[theastronaut]

After fixing the grill gaps I moved to the passenger side cowl. The bottom edge had rust in it that I had already cut out. I pulled string to determine where to fold the bottom edge to match the body line in the door.






The aluminum c-channel was used to align the cowl skin at the correct depth compared to the hood and cowl before welding it in place.




The edges were tweaked to even out the gaps.




I had welded up the antenna hole earlier but there was some distortion from not being able to planish out the welds. With the cowl cut open I now had access to the back side. I smoothed out the welds on the back side using a mini belt sander, then planished the welds to level the surface.










I always try to place weld seams where I have access to the back side for grinding and planishing, but the weld seam for the cowl made that a challenge. There is a hole in the upper kick panel that opens up into the cowl cavity and I was able to barely reach into it to hold a dolly and still reach the outer panel with a hammer. Grinding the welds flat on the inside between rounds of tacking/planishing wasn't as easy, I had to lay on my back with limited visibility and very little room to maneuver a grinder inside the cavity.














Contour of the panel was retained by planishing the weld dots- no flat spot from weld shrinkage.




Checking the alignment with c-channel after welding the panel in.