Cowl Rust

[bm52]

Of all the rust damage on our truck, and there's plenty, the worst to deal with I believe is the cowl panels. I don't see any way to get to the back side of these panels, and I know there are places that sell patch panels for this area of the truck. I was wondering if I could get ideas from others on how you may have repaired this type of damage here? Also, once repaired, how do I prevent corrosion in this area from happening again? Here's a pic of what I'm working with:

[GT-Racer]

That looks like a whole lotta 'No fun at all'. I feel for you man.

[FORDification]

OUCH! I agree, that looks nasty! That's definitely going to take some work to fix. I almost think you might be better off finding another cab to use, if that's an option for you, especially if the cab has other rust issues. I was going to tackle the dreaded drip-rail rust, which was going to be a major chore, but only because I had access to the backside. There's no way of getting to the backside of the cowl panel, so if I was going to do that, I'd just cut it all out, cut out a patch panel from a donor cab and weld it in.

Either way, I don't envy you at all on this one!

[flyboy2610]

Good luck, man! We'll be prayin' for ya!

[bm52]

We'll need all the help we can get. This area is really the worst of the rust problems with the cab. The drip rail area seems sound, and the floorpans and cab corners have some rust but nothing that can't be repaired easy enough.

My son and I spent some time looking at the cowl area trying to figure out the drainage design of this part of the truck. Where does water and debri go when it enters the grill area below the windshield wipers? It appears that water travels down each side into a channel that runs in front of the door frame. We could find no drain hole at the bottom of this channel, water was backing up in there and running through some small rust holes into the floor pans inside the cab. We removed the round rubber plug near the bottom of this channel, and all kinds of rust and debri poured out. It doesn't appear to be a very good design, more like a breeding ground for rust. Has anyone ever modified this area of the truck, to keep water from backing up and/or standing in there?

[trukcrazy]

Hey, that sounds like you are onto a great project that will help all of us in that area. I would sure like to see what you come up with. Good Luck.

[rjewkes]

As far as i see it what ive seen and heard done. Is to remove the Fenders and drill holes in the underside of that area.