Anybody out there ever done this repair before? Im talking about the piece of sheet metal that begins at the front of the dash, then becomes the lower windshield channel and finally ends up as a the approx. 1 inch wide piece of body color sheetmetal behind the cowl vent. Is there any place that i can get the metal lugs (theylook like the head of a nail) that were spot welded to the original piece to hold on the W/S trim. Has anybody had any problems with the fitment of the repro goodmark or dynacorn piece? It looks like a good repro, but that doesn't really mean anything. Any tricks or specific problems associated with removal of the old or installing the new? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

I would not attempt this unless it was very bad. A few holes here and there can be welded. They sell screw in studs for the molding clips on Ebay. Just drill a hole and screw it in to shoulder of screw. If you will attempt to do the whole channel from a parts car the studs will already be there for clips or if a repro or home made part will be used you could weld them from behind before install.

 

Have you done this repair before? Mine is a total lost cause, My only option is to completely replace it. Is it really that difficult? Ive already removed the winshield and gutted the dash.

 

I have not done this before but I have just finished patching that area on my 67 and would not want to do what you are planning but if it is a must then what else can be done....I am sure it can be done....Do you have the piece to go there or will it be made?? I have a 4dr for parts if you need something like that.

 

Thanks for the offer, but I bought the repro part a couple of years ago, it looks like its prety spot on, but ill only know for sure once i cut the old one off. Im finally going to start on it next weekend. I originally just wanted to fix the holes that were on the ends of this piece, but once i got the Windshield out, It was much worse than I thought.

 

It can be done I had sections to replace

how is the cowl section underneath?

if at all possible use sections of the new channel the less metal desturbed the better

 

I would not recommend using the screw-in studs. That's just asking for a water leak and more rust. There's a reason why the factory did not drill holes in the channel. Have the studs welded on using a stud welder.

 

Wes
The underneath of my cowl is okay, i may try to just use sections, but the holes are mainly inside of the window channel part, so it may not work to just section the repro part. Im going to do a good asessment tonight and figure out a strategy.

Joe
I was thinking the same thing about the screw in studs. Would a body shop supply store sell the factory style studs? I've never seen them for sale before. I Was thinking of drilling a hole that would tightly fit each stud and tack welding it on the inside. I would think one tack would seal the hole. And then i'd por-15 the studs on the topside where they enter the hole. As i dont have a stud welder at this point.