Re: [Amc-list] RUST (63-66 cowl vent)

[Frank Swygert <farna@xxxxxxx>]

Go to http://www.hotrodders.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/3942 and you'll see some pics of my badly rusted out cowl vent floor and the repair. Peter Stathes (www.amcrambler.com) was making a replacement cowl vent floor if yours is really bad, around $70, but it's a nice welded piece. 

Sounds like yours isn't bad at all. As Tom said, you have to remove the heater box  and the glove box (door and liner). If the car doesn't have AC the heater box is pretty easy. There are a few screws and a couple bolts that go all the way through. Pull the one off the rust bucket if you haven't already. 

Once the heater is off you can see the bottom of the lip that's leaking. There will also be a foam seal that's I'm sure is rotten. You can make seals from hobby shop/cloth shop foam. Typically, there's just enough rust in the bend at the bottom edge of the lip to let water through. If you're comfortable working with fiberglass, clean the lip as best you can then line the inside edge with 'glass. It will be hard to reach, but you should be able to cut most of the handle off a small paint brush (get a couple 1.5" brushes from the dollar store -- they only last 15-20 minutes, but not the foam type!!) and brush resin inside. Cut some 2-3" wide strips long enough to overlap at the ends BEFORE mixing any resin, of course. If there are just pinholes you can seal them with some good silicone caulk or epoxy instead. Smearing a good coat of silicone caulk inside the curve is actually a decent fix! Make sure it's paintable caulk, then try to get some paint over the area. Another cut off
  brush and a small can of Rust-Oleum or similar enamel will be fine. Black is probably best, but you can't see that area through the vent panel of from the bottom, so it really doesn't matter about color. 


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Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2008 22:14:11 -0700
From: "Thomas Garner" <Tgarner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

I have a 63 Rambler Classic that is rusted out all over pretty good. Floor boards are mostly gone. I have almost completely stripped the car now. I noticed where the dash board was that there is a lot of rust, so I get to thinking about my 64 Classic. It's has a bad leak on the passenger side. Took it to a car wash one time and when I sprayed it down, water poured out of the glove box. 
 Well, I took the the vent screen (cowl I think it's called) off on the outside at the back of the hood and dug out some trash, then I took the glove box off.
 I poured some water into the cowl area and it leaked out really bad around the heater core box. I felt around and discovered that it's rusted really bad ALL up around it.
 First, I'm not certain that water should even be getting that far. Is there something else leaking up above the heater core that I can't see? 
 Second, how to I fix all the rusted out spots around the heater core?

-- 
Frank Swygert
Publisher, "American Motors Cars" 
Magazine (AMC)
For all AMC enthusiasts
http://farna.home.att.net/AMC.html
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