Hi All

89, 3.0L Shorty

I wanted to replace, or at least tighten up the black ribbed cowl that sits under the winshield, and before the hood - it's loose and it falls down whenever I open the hood, plus it bugs me.

I see that it looks like it was attached with some special sort of clip? - there are like 10 of these to hold it in place - First - How do I remove them all? and Second, can I still get them somewhere since several are missing, etc...

I'd actually love to re-paint this with rustolim black, and also do the wiper arms that are faded - I think that would make them look a LOT better - but making it tight is most important right now.

Thanks

 

Here is an answer for the plastic rivets:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...ng-rivets.html

And good luck finding them locally. I was able to special order them at work but the more I think about it, the more I like JT's idea:

And man, we must be on the same wavelength. I have been in the restoro-mood.

Just a couple weeks ago I pulled all of my wiper arms, sanded them down, and re-painted them in Rustolium Gloss Black. They are a pain to sand down and I made the mistake of not getting all of the old paint off (especially around the rivits.) and you can tell it is uneven, but you do have to look closely to see it. If I was going to re-do it, I would use a chemical paint remover to clean them off instead of sanding to get in all of those nooks and craneys. After they dried they have not been tacky at all if you are worried. And we have had some hot ones here.

As for removal, the front ones are fairly easy. You just lift up the arm all the way, put your hand on the base and there is a little lever you pull on. Pull the whole arm at the same time and they will slide off. If they have never been removed, you might need a flat head screw driver and piece of wood to pry them up.

Now the rear one is real PIA to remove. You have to lift that one up to, then pry a sliding plate out to be able to remove it. Re-installing it is just as much of a PIA, you have to really push down on it and pry the clip back on to lock it back in place.

If you want some pics, let me know and I will get you some.

 

yeah, they want $21 from Cliffs link to buy them, with the shipping - that's almost a buck a PIECE for something that is a use ONCE deal - not that you are doing this every year, but still - JT gets my vote - I wonder what sizes he used for the anchors and screws themselves? - I have a Home Depot right up the street :-)