I'm going to repaint the cowl under the windshield on my 68' cutlass and need to remove the lower windshield chrome trim piece (right above the top of the cowl). The screws for this (all 7 or 8 of them) are so rusted that they are seized and I've already tried PB blaster, but no luck. I'm going to have to drill them out so I needed to know if anyone knows the size of these screws so I can go purchase some nice stainless ones at the hardware store. I'm afraid that after drilling them out, I won't get a decent one to use as reference for thread size. Any help would be awesome!

 

The cowl trim is actually stainless steel - as is the rest of the windshield reveal trim. The screws you're talking about are available aftermarket. In Line Tube has them
Pn# - INL10602 -14pc $12.00 Set

If you drill them out use the smallest bit you can to avoid enlarging the holes.

 

Good deal. Yes, I planned on using the smallest bit to get those bad boys out. Thanks!

 

I hate to say this, but be prepared to find rust holes under the stainless.

 

Very likely, but you never know till it's off. Could be isolated to just a few.

 

70Post (Patton Glade) got these for me. I bet he can give them to you for a break over what the other vendors charge.

 

Thanks for the heads-up. What did he charge you?

 

Yea, I'm afraid of this. We'll see.....

 

Used correctly heat can be your friend here. Heat with propane or butane. Don’t get it hot enough to discolor the metal or warp it. About 5-10 seconds followed by a cold water quench. Do this a few times. You can use heat putty or encircle the screw with wet rag to prevent the heat from walking around. Its all in the technique. Try to find one of those small butane mini torches. They work well for this vs a standard plumbers propane/mapp bernzomatic style.
Then insert a screwdriver into the screw head and gently tap with a small ballpeen hammer. Repeat as needed until they give up. The above method used with patience and PB-Blaster or Kroil should break them loose.

 

Depending on how much rust, you can still fabricate new metal in there and drill the proper holes for the screws. Don't be discouraged by the thought of rust - just be prepared for it. On a 44 year old car rust is just inevitable. Hopefully it hasn't been stored under a tarp for the last 5 years....How does the rest of the body look? You can likely gage the 'damage' under the cowl trim by the overall condition of known rust areas on these cars.

 

I do have a small butane torch, so I might go this route before drilling. Thanks for the instructions and help. I really appreciate it.

 

The car is in great shape...7 out of 10 I'd say. I do know of a few spots of body filler though and the top passenger side of the cowl has been patched as well. My current plan is to completely clean, patch if necessary and rust proof the cowl, including the inside of it. I know you can purchase the whole upper cowl for around $350, but too much of a pain at this point to replace the whole thing. I'll see exactly what I get into once I get stuff apart. Thanks again!

 

Try making a slot with a cutoff wheel and than use an exact matching flat screw driver.

 

yep, I used this method with a dremel many times and the flat blade screwdriver takes the screws out. no damage to the holes and you still have the screw, albeit with a slot in a now.

 

I may try this method as well.

Thanks to all you guys for the great and very helpful advise. You've made my job easier. Now all I have to do is find the time to make it to the garage to work on the thing!