steel cowl vent covers for a 65.

[65fastbackresto]

I know Rusty did this while back in one of his threads.

I am wanting to smooth the cowl area by covering it with steel plates and bodyworking them in. I`m curious what I`m getting into. A buddy has a cnc machine, we are testing today to see what thickness of steel (testing 10 gauge to 14 gauge today) will give the least skim coat of filler after they are laid in the cowl vent holes. After we determine the correct thickness I`ll have to buy a whole sheet to get my 6 little peices of cowl vent cover out of. I`ll have a bunch of steel and can sell these things pretty cheap if anyone wants them.

If anyone knows of potential issues caused by covering these holes let me know, I just want it to look good but not cause any other issues.

 

[bartl]

Biggest thing I can think of is no more fresh air source for the vents and heater. Also, opening a window in the car just a bit would create a huge negative pressure situation and suck gases through any holes present. Now if there was a way to open up the cowl sides and attach a bracket that would hold a removable and replaceable filter element, accessible through the rear splash shields, that would be cool.

 

[iskwezm]

I welded mine up about 6 years ago and have not noticed any negative air pressure or whaterver it is.The cowel is not airtight, so the heater would still work(mine is removed).I just cut up a old door from a 66' and used that metal

 

[tweet66]

I did this in my 66 coupe about 15 yrs ago. I ran a 4" flexible tube out the firewall, under the front wheel well, just above the front tire. This is a low pressure area that gives me enough air to run the heater. Not quite as efficient as the cowl, but Jersey gets a little too cold to eliminate the heater....

 

[mtaqua]

did it, don't notice negative p when I open the window. I also welded the cowl openings under the dash close (drilled a couple small hole to drain moisture). I did get rid of the heater too.

 

[65fastbackresto]

Good feedback, thanks guys

Iskwerm, that looks good, thanks for the tip about using old panels, I have alot of test panels I`ve scrapped together over the last 5 years. I noticed you said you welded yours up? I planned on laying the pieces in using panal to panel 2k adhesive, and bondo over the top, this sound right?

 

[rusty428cj]

Good feedback, thanks guys

Iskwerm, that looks good, thanks for the tip about using old panels, I have alot of test panels I`ve scrapped together over the last 5 years. I noticed you said you welded yours up? I planned on laying the pieces in using panal to panel 2k adhesive, and bondo over the top, this sound right?

I use panel adhesive

 

[mtaqua]

I welded, but probably would do adhesive if I did it again.