The Green Monster

Of all the cars I have parted, I have had ONE that factory AC and a vent on the driver's side. I just figured it was an error as well.

Here is a picture comparing the driver's side fresh air vent on a 1970-1973 car (bottom) to a 1973-1977 style (top).

 

Thanks for the pictures Craig! I think the bottom is the type on my car. That being said, either one of them wud require a hat in the cowl to route air in pass compartment?

 

the hat in the cowl is for keeping the water out.

 

Yes it would require a hat.

 

Green Monster progress update:

While waiting on some parts to come in, Poppa Randy has been working on the interior rear quarter skins some more.
He patched and sanded some holes and finished rebuilding the top corner. Now this one is ready for covering. We got some heavy black vinyl with a leather grain appearance.


The passenger side cowl patch panel arrived!

Couldn't find one for a Maverick/Comet specifically. This one we got is close enough, its for the first generation Mustang and will need some trimming and some massaging to fit. Here they are side by side:


The next step is to drill out some more spot welds and cut out the bad section like this:

This is what's left:

With old and new side by side on the bench, we could tell there would be lots of trimming and pounding.


Test fit, then more trimming, test fit, then pounding, test fit....you get the idea.

Near the end of the fit process, when the trimming was done, I used a pair of Kleins to roll up the lead edge to match the factory cowl pan:

I think we may be ready to weld it in place:

We ended cutting off this much of the Spectra aftermarket passenger side panel:

With the cowl cover off, the cutting took less than an hour for the side we did today.
The trim, pound, test, trim, pound test process took about 3 hours.

 

Make sure you leave enough pitch....and a way.....for the water to get out of the cowl.

 

Drainage is a primary consideration.

 

Where does the water exit the cowl ? Don't see any drainage holes!

 

There are pathways that lead to the sides and down. You just have to make sure everything is still sloped for drainage while you are pounding with the hammer to make the panel fit.

The entire cowl design is bad, the drainage pathways are not designed to accommodate or prevent or clean out any dirt.
The cowl grille lets dirt and leaves and pine straw get into the pan and chokes the drains.
The dirt/leaves/etc holds water against metal and causes rust.
Once the cowl gets perforated, the floor boards and toe boards are next.

On my 70 non A/C car both sides had some rust. The driver side was much worse. This is the bad one:

Water is supposed to drain out near the bigger hole near the center/bottom of the picture and drop down the inside of the fender and out on the road.

You can see the arched drain opening about 4 inches to the left and down from where I am drilling.


My 75 donor car with A/C was the opposite, the passenger side was really bad and the driver side only had a little rust.

 

Green Monster project update:

The Monster's cowl rust repair progress.

before:


now:


I still have one patch to add on the side, and a few small holes to fill. then some "adjusting" with a hammer to make sure the saddles lay back down correctly.

This is the first thing I have ever welded.

I practiced for 20 minutes on a couple pieces of scrap first.

 

awesome, well worth the effort!

 

Looks great keep up the good work

 

You removed the factory drains. You need to put a "drain" back in the cowl or the water won't be able to get out.

 

I'm not finished, the drains will still be out the side near the front similar to factory. The Mustang patch panels have a different design from the Maverick that needs adjusting, but water will still drain out the side near the front. here's a pic of the 2 side by side:



I still have to do some massaging on the new metal with a big hammer to make sure the saddles sit back in the same spots. That downward slope needs to be beat down some to drain water out the side towards the front.

It's all in an area that will never be seen again so what matters is 1. structural strength 2. water tight. 3. proper drainage. 4. windshield and body panels fit back on correctly.

I had to wait to adjust it until it was welded in most of the way. The car has to hold it for me at just the right angle.

It's nice to get back to work on the Maverick after several months on the back burner.

 

Ready and waiting...