How do you clean the leaves and pine needles from cowl
11-10-2017, 12:43 AM
#1
How do you clean the leaves and pine needles from cowl
I have a 1979 F-150 where the cowl (vents between the hood and windshield) are loaded up with leaves and pine needles.
Does anyone know a trick to get those things out of there? I've been using long needle nose pliers but can't get them all out.
Thank you
Does anyone know a trick to get those things out of there? I've been using long needle nose pliers but can't get them all out.
Thank you
The following users liked this post:
smirby (05-18-2022)
11-15-2017, 08:43 PM
#2
In the event someone comes across this post looking for the answer, I figured it out.
I used a plastic putty knife to push all the junk to the drivers side of the cowl, as that was easiest to gain access to removing everything.
Then you remove the 4 screws and removing the drivers side fresh air floor vent cover (my 150 has A/C so no drivers side vent). Reach in and up and pull what you can out. If you need more help getting what is still stuck in the upper cowl, I used a paint stirring stick because it was longer and able to push the junk down.
I'm glad that I took the time to do this as I removed several handfuls of leaves and pine needles that the truck accumulated in its 38 years
For good measure, I had to remove the right side components because a a leaky heater core and pull out almost as much stuff.
I hope that this helps someone out
I used a plastic putty knife to push all the junk to the drivers side of the cowl, as that was easiest to gain access to removing everything.
Then you remove the 4 screws and removing the drivers side fresh air floor vent cover (my 150 has A/C so no drivers side vent). Reach in and up and pull what you can out. If you need more help getting what is still stuck in the upper cowl, I used a paint stirring stick because it was longer and able to push the junk down.
I'm glad that I took the time to do this as I removed several handfuls of leaves and pine needles that the truck accumulated in its 38 years
For good measure, I had to remove the right side components because a a leaky heater core and pull out almost as much stuff.
I hope that this helps someone out
Last edited by Joe_B; 11-15-2017 at 08:46 PM.
The following users liked this post:
smirby (05-18-2022)
05-18-2022, 02:52 PM
#3
I had exactly this question this morning and (after using compressed air to get the pine needles all to one side) could NOT figure out how to get that area clean. Thanks SO much for contributing this little gem. Sometimes it is these little things that make such a difference.
05-18-2022, 03:48 PM
#4
OK. An update.
TL;DR - this might be tougher than you think.
On my truck (1978 F150 Ranger Cab on a 1976/77 F250 4X4 chassis and running gear) there are some important caveats to keep in mind. Such big caveats that I gave up on this particular bit of maintenance. Here's the scoop:
Instead of 4 bolts holding the plastic cover on the driver's side lower air vent, there are six. Each bolt is 2 1/2 inches long and quite stout, with a Phillips machine head. You have to imagine what senior engineer authorized this use of fasteners. Talk about "built Ford tough."
The six long bolts are just the start, however. The bottom three and the top outer one are all pretty easy to get to. The middle one on the top is hidden by the parking brake bracket but someone has put an access hole that is sort of in the right place that you can get a screwdriver in there and loosen that fastener. It isn't easy, but you can do it. The sixth? Nu uh. You are NOT getting that out out. It is completely hidden by the parking brake bracket. So much so, they must have put the plastic covers on first, and THEN installed the parking brake.
So... you are going to have to remove the parking brake bracket. Oh well, how hard can that be? Let me tell you...
First, the easiest bolt to reach is attached to the lower front of the dash and has different size fasteners on the outside and the inside. Of course it does. A little 3/8 bolt head on the outside and a beefy 5/8 nut up inside where you will have a hard time seeing it and (because you assume it must be a 3/8 nut), you mess around for a long time trying to get a 3/8 wrench on there. In the end, that one came out. And, it is WAY too long for what it does. Maybe they specified the length of the bolt to accommodate padded dashboards? I don't know, but it is also 2 1/2 inches long.
The back two bolts, much bigger, have round heads and go through the firewall. You can't see them, however, because Ford decided in 1977 (I think) to start adding fender liners. And so the nuts on those bolts are hidden up behind there, and you'll have to either reach up blindly into the little space between the firewall and the fender liner or you are going to be removing the liner (and probably the wheel) so you can see what you are doing.
Did I mention that the upper back bolt on the plastic inside cover is RIGHT beside the fusebox? So close (and, of course it has no cover and is those old fashioned fuses that expose their contacts) that you're pretty much going to either short something out or you will remove the ground from the battery before starting on this project.
Oh yeah. The plastic cover is melded with the metal and has a large "boot" of rubber to seal it off from the cab. Excellent work, Ford. But it adds to the time/drama of this job.
All this to clean the leaves out of the cowl. Incredible.
In the end, I got to the "five bolts removed" stage and one bolt from the e-brake bracket removed and decided that I didn't mind all those pine needles up there and would just leave them there for now. In other words, I gave up, put everything back together, and called it a day.
If anyone has alternative/better suggestions for this project, I'd love to hear them.
TL;DR - this might be tougher than you think.
On my truck (1978 F150 Ranger Cab on a 1976/77 F250 4X4 chassis and running gear) there are some important caveats to keep in mind. Such big caveats that I gave up on this particular bit of maintenance. Here's the scoop:
Instead of 4 bolts holding the plastic cover on the driver's side lower air vent, there are six. Each bolt is 2 1/2 inches long and quite stout, with a Phillips machine head. You have to imagine what senior engineer authorized this use of fasteners. Talk about "built Ford tough."
The six long bolts are just the start, however. The bottom three and the top outer one are all pretty easy to get to. The middle one on the top is hidden by the parking brake bracket but someone has put an access hole that is sort of in the right place that you can get a screwdriver in there and loosen that fastener. It isn't easy, but you can do it. The sixth? Nu uh. You are NOT getting that out out. It is completely hidden by the parking brake bracket. So much so, they must have put the plastic covers on first, and THEN installed the parking brake.
So... you are going to have to remove the parking brake bracket. Oh well, how hard can that be? Let me tell you...
First, the easiest bolt to reach is attached to the lower front of the dash and has different size fasteners on the outside and the inside. Of course it does. A little 3/8 bolt head on the outside and a beefy 5/8 nut up inside where you will have a hard time seeing it and (because you assume it must be a 3/8 nut), you mess around for a long time trying to get a 3/8 wrench on there. In the end, that one came out. And, it is WAY too long for what it does. Maybe they specified the length of the bolt to accommodate padded dashboards? I don't know, but it is also 2 1/2 inches long.
The back two bolts, much bigger, have round heads and go through the firewall. You can't see them, however, because Ford decided in 1977 (I think) to start adding fender liners. And so the nuts on those bolts are hidden up behind there, and you'll have to either reach up blindly into the little space between the firewall and the fender liner or you are going to be removing the liner (and probably the wheel) so you can see what you are doing.
Did I mention that the upper back bolt on the plastic inside cover is RIGHT beside the fusebox? So close (and, of course it has no cover and is those old fashioned fuses that expose their contacts) that you're pretty much going to either short something out or you will remove the ground from the battery before starting on this project.
Oh yeah. The plastic cover is melded with the metal and has a large "boot" of rubber to seal it off from the cab. Excellent work, Ford. But it adds to the time/drama of this job.
All this to clean the leaves out of the cowl. Incredible.
In the end, I got to the "five bolts removed" stage and one bolt from the e-brake bracket removed and decided that I didn't mind all those pine needles up there and would just leave them there for now. In other words, I gave up, put everything back together, and called it a day.
If anyone has alternative/better suggestions for this project, I'd love to hear them.
05-18-2022, 06:14 PM
#5
From the "there's more than one way to skin a cat" department:
It irked me that I gave up on the cowl cleaning so I went back to the problem and took a fresh approach. If the driver side was crazy, what about the passenger side?
The air vent on the passenger side (for the 1978 F150 Ranger, anyway) is completely different. BUT... if you reach up under the dash and feel around close to the top and close to the door, you'll find a large round hole. It feels like it should have a grommet in it, but mine was blocked with a blob of foam rubber (clearly not "factory"). When I pulled out that foam - and the radio antenna wire goes through there, too - I just left it in place - I had a space big enough to get my hand in. Sorta.
Then, what I did was get the ShopVac running and put the hose right up into that hole. Then, I went to the other side of the cowl (where I had already pushed and blown all the needles towards the driver side) and blew them all back to the passenger side and into the suction from the ShopVac.
A good solution. Noisy with both an air compressor and a Shop Vac going. And don't plug them both into one circuit - ask me how I know.
In the end, so many needles blew right out of the cowl while I was trying to blow them back and forth, I think I might just try to hit the cowl with the leaf blower next time and blow them straight out of there.
Oh well. Another Ford adventure.
It irked me that I gave up on the cowl cleaning so I went back to the problem and took a fresh approach. If the driver side was crazy, what about the passenger side?
The air vent on the passenger side (for the 1978 F150 Ranger, anyway) is completely different. BUT... if you reach up under the dash and feel around close to the top and close to the door, you'll find a large round hole. It feels like it should have a grommet in it, but mine was blocked with a blob of foam rubber (clearly not "factory"). When I pulled out that foam - and the radio antenna wire goes through there, too - I just left it in place - I had a space big enough to get my hand in. Sorta.
Then, what I did was get the ShopVac running and put the hose right up into that hole. Then, I went to the other side of the cowl (where I had already pushed and blown all the needles towards the driver side) and blew them all back to the passenger side and into the suction from the ShopVac.
A good solution. Noisy with both an air compressor and a Shop Vac going. And don't plug them both into one circuit - ask me how I know.
In the end, so many needles blew right out of the cowl while I was trying to blow them back and forth, I think I might just try to hit the cowl with the leaf blower next time and blow them straight out of there.
Oh well. Another Ford adventure.
