Under dash leakage

Hi guys, I am experiencing a significant amount of water leakage under the dash in my '68 during heavy rainstorms. I understand that the cowl area on these vehicles is prone to rust damage. This car has been in a garage (in the South) most of its life and has very little rust. Basically the only rust is in the floor pan, 4 or 5 spots, not really much at all. The battery tray is rusted out too but that's to be expected. Trunk has one quarter sized rust hole and that's it. When looking down through the cowl, it looks like it's 95% paint, and 5% surface rust, but I can only see the center and not the ends.

Now, I know that the windshield seal is leaking on this car. There are some drips and leaks around the top of the windshield and I know there is no rust up there. I was inspecting the seal today and I noticed what appeared to be a 1967 date code! [img]/forums/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] So I think this is the original seal and it is almost certainly the original windshield. The seal has some cracks in it, it's definately old as the hills. Do you guys think that this seal could be leaking all the way around, causing the numerous drips under the dash, and my cowl area might be fine? I looked up under the dash looking for "rust trails" and I did not see any.

My window seal leaked as well. I blocked off the cowl vents and put a hose on it to make sure all the water was coming from the windshield seal and not the cowl. Give it a try and you will know for sure. Its probably both....sorry

cahorne has the best idea to verify the leak. The problem is Ford didn't paint under there and they didn't paint the "tophats" that act as a water dam so they often rust and leak even if the cowl is not perforated. The other issue is leaves and junk get in and rot and hold water that cause rust regardless of where you live ( except the desert maybe!) It maybe worthwhile to drop your heater box and driver vent and inspect the tophats. If the cowl is not badly gone there are plastic repair hats that can be install with chaulking to fix rotted hat problem. Also get up behind the rear splash shields and make sure the cowl drain holes are clear. Good luck. Stu

Well I took a hose and sprayed water into the cowl. Within a few seconds, quite a bit of water started coming out from both sides of the dash. [img]/forums/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/smiles/icon_frown.gif[/img] If I fix it, I want to fix it right. What's the best way to get in there and fix it? I've got a MIG welder, an arc welder, and an acetylene torch, and have someone on hand who is pretty sharp on body work. Thanks!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: shiftless on 8/23/06 2:52am ]</font>

http://personal.ecu.edu/boydd/tech/cowl/cowl.html

Ain't we got fun???

Good Luck Stu