In April 07 I bought a 1966 6cyl Automatic Transmission, no air conditioning, coupe and water leaks onto the floorboard. I'm guessing that the cowl is rusted out. I looked yesterday and even my steering post under the dash has rust.
I found a great web site that explains the step by step process of repair using cowl patches. Wish I had of seen this before I bought the car.
My car looks and drives great but I have $8k in it now and don't want to put a LOT more into it yet I want an all weather vehicle.
I was wondering if anyone knew an approximate cost of the cowl patch repair. I know it depends on the extent of rust but a ball park figure would help me.
I know the dash, windshield, wipers. fenders. hood and cowl cover have to come off to do a repair. The repair itself would be relatively simple if cowl patches only are needed. That is if one knows what they are doing of which I am not one.
I live in S Georgia.
If you could get it done for less than 2k, I'd be crapping-my-drawers happy. Right around 4k seems to be the common figure I've seen, but my memory's a bit foggy.
Either way, it's a lot of work, taking apart most of the front clip, fenders off, drilling out 200 spot welds, welding in $100 of patch panels, welding the bottom in, painting and then doing 200 plug welds to tie it all together before reassembly and whatever outside paint work it will need afterwards.
__________________
66 coupe 5.0/T5, home-brewed power 4 wheel disc setup, 350hp+, looks like it belongs in 1968
Its not that hard just have to cut 100 something spot welds.There was a how to i can't find where the cut part of the cowl cover fixed the cowl and welded it back on.
Thanks for the replys. All replies are welcome if others have input. I may have to punt and sell this car. For those interested, this web site gives an awesome step by step pictorial on how to repair: Mustang Cowl Repair - Mustang Monthly Magazine
Why not fix it yourself? For what it would cost to have someone do it, you could buy a welder, the drill, the spotweldcutter and tips, AND the sheetmetal and snips. Oh and probably all the beer it'd take for the journey!Happy holidays
__________________
65-2&2, 63 Falcon vert, 32 coupe, 76f-250 4&4,72 Ranchero GT-Some is good,more is better,and too much is just enough.
I thought about doing it myself. I am one of those guys who grew up as a computer nerd and have zero mechanical aptitude. Yet the repair seemed to be only labor intensive, not knowledge intesive. SO, how hard is it to take off fenders, hood, dash and windshield. I have a garage I could do the work in.
A cowl replacement is a major undertaking. If you are able to separate the old cowl with a plasma cutter and cut of all 178 (or some ridiculous number) spot welds, then you have to be able to weld everything back together.
The welding of the patch panels is not that simple either.
I would try the "top hats" to temporarily fix the leaks if possible - I have had them on my '66 for about 6 years and they have not leaked yet.
One other thing - inspect the cowl to see how bad it really is, and also check the joint where the cowl, inner fender, and firewall all meet. I found a big leak on my car from the seam sealer that had dried out and deterioratated after 40 years on this joint. The worse thing about cleaning up the old seam sealer and replacing it is that you have to remove the fenders.
You should be able to remove a fender (and the bumper), clean up the seam, also clean out the cowl and repaint inside it while the fender is off, and replace the fender in a day. If you want to also add a cowl hat and some sealer, it may take a little longer.
__________________
Beri Fraley Strong, Proud and Ugly
If you find yourself in a fair fight, you haven't been trained properly.
Another suggestion on the cowl repair. Mine is being done as we speak.
I have a 71 Mach 1 and maybe a few folks with earlier models can jump in.
Intead of tearing everything down, we pulled the fenders off and we have access to the ends of the cowling. By cutting off "end caps" we have access through the entire piece. Once the repairs are done I plan to use rust encapsulator (or similar) and then POR-15 the interior. The "end caps" are then welded back into place, painted and then the fenders go back on.
just finished to repared mine on my 66, it took me over 60 hrs. around 150 spots weld, 2 patch panel, right fender apron, left firewall patch and some fabrication to fix the top panel.
now NPD carry the top panel and full bottom panel. about 180$ each.
most early mustang out there if they have not been repared or garage keep are going to leak. ford never put anything inside the cowl to prevent rust. this is my first restoration. was overwelhmed at first. wanted to give up. if you like the car you shoud get it fix and then you know that it is good.
Id go the easy way buy a vintage air heat/ac unit and weld the cowl vent shut most after market heaters don't use the cowl they reuse the inside air like newer cars can.
You are right on. This is post retoration and the cowling was so rusted out there was no drain hole left....so they forgot about it. After the rainstorm and my interior flooded (sigh!) it is now back in there shop to do it right. Unfortunately the car is now reassembled and they have to take a few shortcuts.
Thanks for all the responses and keep it coming. I hope that anyone who is contemplating buying an early model Mustang is reading this thread. When I bought my 66 cpe in April 07 I had done no research, just responded to a classified ad. The seller even told me it leaked but I thought it would be a minor repair. The problem I also face is since the fenders, bumper, windshield ect have to come off the I might as well have other items addressed e.g. battery side of fender rusted, small rust spots on door, needs rear qtr panel flash. So I drove wayyy into the back woods of GA and got an estimate from a guy to take the whole car down to metal, repair cowl and other visable spots, return to original color (white) for $7,500.00.
What do ya'll think about that. He is backed up now and can't even get to it. I told him I would be looking at next fall for the repair. I feel like I am getting into an area of diminishing returns on the value.
Another suggestion on the cowl repair. Mine is being done as we speak.
I have a 71 Mach 1 and maybe a few folks with earlier models can jump in.
Intead of tearing everything down, we pulled the fenders off and we have access to the ends of the cowling. By cutting off "end caps" we have access through the entire piece. Once the repairs are done I plan to use rust encapsulator (or similar) and then POR-15 the interior. The "end caps" are then welded back into place, painted and then the fenders go back on.
So far so good...I've included pics.
Thoughts anyone?
Pax...Rob
I have done something very similar on a '66 - after removing the fender, you can remove the fender and access this area - you can actually cut a small section off the end of the cowl to clean up the inside and coat it with some rust encapsulator or primer. It is still not really practical to do any repairs like this, only protect what is there.
The last car I did, however, instead of cutting the end of the cowl (this was a '65), I found that you could reach up from the inside of the cowl and get to most of the area (even with a rattle can), and also spray through the end of the cowl drainage opening, and the cowl vent opening in the top. The area is accessible with the seats out and the heater core out.
Also, before I did this, I flushed all of the debris out of the cowl with water, then cleaned it out with some 1" flexible tubing that I duct-taped to my shop vac.
__________________
Beri Fraley Strong, Proud and Ugly
If you find yourself in a fair fight, you haven't been trained properly.
Thanks for all the responses and keep it coming. I hope that anyone who is contemplating buying an early model Mustang is reading this thread. When I bought my 66 cpe in April 07 I had done no research, just responded to a classified ad. The seller even told me it leaked but I thought it would be a minor repair. The problem I also face is since the fenders, bumper, windshield ect have to come off the I might as well have other items addressed e.g. battery side of fender rusted, small rust spots on door, needs rear qtr panel flash. So I drove wayyy into the back woods of GA and got an estimate from a guy to take the whole car down to metal, repair cowl and other visable spots, return to original color (white) for $7,500.00.
What do ya'll think about that. He is backed up now and can't even get to it. I told him I would be looking at next fall for the repair. I feel like I am getting into an area of diminishing returns on the value.
1966 Mustang cowl repair approx cost? 
