Look under your hood cowl - yikes

[CoastGuardZ]

tom-

No rust converter... just original primer, possibly some primer from a respray and paint from a respray. That's it. Outside of carpet, paint and recovered seats she is original with 291,000. Virtually no rust... all the usual floor pan and battery tray rust is non existant, just a little starting to pop up on the RH dog leg.

Nate

[EScanlon]

Nate:

The underside of the cowl does show a bit of surface rust beginning, just to the edge of the Right Hand Side foam padding. You might want to address the whole underside before it causes any major problems.

Now that you've removed that part, and cleaned out the cowl bucket, take the next step and remove both front fenders. The cowl drains into those spaces and it is there where you will find the accumulation of debris that causes rust in the front fender by the rocker panel.

E

[a7dz]

Here is the cowl welded up just before POR 15 was coated on the outside.

Nate if mine looked that nice I would throw a party.

[waynekarnes]

the 64 through 68 mustang has the same problem. been told the 69 as well.

at least we can remove the vent plate under the windshield. on the mustang it's spot welded in place.

the cowl of the mustang isn't primered nor painted. junk gets trapped in there and they rust worse than the z does.

at least on the z, most of the junk flows down and rust out the bottom of the front fenders.

with the mustang, it gets trapped on top the cowl and rots the cowl and firewall.

so, it's not just japanese cars. seems to be common practice among the industry at the time.

Mr E's solution is a brain storm idea.

front wings on my z are rust protected, primered and painted. have the elbow in place and hoses on both sides of the car. insides of the fenders are rust protected, primered and painted as well.

as was suggested, might be a good idea if you are prepping for paint, pull the front fenders, rust proof under there and use E Scalon's drainage system.

[xxjoeyxxeb]

Ya, the mustang is true. My friends Dad's rebuilding the 64.5 (I beleive) and had to redo the cowl area / floorpan. And some other panels since it was a Massachusetts car.

[DatsunZGuy]

Ya, the mustang is true. My friends Dad's rebuilding the 64.5 (I beleive) and had to redo the cowl area / floorpan. And some other panels since it was a Massachusetts car.

Growing up, my Dad was into restoring 1964 1/2-1968 Mustangs. Every time he’d go out to look at one for sale, he would bring and empty coffee can, fill it with water and pour it into the cowl vents. There were many times when you would open the door to reveal water soaked front carpets. I recall, this was a very expensive repair involving removal of the front fender and cutting into the cowl from the side to perform the rust repair. In fact, this problem was so common enough that you could purchase a Plexiglas cover you would attach to the cowl and screw into place to stop water from getting in.

[waynekarnes]

clever idea, pouring the water down the cowl vent. would not have thought of that.

been toying with idea of buying 64 thru 68 mustang for my son.

i think i will be bringing a gallon of water with me, should i go look at one.

[ddezso]

OK - dumb rookie question here. Is the cowl piece only fastened with the 4 screws at the front of the cowl? I just got a new washer bottle with working motor and want to run new washer fluid lines and clear the nozzles. If I remove the wipers and those 4 screws will the cowl pop off and on easily? Anything else I need to factor?

Thanks....

[EScanlon]

You shouldn't need to remove the cowl to access the washer lines nor the jets, they mount on the engine side of the firewall, and should be plainly visible running accross the firewall just below the lip of the Hood/Cowl weatherstrip flange.

But IIRC you're right, 4 screws to actually hold the cowl, AFTER removing the Wiper Arms. It also doesn't hurt (and in fact may make it easier) to remove the Hood/Cowl Weatherstrip Seal. That way all you have to do is lift the Cowl just enough to clear the flange that the weatherstrip mounts to and slide the cowl forward. Keep an eye on the tangs that slide into the body underneath the windshield, as there are some plastic "cups" that they slide into. These cups are sided Top to Bottom (but not Left to Right), so just keep track of them so you don't loose them. They're there to help seal the cowl bucket.

E

[waynekarnes]

use masking tape.

put it around the edges of the fenders.

this will help to avoid scratching your paint.

the cowling as you suggested has screws just below the hood.

remove, out in sandwich baggie so you have em.

remove the wiper assembly. put the nuts back on the shafts ( again so don't get misplaced ).

the cowl cover is held in place in the rear by tabs into slots.

lift from the engine side, slowly.

if car has been repainted, expect paint to be gluing it down a bit. also watch for any paint that might tear. if paint is tearing use a razor or sharp knife to cut paint so doen't tear and peel.

under the windshield side there are rubber supports in the holes that the tabs slide into, watch for those. they usually stay in the slots but sometimes come out with the cover. don't lose them.

slide the cowl towards engine and upward, just enough to clear the ridge on the engine side.

cover is off. now would be a good time to remove that foam from the underside, rust proof the metal and replace the padding.

also grab a vac cleaner and get any leaves or squirrels that might be under the cover cleaned out of there.

when you put it back in, make sure to use something ( tape ) to protect the fenders and such from scratches.

good luck.

wayne

[ddezso]

You shouldn't need to remove the cowl to access the washer lines nor the jets, they mount on the engine side of the firewall, and should be plainly visible running accross the firewall just below the lip of the Hood/Cowl weatherstrip flange.

But IIRC you're right, 4 screws to actually hold the cowl, AFTER removing the Wiper Arms. It also doesn't hurt (and in fact may make it easier) to remove the Hood/Cowl Weatherstrip Seal. That way all you have to do is lift the Cowl just enough to clear the flange that the weatherstrip mounts to and slide the cowl forward. Keep an eye on the tangs that slide into the body underneath the windshield, as there are some plastic "cups" that they slide into. These cups are sided Top to Bottom (but not Left to Right), so just keep track of them so you don't loose them. They're there to help seal the cowl bucket.

E

Thanks Enrique. I thought the metal nipples coming out were the plastic lines going in and connected under the cowl. New washer fluid tubing is in replacing the old brittle painted over stuff without needing to pop the cowl.

Thanks again....