removing leaves and dribris from foot well of cowl area

[mike16]

Saw that my 68k20's cowl area was filled with leaves and pine needles. removed the cowl and vacuumed out that debris. Added a fine mesh screen to avoid future problems.

Noticed that the whole side cowl / vent area by the foot well is also filled up with it. Any advice on how it is most easily removed.

looks like the driver side you just pull that whole vent assembly out and vacuum it out . what id it preserved with to prevent rusting further?

passenger side will be a PITA because I have the aftermarket under dash A/C set up from ARA.

Thanks