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  1. #1

    Default Cowl / Hood Hinge rust issue

    Hello Everyone,

    I'm looking at picking up a '79 Fairmont Coupe, but this one issue has me stumped. Overall the body is in great shape, but it appears that the hood hinge on the right side suffered some rust. I'm attaching some pictures of it. Welding doesn't scare me. Is this area the same on pretty much ALL fox cars? Meaning if I found a mustang in the boneyard, could I cut this area our and weld it into my car? Is this area reachable if I remove the plastic piece for the wipers? I'm a bit concerned that that I could weld in a new piece, but leave the backside exposed, which would, of course, lead to it rusting again.

    What are everyone's thoughts on this? Is this serviceable or should I pass on this car?

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  2. #2
    FEP Super Member
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    May 2003
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    Roseburg Oregon
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    See in your picture , all the crap inside the cowl ?
    That is what caused it to rust.
    I dont know for certain, but believe you could use a mustang hinge pocket to repair .
    Should have no problem getting behind there and dealing it up .
    clowns to the left of me , Jokers to the right

  3. #3
    FEP Super Member
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    May 2003
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    Roseburg Oregon
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    See in your picture , all the crap inside the cowl ?
    That is what caused it to rust.
    I dont know for certain, but believe you could use a mustang hinge pocket to repair .
    Should have no problem getting behind there and dealing it up .
    clowns to the left of me , Jokers to the right

  4. #4

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    "Hinge Pocket" that's the term I was looking for - thank you!

    How accessible is the back of this area though?

  5. #5
    FEP Senior Member Greywolf's Avatar
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    Jul 2007
    Location
    Richmond, ME
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    I had a car that was worse in that corner, and had to be scrapped. The rust went from there, and basically separated the firewall from the door hinge brackets. I didn't find it until I removed the fender.
    The cowl area is a box and the only reasonable access is getting your hands into that plastic grill, or possibly through the heater fan housing.
    That's the bad news.

    The good news is, that hinge pocket is a separate stamping, and is spot-welded to the backside of the cowl/firewall stamping. I don't know how well you could get a welder in there, but spraying it with a preservative after repairing from the front wouldn't be too hard.
    If you can, remove the fender and look at the metal from the hinge pocket, down the metal forward of the door hinge. That one doesn't look as bad as the one I had, but better to be sure before you buy it or do a lot of work on it. Mine could possibly have been repaired, but 20 years ago as a college student, it made much less sense than switching to a car in better shape. That one was a late 1977 (1978 model year) Fairmont wagon (had a different hood prop and a bunch of little oddball differences from the usual F/Z bits) so in current day I would have tried to save it.
    Last edited by Greywolf; 09-24-2018 at 08:51 AM.

  6. #6

    Default

    Greywolf - Thank you very much for your detailed response. It helps me a great deal when I think about this car. I'll see if I can get more detailed info on it to better make a decision.

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