ANY rust on the floors which is very rare. We also ran a garden hose into the cowl and made sure it drained out the fenders and checked for leaks inside the car but found NO water. We have a rare Mustang that has not rotted out.
   Todd told us the 66 had been parked in a container since 1978 at the construction site. Lucky for us it had not been exposed to the elements for the last 30 years.

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Drain hole is open, no rust on side apron. Ford
applied lots of seam sealer on the top of metal
joints to prevent rust.

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The access hole from behind the kickpanel to get
to the "hidden" nut holding the fender on.

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We tried to drill out the spot welds but found it
was a pain to break the metal loose.

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Vacuumed out the area.
 
 

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Christopher applying Eastwood Rust Encapsilator.
We cut the brush handle to make painting easier.

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Finished and drying

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Passenger side done

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Side view of how thickness of the seam seal from the factory
 

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Seam seal was removed and there was only minor surface
rust on metal

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Decided to cut the metal on the sides and bend up the end cap. Only minor surface rust and dirt.

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View looking inside of cowl. It is surprising how much room you have to work. Sanded the surface and wiped it down

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Painted inside of the tophat also
 

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Do not use plastic cup with Rust Encapsilator. It melted the cup in 3 minutes!

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Drivers side done

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The last step was to coat the entire area with Eastwood Brushable Seam Seal. This provides an extra layer to keep water from getting into any metal seams. It was also applied to the inside of the tophats.

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 The cuts were done with a 4 1/2 angle grinder and a 1/16 inch thick cutting wheel. To finish some cuts, a hacksaw blade was used.
 After coatings were applied, we MIG welded the cuts back together, ground down the welds. We then applied paint and seam seal on top of the welds. The area is covered by the fenders so it will not be seen.
 It took 1 weekend to complete.
 If the 66 had needed new top hats installed, we were going to extend the cuts into the center of the car and follow the procedure from this link:
 
Luckily, we did not have to!!!