Who does cowel repairs?

I have my dash out so I think this would be a good time to have my cowels repaired professionally. I don't have the skill or time to do it myself. Do I go to a body shop or restoration shop...?

 

It's hard to say, some body shops don't do rust work these days, around here that would be considered rust work. A small restoration shop may take it on. You might try and find a donor piece first, that would be the easiest way to repair it, not much fabrication work that way.

 

should I go junkyarding for the cowel or is it something the shop can repair without donor metal?

 

ITs getting tough to find a body shop for that kind of work. Seems they all want collision only around here. Our body shop for example would take it on but it would be put on the back burner everytime a collision job came in. They dont have a choice. Insurance companies are real tight with rental car time a repair deadlines now a days. That cowl job would take easy a month or two at our place.
You would be better with a shop that deals with old cars/resto type work in my opinion. Wont be cheap. Its a ton of labor.

 

Post some pictures so we can see how bad they are

 

I have some cowl panel in good condition. I can cut out any section you need.

PM me if interested.

Happy New Year!!
Rick

 

I have these pics from the passenger side, there was an attempt to fix it in the past but not really effective.

 

i agree with the others, it's mainly collision repair/insurance jobs/ and minor fixes around here. not many people do general rust/metal work anymore.

-i being an entirely novice welder/body guy i would say go for it if it's not to bad a job. that is if time allows

 

1-2 months of work seems like a very long time. I'm expecting somewhere in the $1000-1500 range but I guess if it takes that much time it would be worth it. I tried covering the cowels and still plenty of water would come in. The car is soaked after a rain inside. I also have water dripping into the trunk and I don't know from where, the front and rear windshields are brand new.

 

I wouldn't mind tackling it but I have no space to work on it, don't think I have the skill necessary to do it well. Also really hard finding time to do it too.

Ok so what if I get full coverage insurance on my car (I think I already do) then can I go to a shop and say hey my cowels are leaking, fix it!

 

1-2 months at our place only cause it would sit a lot till they had nothing to do. It would be used as a filler job. Thats why I'd suggest a resto type business.

Did you seal the front a rear glass to the seal. My rear glass leaked cause I missed a spot between the glass and rubber.

 

Check your trunk gasket. They get mashed down over time and leak.

 

Ship it out here and I will do it for you!!

 

From looking at the pictures, I would surely plan on drilling the spot welds out and removing the outside cowl cover. With that temporary repair, you really don't know how bad the damage really is unless you remove the first repair

 

Mo

How long can I have the car ???????????

Can you get the parts?????????????????

Call me 951 533 9778


Jay