Inner Cowl Panel Repair Questions

[lchall]

Well, with Media Blasting you have to take the good with the bad. The good is that afterwards it shows all the rust you need to repair. The bad is that I now have to repair all of it, which has been a lot more than I had planned on.

My next area to tackle is the inner cowl panel. The pictures don’t seem to show it too well but mine needs some work. I’ll probably start on this in a couple of weeks, but like to try and think through stuff a little ahead of time.

The bottoms of the fresh air inlet boxes need to be replaced. On the driver’s side there was actually enough leaves, dirt, etc. in there that it rusted a hole into the A pillar. I will also have to rebuild the inner support where the fender/cowl panels attach. The driver’s side is still pretty good, but the passenger’s side is trashed. There isn’t too much left underneath. I ’m a little concerned about this area since this is where these panels attach. I don't want to get it all done and figure out that the fenders and cowl won't line up.

What I’m thinking about doing is just removing the inner cowl as a whole piece. It looks like it’ll be around 80 spot welds, but I know I’ll already need to remove the air boxes anyway to repair the bottoms and to get access to the pillar and fender/cowl mount. I thought that if I had to remove this much I might as well take the whole thing off and make it easier to repair the front lip and clean up any rust that I might be missing.

I wanted to get someone else’s take on this. What have you guys done? Any tips on the repair or rebuilding the fender/cowl mount structure underneath? If I remove this piece how flimsy is it? Would I have a chance of getting it lined back up? Does this even make sense?

[ChevLoRay]

Yours looks all too familiar, to me, except my rust is in a slightly different place but still in the same area. In my case, the plan is to cut the windshield posts and then cut across the floor of the cab from rocker to rocker, between the front two mounting bolts and the point where the seat mounts. I can see that it looks like your rust was caused by dirt and leaves that built up where the fenders bolt onto the cab. I wish mine was as easy to get at as yours. I have a friend who said he just cuts a huge x large hole in the bottom of the side (kick) panels and lets all of the water/dirt/leaves fall through without catching on anything.

[ebfabman]

lchall, on rob's cab we did away with the air vents altogether and welded up the cowl/kick panel solid. This will make a lot less drafty, dusty, noisy cab and leave no place for anything to collect and create more potential rust problems in the future. we also made the cowl symmetric on the passenger side, makes a little more room in the cab also. check out his build thread here;

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=317665


the only thing is making the right front fender mounts, which should not be a big deal.

[ebfabman]

I guess I should add Rob is going with an aftermarket AC system, so there is no need for a fan hole. Here is a pic

[lchall]

Originally Posted by ebfabman

lchall, on rob's cab we did away with the air vents altogether and welded up the cowl/kick panel solid. This will make a lot less drafty, dusty, noisy cab and leave no place for anything to collect and create more potential rust problems in the future. we also made the cowl symmetric on the passenger side, makes a little more room in the cab also. check out his build thread here;

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=317665


the only thing is making the right front fender mounts, which should not be a big deal.

Eb, I've been watching that build thread closely. I've been doing some of the repairs you are doing on that cab to mine. Complete floor, pillars, cab corners, etc., but yours is at a much much higher quality level.

I've been thinking about closing up those vents, but am weighing my metalworking skills against it. Once I get it torn apart and see it a little better I may jump into it. From looking at the pictures it looks like sealing up the vents wouldn't be too bad, but the passenger modifications may be a little advanced for me. How difficult would you rate that? I thought it was a pretty neat idea, but don't want to screw up my cab trying to do it and get in over my head.

Are you planning on re-installing the air boxes on the cab? I would think they would be required to fill out the area between the cab and fenders. I was hoping to see some pics of the re-install and the rebuild of the passengers fender mount for that build. I hadn't seen any updates on that thread for a couple of weeks. Hopefully there is more to come.

[rob32472]

Ichall, Thanks for watching the build Eb is doin a great job on the cab. We are not puttin the air boxes back on the cab

[lchall]

Originally Posted by rob32472

Ichall, Thanks for watching the build Eb is doin a great job on the cab. We are not puttin the air boxes back on the cab

Rob, your right Eb does do fantastic work.

I'm trying to see how that would go back together. I think the areas circled in red would be the air boxes. So would this space be open from the wire tray out? Where were you planning on ending the inner cowl panel at? I put in green where the fender/cowl mounts are at. Would the inner cowl end at that point?

Just curious how it was going to go together and to generate some ideas. BTW, this was my truck before I dismantled it into a million pieces.

[ebfabman]

"...I put in green where the fender/cowl mounts are at. Would the inner cowl end at that point? ..."



That's right. I plan on making some openings along the front. There still needs to be material for the wipers and outer cowl panel to mount to and of course the fenders and cowl to hood seal. All this doesn't take much modification or time to do. It should simplify things and lighten up the the cab a little. Should get to this some time next week, we've had some door issues to deal with. Watch Robs build and let us know what you think.

[twotrucks]

Mine had identical type rust and I had to fabricate and replace the fender/cowl mounting points. I also capped of the wiring gutter after seeing the extent of rust through that area. I plan on putting some type of screening under the cowl and definitely a decent size drain hole on each side.

[lchall]

Originally Posted by twotrucks

Mine had identical type rust and I had to fabricate and replace the fender/cowl mounting points. I also capped of the wiring gutter after seeing the extent of rust through that area. I plan on putting some type of screening under the cowl and definitely a decent size drain hole on each side.

I see that in your before picture the mount has been entirely removed. How did you go about re-creating that mount? Mine is pretty much entirely gone underneath, so when I remove the sheetmetal there won't be anything to reference from underneath.

I am also planning on capping the wire gutter on my truck. When you capped the gutter did you put some POR-15 or something similar in the wire gutter? Also would you need to put some seam sealer between the inner cowl and this gutter? I would think that once you capped it all up that would be a nice place to water to sit and do it's magic.

[twotrucks]

You will have to take some measurements and make templates of what you will be trying to replace. You will also have the piece you cut out if you cut it carefully remove it. I then formed the shape with 18ga sheetmetal bending/forming it using anything I had on hand. You will definitely get creative. I epoxy primed everywhere that is not being welded and am using a seam sealer where I can. It should last at least as long as the factory sheetmetal.