in my 49 f1, the bottom of the lower cowl area in front of the door pillar is open to the ground. we are replacing the front lower door pillar and outer cowl. we still will have a open hole from cab to the ground. are we missing something? should we close off that area in some way? thanks, dick r.

 

Originally I believe there was a square piece of sheet metal with its corners cut off about an inch above the bottom. So water could drain out, but it strengthened it. At least that's what it looked like on mine.

Or I should say, I found the remains of that inside mine. The PO thoughtfully stuffed newspaper in there for whatever reason, which absorbed water and rusted the stiffener to pieces...

 

thanks (again) ross, that makes a lot of sense. we want to do something to keep most of the water out, but allow some drainage. nothing seems to be left at all in mine. dick r.