Rust on Front Cowl (Windshield Wiper Panel) Repair?

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stingray427

10 Year 15 Year
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Hello,

I just bought another FJ62 and this one has a very rusty panel (I think its called the cowl) and it needs to be replaced. For reference, I am talking about the part that is between the back of the hood and the bottom of the windshield, that has the air vents and wiper blades, etc.

Is this a bolt on piece? If not any words of advice on how to repair would be great.

Thanks!
 
I have the same problem on my 90 FJ62. I have not been having much luck with finding that part. I did a patch to close the hole but I would rather replace the piece. Good luck.
 
Well, I haven't had to do this, but I have had my rig apart enough to take a guess. If I were doing it, I'd take the fenders off and the windshield out and remove the piece with the rust starting at the seam underneath the windshield gasket forward to the seam under the back edge of the hood and replace it with one from a wrecking yard. If you get the one from the wrecking yard first, you will have a really good idea of what it takes to get it off before you do yours.

Unless you have some experience with welding sheet metal, it's probably going to be one for the body shop, painful as that may be. If you do this, make sure you check for rust around the cabin air inlet that is under there, and reseal the seams around it.
 
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I finally got a reply from cruiser parts regarding this item. They advise that they have the part for $70.00. They also advise that it is a weld on part and will need the services of a body shop.
 
same issue - FJ60 1986

I know this is an old thread but I have the same exact problem. Would any of you who had this done have some more information? Pictures?

How much did it cost?

Did it work?

What did you find out?

What did the shop say?

It looks like to me that the cowl is connected to the windshield?

I need to do this soon as the rust has created a hole in the cowl and I could see water draining down there causing more issues.

Thanks,
 
whoa...

Holy cow!

That is a crazy thread. Thank you for posting it. I just bought a FJ60 on a whim and it has some rust issues. Reading through the thread you posted is certainly eye opening. It looks like fixing it will cost more than I paid for the truck.

I think for my sanity I will just enjoy the vehicle for a while before worrying about the rust on the cowl. :)

Thanks again.
 
Bedford said:
Holy cow!

That is a crazy thread. Thank you for posting it. I just bought a FJ60 on a whim and it has some rust issues. Reading through the thread you posted is certainly eye opening. It looks like fixing it will cost more than I paid for the truck.

I think for my sanity I will just enjoy the vehicle for a while before worrying about the rust on the cowl. :)

Thanks again.
Click to expand...


welcome

yeah, I came to that understanding sometime ago.
I have spent quite a bit of $$ so far, and the body is still ugly (but will fix that as per my thread in my sig). More money to go yet

BUT

Think about buying a brand new FJ Cruiser for $65,000 so shiny and what. Then think about driving it out on the rocks where FJ60s go. It will go, but you will be worried about every scratch. Am I right?

For less than 1/3 to 1/2 that cost, you can get a good FJ-60 restored and ready for another 25 to 30 years of life, and enjoy the hobby of fixing it up.

FWIW, that is my mental view of working on this rig. The Journey is more than half the fun. AND I can work on this thing. Couldn't move a wrench on a FJ Cruiser for the life of me.

dougbert
 
FWIW, that cowl, Top and inner panel were at one time avail from Toyota. I doubt if they still are, but if someone wants to give Beno a call to find out, and if you really need it, there ya go ...

55701-90A35 Vent Panel

55700-90A57 Cowl Assy
 
There are a lot of spot welds to drill out on the two side panels. Then there is a ton of them to drill out on the cowl its self. It can be done with a little time and hard work. Good thing that I had a spare body with a good cowl to replace the old one with cancer.

Body Work
Finally decided to take off a week and get some work done on the cruiser. Started some body work, decided to take the cowl off of the red body and replace it with the brown one. This is due to a lot of rust in the a-pillar on the red one. The cowling came off pretty good and hopefully the other one will go back on just as easy.
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price check out of toyota in Texas: $2100

dougbert
 
so the 2100 was just for the part? or work too?

The cowl has pretty bad rust around one wiper. It looks like the rust spread from there around one side of the windshield and then inside the front door window some. I am not sure how much is surface vs deep cancer.

I found these guys talking about it (or someone posted it already):

https://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-wagons/82679-rust-bubble-repair.html

I am at best an amateur mechanic so I do not see myself welding or doing body work. I am going to take it to a place here in Jax and see what they say price-wise. I will want to save every penny I can so if there is hard labor I will try it. I would rather spend cash on a new Transmission than rust.

If nothing else I will find some product and delay the rust as long as I can.

I almost didnt buy this truck because of the rust. I still think it was the wrong thing to do. However, I couldn't be happier with this truck.

When I get enough posts to be able to post pictures I will put some pictures up to get a few more opinions from here.

Thanks for the feedback. This is a great site.
 
I had this problem.. You can get the cowling from from cruiser parts. I think it was around a hundred bucks or so but the labor is pretty intensive. I had a through and through hole on the passengers side. I sprayed phosphate inside to neutralize rust internally and repaired and refinished with body putty. The labor was beyond my patience, desire and possibly skill to do myself. Not sure if I solved the problem. Only time will tell. Sometimes the easiest solution is the best solution.
 
Bedford said:
so the 2100 was just for the part? or work too?
Click to expand...

that was just the part thru a toyota dealer I got via quick google search. Obviously it would be cheaper thru beno or CDan. I just wanted a ball park figure for that ONE ITEM. The side vents were $285 each.

So used would be cheaper with some more due searching.

dougbert
 
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