[Ripped]

I went by a couple of body shop supply stores, which recommend a metal cleaner degreaser and then hose it off.

The problem with that, is I am working inside of the car, if I wash the cleaner off with water, the water is going to find it's way into all kinds of nooks and crannies.

I might be able to dry out 75% of them with air and a heat gun, after that there is going to be water sitting, creating rust or a problem of moisture.

What can i do to properly and safely prepare these inside areas for primer, without wetting everything down.

I have thinners, acetone, alcohol. Those might be acceptable, possibly?

[baddbob]

When you say under cowl panel you mean under the cowl vent panel that's located behind the hood? If I remember right the mustang doesn't have a removable cowl vent panel.

[Ripped]

I mean if I lay down on my back with my head where the drivers feet would be, and look up, I see the underside of the cowl, and back of the dash, which apparently was never primed from the factory

I sandblasted with my light sandblaster, cleaning up a lot of flash rust, and minor surface rust on the inside of the firewall.

I want to prep the metal without water washing it, and acid etch primer, so it's protected until I can epoxy prime it.

[baddbob]

I would just use regular wax and grease remover followed by primer. If you don't want to mask the car for primer and need to get something on there fast to protect the metal you could brush some epoxy on these areas for now. Brushing the primer on may sound kinda crude but hell who is going to stand on their head and look up there anyway? Bob

[66GMC]

Originally Posted by Ripped

I mean if I lay down on my back with my head where the drivers feet would be, and look up, I see the underside of the cowl, and back of the dash, which apparently was never primed from the factory

I sandblasted with my light sandblaster, cleaning up a lot of flash rust, and minor surface rust on the inside of the firewall.

I want to prep the metal without water washing it, and acid etch primer, so it's protected until I can epoxy prime it.

Well .... here's what I plan to do... but I'm no expert by any means.

I have completely stripped EVERYTHING out of my pickup cab (including the windshield, BTW) and have sandblasted (lightly) everywhere that I possibly can. It really didn't take a lot of blasting as interior paint comes off pretty easy. I laid on my back on the floor and got the underside of the dash too.

My cab is stored indoors, so flash-rusting is going to be a very slow process I hope. Just before I'm ready to prime and paint, I plan to make another very quick pass with the sandblaster to make sure that it's clean.

Then I'll use some "Extend" (Rust Mort, POR15) in all of the impossible to reach spots to hopefully seal off any rust that I may have missed.

The epoxy primer that I'm using (Endura EP-FD) has a 2-hour to 7-day topcoat window before you have to scuff-sand. Endura claims that it can be applied directly onto freshly sand-blasted surfaces withou having to use any etching primers.

I've tried, and am fairly pleased with those little "Preval" sprayers ... which allow you to mix up activated paints / primers and spray them just like a small rattle-can. They work quite well for getting into small areas ... as long as you can hold the spray bomb at a 45° angle or less. I may even use a small brush for the hidden crevices as Bob has suggested.

So the plan is to use the Preval for the "inconspicuous" areas, followed by the big gun to do the finish work with.

[Quadzilla(EFI)]

I'm wondering about the external cowl panel on a vehicle that is not removeable. I'm in the process of prepping my '78 Ford Bronco and see no way of getting to the area behind the hood at the base of the windshield. Any hints?

Dennis

[Ripped]

I don't know how the bronco is, compared to the mustang

http://www.stephanies-mustang.com/cowl2.htm

the 'stangs are bad, for cowls. I have a good one only the tin rings were rusty. Mine were cut out.

My cowl was sandblasted somewhat, I have to blow the sand out of there.
I think I am going to make a number of pieces of long stiff wire, with foam or small rags attached to the end.

I can shoot them through the cowl drains and through the vent holes underneath, while they are coated with zero rust or similar product.

Most of the rust occurs on the stang, around the tin rings, so I'll coat that area well

[cruzinTLT]

Check the POR-15 website. They make a wand that is basically a wire with a big "Q-tip" at the end for reaching those type areas. They offer different sizes, so hopefully one would meet your needs