Repair options for leaking cowl?

As you may know by my other threads, it seems very likely that our Maverick has a leak in the cowl area. (I thought it would be better to start a dedicated threat for this problem.)

I've read the tech articles and there is no way I can perform a 'textbook' cowl repair myself.

Referring to attached photo, the leak is probably in the area below the red arrow (this is an A/C car).

Rather than removing the entire cowl, could I do this...

• Cut a hole in the surface of the cowl panel (basically the area of the red circle or the green circle)
• Thoroughly clean and de-grunge everything I can reach
• Coat the entire area with seam sealer or Por-15
• Cut and shape a piece of sheet metal or exterior plastic of some kind that is larger than the hole and matches the general contour of the area
• Bond the "patch" directly to the cowl with epoxy

Yes, I realize this idea is probably silly, ridiculous, maybe even borderline sacrilegious but is there ANY hope in it? It seems all we really need is access to the inner cowl area.

• Does someone actually make some sort of patch or filler panel for this? (maybe something with a template for the cut and a little lip that sits down in the hole?)
• Is this area structurally important?
• Are there other options I'm missing?

I am not a purist and this isn't a show car. It's just a daily driver for my son, and we are already strapped for cash with other repairs on it. We simply don't have $1K for a complete, correct, professional cowl repair.

At the same time, I also don't want to have a totally mangled stupid looking repair...:16suspect

 

here is how i did mine and other options...:Handshake

http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=75552

 

Umm, NO..... The cowl really needs to be removed so you can actually see what needs to be repaired.....

 

I know...I know...you're right of course

But I do like the "coming in from the side" option (from 71gold's thread) that is covered up by the fender.

 

That's what I would do if removing the cowl top is not an option. If the rust isn't too bad that seems like a good way to go. If it is to bad to do that way, (e.g., fire wall is rusted out) you haven't lost anything.

 

If you're lucky you can fix it from the bottom. Rust Bullet and Por15 putty fixed my problem

 

This is one of the easiest ways, then you can reach up inside and give it a coating of POR 15 or Rust Bullet.

 

Which means removing the entire A/C assembly (does this require pulling the entire dash???) to see what's going on up in there. Seriously...I really don't know if I'm up to that.

And for the record, I did contact the sellers (mom and college age son) to ask about this issue. She swears they knew nothing about it and never encountered any excessive leaks, soaking carpet, etc. I asked for an honest answer, that's the answer I received, so that's the answer I will accept as truth.

I'm sure there are harder, sadder, and more tragic things in life to deal with. But this does pretty much suck. We'll just have watch and report how the Good Lord works in this situation.

 

no disrespect but you did buy a 30+ year old car you cant expect it to not have some issues and you cant hold the previous owner responsible!

 

^^^^^^ What he said!!!!! I think everyone on this sight has had cowl issues at one time or another. I just bought my car in August and didn't know about cowl leaks untill the first time it rained that's why it's garage kept. Lol......

 

I had a real good visual on the clearly rotted through areas of my cowl, right above both vents, from under the dash. I went the route of removing the top from my cowl and what I saw was the rest of the interior surface was covered in what I thought was surface rust. Well, 90 percent was just surface rust that came off with a rotating wire brush in my drill. The other 10 percent turned out to be some tiny pin holes at the bottom of some deeper corrosion areas but you couldn't see them from under the dash. They got exposed by the wire wheel and I would have never found them without pulling the cowl off. On these spots I used JB Weld like a bondo paste. After I replace the vent rings and replaced metal where needed, I then put 2 coats of Rust Bullet on the entire inside of the cowl.

 

i just got mine and i know it has the same problem that they all have a leaking cowling...., is there any like cheap but effective way to fix it

 

(Is there an echo in here. )
You need to remove the AC/Heater box. No need to remove the dash at this point. With it out of the way you can get a good look and see what you have. It might not be that bad.

 

Reminds me of an old saying:

Do you want it repaired:
- Fast
- Cheap
- Good

You can only have two.

 

lets hope its not that bad thanks i will start taking it apart 2marrow