alexandermwick Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 So I took off the cowl grille or whatever you want to call this thing, and to my surprise i found the underside smothered in rust as well as the area below it. It looks like there was once some sort of weatherstripping to help keep water out, but since this used to be a desert car, all the rubber weatherstripping has cracked away. So my questions to you guys are: Should I just replace the cowl, or try to grind away and treat the rust? And more importantly... What should i do about all the rust below? Again, I'm new to this whole body stuff. I'm fairly sure i can fix the cowl, but i dont know how to deal with the rust below, and how to prevent it from happening again. Thanks, Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rturbo 930 Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 It just looks like surface rust. The cowl of my 280Z looks a lot like that. Throw some POR15 on it and call it a day. The cowl panel you can replace, or just have it blasted/wirewheeled, and paint it. It does look a little bit worse on the cowl panel, but it might just be the picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerboy Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 On my 260 I used a fein multimaster to get in there and sand off whatever rust I could before spraying it with an encapsulator. If you remove the wiper motor you can get in there ok. I also drilled out the spot welds for the flap on the passenger side. There is a metal oval shaped piece under there and water collects on the edges which rusts through and appears to be the reason so many passenger floorpans look worse than the drivers side. Lastly if you decide to replace the cowl I have 3 you can choose from cheap. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandermwick Posted October 8, 2011 Author Share Posted October 8, 2011 The pictures are fairly accurate, the cowl panel is much worse. I'll def try to sand/wirewheel whatever rust i can, but its a very awkward area to reach in there. I know there are several rust encapsulators to choose from, but as far as POR15 goes, to they make it in a spray. I think it would be fairly hard reaching all the areas with a brush. Also dangerboy, i may be interested in your cowls, how much you looking for and what are the conditions of them (i think mine might be bent or something cause it's lower that the fenders are and looks really bad) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rturbo 930 Posted October 8, 2011 Share Posted October 8, 2011 i think mine might be bent or something cause it's lower that the fenders are and looks really badGot any pics of this? Might be normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandermwick Posted October 10, 2011 Author Share Posted October 10, 2011 Got any pics of this? Might be normal. The first pic is without it screwed back down to its normal resting height. Looks fairly level. Still a little off. The second pic is of my putting pressure on it like it was screwed down. This is how it looked before I took it off. At least a 1/2 inch lower than the fender. So, do you think that's normal? I could problem add some sort of padding or a washer or something to keep it at a level height. My hood flaps (that's what i call them) are misshapen as well, i dont think you can tell from the pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rturbo 930 Posted October 10, 2011 Share Posted October 10, 2011 No, that's not normal. That's way off. I was thinking it was only 1/8" or so. Either something is a poorly made aftermarket piece, or there's something wrong with your Z, I'd say (guessing)... but I can't imagine what. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.