Rust Repair

[Kurt]

The area where the hood hinge attaches to the cowl on my 66 Commander is weakened by rust. When the torsion rods are attached, hood alignment is impossible, because the hinge pulls away from the cowl. The drivers side is where the problem is. The passenger side is in good condition. This is one of those places, that is nearly impossible to get to, so I am not sure how to proceed. I have some ideas, like cutting an access hole in the cowl, etc. Has anyone dealt with this before? Thanks in advance.

[Mike Sal]

It will be interesting to hear what others have done for this common rust area, but I think cutting the big hole, patching, then closing it up is the way I'd approach it.

BTW, would you share your vin / body number with me? I'm trying to create a registry for all '66 cars. I'm in southern, Illinois. I have two '66 commanders.
Mike Sal

[50Ragtop]

I agree with Mike. Cutting out the rust and welding in fresh metal is the only way to really fix it. Be sure to clean out the drains - what happened was they got clogged with leaves and water sat in there. If you want a sinister look, you could always remove the hood hinges entirely and attach the hood with 4 hood pins. If you want something original, you're welding in a new piece. i don't think backing it up with something will be easy or guaranteed effective.

[Deaf Mute]

After the patch is in place.... make sure EVERYTHING and all holes line up. It could be a real pain getting that hood lined up the first time. It is bad enough with no changes made in the cowl!

[candbstudebakers]

years back my son in law had a 65 cruiser that came from New York and it had the same problem but on the pass. side, since I had a yard full of cars he cut a good one out of an old 64 and then cut out the bad section on his 65, then fitted and welded it back in, after that since in some places he could not go at to grind out real nice he used JP Weld on the joint to smooth it out some , worked fine until the day we put it to rest, body out lived the frame, engine was a built up hot 283 it ended up in New Zealand.