cowl replacement

[davez]

I was asked if I replaced the cowl hats on my 66  without completely taking the cowl apart and I did. The car has a pretty good body, but there were some areas needing attentiom. I got the idea from one of Brets threads where I  saw Jeremy cut a side of the upper cowl off to access the hats to clean and prime and remove any rust.

First thing I did was carefully cut the hump / side  area under where the fender bolts on, as well as drill out about 15 spot welds,  and save the piece for reinstalling later. I hoped I would only have to blast and clean but I decided I had to replace the hats and a minimal amount of the bottom of the cowl. I flipped the car over, while standing in the windshield opening, drilled out the spotwelds for the hats and carefully cut a ring which I used for a pattern on the replacement cowl section.
I pre primed the hats before installation

[davez]

After positioning the replacement hat with new base ring,  I solid welded the cowl bottoms in with the car upside down. Obviously this can only be done with the car on a rotisserie.. Because I cant spray priner on the back / center side of the had I used an acid brush with DP74 after  welding and grinding.. After that dried I brushed seam sealer all the way around as smoothly as possible

[davez]

prior to priming and sealing I welded the original retainer ring and heater box brackets back. Before I removed them I took measurements and made index marks to return them to their original locations

[davez]

After the sealer dried I welded the sides back to their original locations. With the exception of the hats my cowl is completely rust free and original. None of the spotwelds along the firewall or windshield or shelby cowl brace were disturbed. I taped up the openings when grinding so as to not fill the cowl with metal shavings,

[davez]

I used my original retainers for the heater box as well as bracket for fresh air duct. Fortunately they werent rusted.  I found the the hole in the replacement fresh air duct ring was offset differently. It also has larger studs than original  to mount the fresh air duct. I found on test fitting my original duct did not fit well to the replacement studs.

[Greg]

Great job Dave, thanks for sharing!

[chris NOS]

+1

[JohnHouston]

Very nice!  Love a thoughtful metal repair.

John