Slant Six Forum :: Leak

How do I get my cowl off so I can remove all of the crap that has accumulated in it. I looked down in it today and it looks like a bale of pine straw is in there.

And what if some water still enters? when I got the car under my possession, the first thing I did was to make bigger holes in the drain canals of the cowl vent and blast with air any object, after that I just closed that damn vent ( I really hate that vent) and get a new windshield gasket in, used silycone to seal wiper pivots, and now when rain season starting here I just can see how a little amount of water enters in the car.

I just find from where the passenger side leak is, and seal it from inside, but the leak from the center, I just can find from where it comes, ideas?

Patience is a virtue when working on old cars, cause' getting pissed off doesn't fix anything.

It's called a Milwaukee reciprocating saw.

This is a Duster we bought for parts. Someone needed the grill off the cowl for their project. So......

Jerry

Author:	Pierre [ Fri May 27, 2005 6:05 pm ]
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One thing I've done on my 71 duster to prevent garbage buildup clogging the drain holes - weave a window screen between the slits. Just make sure you go under the water shooter vents so the washer pump still works. The window screen still lets air in, but no foreign particles mother nature cooks up.

Author:	Jeb [ Fri May 27, 2005 6:12 pm ]
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How do I get my cowl off so I can remove all of the crap that has accumulated in it. I looked down in it today and it looks like a bale of pine straw is in there.

Author:	Dennis Weaver [ Fri May 27, 2005 7:06 pm ]
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Quote: How do I get my cowl off so I can remove all of the crap that has accumulated in it. I looked down in it today and it looks like a bale of pine straw is in there. Remove windshield, dash and front fenders. Drill out all spot welds. D/W

Author:	Jeb [ Fri May 27, 2005 7:09 pm ]
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Yipes, I think I will use a combination of pressurized air and looong needlenose pliers to remove what I can. Wish I new this when I had the car apart for bodywork/painting .

Author:	Dennis Weaver [ Fri May 27, 2005 7:20 pm ]
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If you're not concerned about "concours" restoration or factory "correct", you can cut some strategic access holes into the cowl from the engine compartment. I have bored 3" holes in each side of Kermit's cowl. I put "caplug" 3 inch plugs in the holes (like you find in the trunk floor), and the untrained eye would not know they're not factory holes. You could cut bigger holes and just fashion some nice screw-on plates to cover them up, too. D/W

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Author:	SlantSixDan [ Fri May 27, 2005 7:33 pm ]
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mmMMmmmm...Caplugs. Is there anything they can't do? (They even send out free samples of whatever you want, and you can just order 'em right off their website!)

Author:	Jeb [ Fri May 27, 2005 7:51 pm ]
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Thanks for telling me guys! Guess I will have to dig out the drill now. I could just throw a match in the cowl and set all of that pinestraw on fire, ashes are real easy to wash out.

Author:	Avenger2040 [ Fri May 27, 2005 9:16 pm ]
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And what if some water still enters? when I got the car under my possession, the first thing I did was to make bigger holes in the drain canals of the cowl vent and blast with air any object, after that I just closed that damn vent ( I really hate that vent) and get a new windshield gasket in, used silycone to seal wiper pivots, and now when rain season starting here I just can see how a little amount of water enters in the car. I just find from where the passenger side leak is, and seal it from inside, but the leak from the center, I just can find from where it comes, ideas?

Author:	Dennis Weaver [ Sat May 28, 2005 4:18 am ]
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...the holes I'm suggesting are for clean-out, not for drainage. D/W

Author:	Jeb [ Sat May 28, 2005 7:28 pm ]
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Quote: And what if some water still enters? when I got the car under my possession, the first thing I did was to make bigger holes in the drain canals of the cowl vent and blast with air any object, after that I just closed that damn vent ( I really hate that vent) and get a new windshield gasket in, used silycone to seal wiper pivots, and now when rain season starting here I just can see how a little amount of water enters in the car. I just find from where the passenger side leak is, and seal it from inside, but the leak from the center, I just can find from where it comes, ideas? If it still leaks after all of this, then I will find the leak. Patience is a virtue when working on old cars, cause' getting pissed off doesn't fix anything. Now, to your leak. It might be your cowl seal leaking, especially if it has rusted a pinhole in the cowl.

Author:	Dennis Weaver [ Sun May 29, 2005 9:49 am ]
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Quote: Patience is a virtue when working on old cars, cause' getting pissed off doesn't fix anything. No, but getting pissed sure seems to go hand in hand with wrenching on this old $#!+! D/W

Author:	'74 Sport [ Sun May 29, 2005 10:11 am ]
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It's called a Milwaukee reciprocating saw. This is a Duster we bought for parts. Someone needed the grill off the cowl for their project. So...... Jerry

Author:	Dennis Weaver [ Sun May 29, 2005 10:45 am ]
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Quote: It's called a Milwaukee reciprocating saw. This is a Duster we bought for parts. Someone needed the grill off the cowl for their project. So...... Jerry ...I think it's great. It gave us all an education in Duster anatomy! D/W

Author:	'74 Sport [ Mon Jun 06, 2005 6:15 pm ]
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Hey Jeb, Did you get your leak figured out? I ran across an article the other day explaining how to methodically look for leaks. They suggested a strong stream of water (reaches out about 6" from end of hose held horizontally), but not a blasting spray. Start your search at the lowest suspected potential for the leak. In your case, start at the rightmost end of your cowl grill and hold it there for a short while, remove the stream of water and go inside to look for a leak. If no leak, go back to the cowl grill and move a little farther to the left. Keep inching your way to the center, but don't go far enough to let the water break over the high point and begin running to the left side. If you don't get the right side to leak, move to the lowest side of the left end of the cowl grill and begin the whole process over again. If you don't expose the leaky culprit, go to each wiper pivot and check them. Don't let the water slosh up onto the window gasket, you still have to check it, next. Again, start at the lowest end at the corner of the window on only one side. Stay low until the whole bottom section is checked. Then start inching your way slowly up each side individually. Be sure you stop to check for leaks inside, each time you move to a new location. Go slowly, because it would be easy to pass up a small leak. Let us know how it goes, Jerry Dennis, We have gone over every quarter inch of Aaron's '74 Dart Sport and most of this '76 Duster. We have gutted and skinned both of them severely, so we are fairly familiar with their anatomy, and took lots of pictures, hopefully to answer questions other folks my have that can't cut their cars up to see what makes them tick. Glad to know it helps.

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Author:	Jeb [ Mon Jun 06, 2005 7:19 pm ]
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I think I may have fixed it. I pulled out most of the straw out the cowl using D/W's method. I parked it in the rain the other day and it didn't leak. I still have yet to see if it leaks going down the road with the wipers on.