Mustang Cowl Removal

[1991RWHP]

Has anyone had to remove the cowl on their foxbody(The rectangular piece in between the front fenders, and between the windshield and the back of the hood. Where that little cowl grill sits, the wipers come out of it.

ANYWAYS...


If anyone has removed it and has tips, please let me know. I need to take one off, but i don't know the best way to approach it. Any tips and advice i will be very thankful for.

 

[Kensgt]

it's been awhile but all I remember doing was unscrewing the screws and taking off the wiper arms and it came right off.

 

[silver1983gt5.0]

the cowl cover or the cowl?

 

[1991RWHP]

The actual sheetmetal that goes across from fender to fender. The plastic " cowl grill " screws into it.

 

[Beasty306GT]

thats a big job...if u dont have the right tools and experence... its goin to turn into a headache quick...do a search theres a few threads on here ...IMO its better left for a body shop

 

[1991RWHP]

That is totally NOT what i wanted to hear. Money doesnt permit me to taking it to a bodyshop, hence why i want to do it myself.

 

[NotchAbove]

I have seen it done, you may want to check the Corral. It can be done. You will need to be able to weld and drill out spot welds. I'll see if I can find it for you.

EDIT:
http://forums.stangnet.com/760711-cowl-removal-progress-thread.html

 

[1991RWHP]

Awesome, that thread helps a ton. Its going to be fun putting it in, thats for sure. Getting it off a donor car will be the biggest PITA. Thanks for all the help! Any other tips or anything anyone knows of, please let me know. I appreciate all the help!

 

[NotchAbove]

Lets see a pic of yours..lol..what happened to it ?

 

[1991RWHP]

4 inch cowl hood, flew up on me while driving ... smashed the $h1t out of the cowl area. Hood let loose off the hinges and went flying. Ill get pix up, thankfully i had the grill portion off so it didn't destroy that too!

 

[4G-KDMP]

I'll assume aftermarket hood didn't latch properly and that was the cause?

 

[1991RWHP]

Yea, and now i have to go through all of this crap. Such a PITA for bad luck!

 

[Cobra912]

well I had my steel hood come up at 60mph, almost crashed and it destroyed my cowl cover, brand new autometer phantom gauge and cowl sheetmetal. I banged it out from underneath and used some filler. Doesn't look too bad. I did this after looking at what was involved in replacing it!

 

[1991RWHP]

I don't want to have to deal with the filler and all that other BS. Its a project car of mine, so i figure i will try and do it right. I'm getting a new cowl piece off a notch that getting parted out, so i can learn on that one first. There is no doubt its going to be a PITA, but i just hope it will all work out in the end. Worst case, ill just screw the donor cowl into place on my car... given i don't have a welder.

 

[silver1983gt5.0]

Ahhh yes the ol cowl hood fly up trick. It happened to me a year ago and two other people i know as well. popular problem it seems when i did it it came up broke the cowl cover bent the cowl and put two nice dents in the roof as well as a cracked windsheild.

 

[4G-KDMP]

Yea, and now i have to go through all of this crap. Such a PITA for bad luck!

Just curious... but did you dbl check to make sure the hood was closed / locked into place or did you just close the hood and assume the hood was locked/ closed and then if flew up?

 

[1991RWHP]

I made sure it was closed and locked. The hood release just gave up and let the hood fly. Good thing i was only going like 30MPH, but it still sucks.

 

[4G-KDMP]

That can happen, thanks!