I was wondering how you guys dealed with surface rust in the cowl area, I have no holes thankfully due to the car being inside for the past 25 years, but, some pretty good surface scale, engine bay has already been painted so, I was wondering how to best deal with it .

I know, project was stalled for a few years and I painted the bay a long time ago while the engine was out.

Well going thru this cause my son cuda is being done. Did before painting. So is the car apart or together ? you could still take care of it IMO . Not sure all bad it is, you could scotch brite, sand whatever. Wipe down, clean /prep for paint. Tape off good, spray, need a very small gun or air brush to get into spots. Not that you see it, so you could brush some of the spots that you can see.

Car is together, have to keep it somewhat mobile where i live. I was thinking of using a Dremel with a small wire wheel and my hand, use some vinegar on rags to get the harder spots, then some por 15 or the like. No holes just some surface scale. Still have not figured how to get those cursed wiper arms off and i have the Service manual!!

Should be tons of fun in late august!! in a not so well ventilated garage!!

INO you now have to fix an ut-oh , like the Idea of of the POR-15 that is the type of repair it is designed for (paint over rust). again IMO the process should be reach as far as you can with wire brush and wire brush the inside of the cowl ,blow it out with air, then wire your brush on to a sturdy but flexible rod (round) plastic dowl usually sold in hardware stores) and get to deep hard to reach areas and again blow it out. POR-15 is made to paint over rust so its not like painting the outside of a car,.now a little pre accident thinking and planning. mask off your cowl to firewall seam really well,POR-15 is thin and runs really easy, do not want it to run threw you seam and all over your pain.(if it does wipe it immediately with prep clean ) make sure you use gloves and long sleeve shirt and i would paint with a foam brushput on 2 coats read instructions first ,i think its `1/2 hour between coats. i also recomend to have the color of your engine compartment handy and paint it on about 15 to 20 minutes after second coat that way it will make a chemical bond to the POR-15.

Great Idea and thinking with the round rod, I have a older dremmel kit that has a extension wand like that, also small airbrush for hard to reach areas. Really appreciate the post.

You'll need to take special precautions where your drain flap area of the cowl is...It'll be tricky to get enough coating in that area without it running out and over your finished paint.. You should have another person on damage control even with careful masking..

Would be a good indicator of "open" seams. Would also "seal" any tiny openings. If you do the por-15 thing: apply it 1st to any corner areas inside that have seams or overlapping metal. Nice to have any type of squirt bottle with a long nozzle on it. Do the flat areas last.