Any tips for 84 FJ60 blower motor removal?

[84FJCruiser]

My truck is leaking. Water comes in from slated opening between hood and bottom of windshield and instead of draining properly, drains partially into cabin. Looks like leaks are behind blower motor. Looks like a relatively easy removal but figured I would ask for help / tips before wrenching. Couldnt find threads or videos for removal. Any tips? I opened access panels along top of firewall and removed a TON of debris...now it leaks worse . Anybody dealt with this issue before?

 

[3_puppies]

there are drains that are by the door hinges, inside the fender, are they clear?

 

[84FJCruiser]

there are drains that are by the door hinges, inside the fender, are they clear?

I think SOME water is getting through but maybe theres another rust hole around the drain tubes. Water comes from fender area (as well as in cabin) when I pour into cowels. I will check for drains later today. Not sure how the drains could be clear, based on the hand-fulls of debris I pulled from cowl area behind wiper motor and through the access panel on driver side, but who knows!

At this point, I pulled the glove box and identified a BUNCH of rust and thin metal along side of blower motor area. My updated thinking is that I should try to seal that with foam or something instead of pulling blower and opening a bigger can of worms...but thinking is still evolving and I know thats not the "right way". Thanks for your response.

 

[georgebj60]

It's time to pull the front fenders. At least to clear the cowl drains, but also to assess the rust damage and come up with a plan to address it. Pulling the fenders is not that hard, just a lot of bolts and a bit time consuming. The rust repair on the other hand....that might be hard.

 

[georgebj60]

You'll want to seam seal all the joints behind the fenders around the drains and cowl. This is a known source of leaks.

 

[84FJCruiser]

I was afraid of this response Big thanks for the pic @georgebj60. Nice to know what it looks like under there.

My rig was just painted (prior to me purchasing it) and had body work done. Wish they had done this along the way!

I think I need to put a bandaid on it (lots of rain in S. FL even during dry season) and make plans for a bigger project before rainy season starts.

Thanks for the input @georgebj60 and @3_puppies. This forum is an amazing resource!

Onward.