After a decent storm in socal, I returned from work to my Cougar and noticed a pool of water in the center of my driver’s floor mat. I looked under the dash to see if anything was wet, but saw no signs of water or water damage. The only place I noticed water that was above the level of the mat, was where the dash pad meets the kick panel. I stuck my finger into the corner of the dash pad and pushed the foam, and it was like a sponge. Water dripped down in a small stream. Does this mean it’s the dreaded cowl? I won’t have a chance to test it for a few days, but it’s bugging the heck out of me. The carpet to the far left of the floor pan was also damp. I did notice a fair amount of water on the scuff plate, but I don’t know if that’s typical in these older cars. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Sounds like the cowl to me. But, could possibly be the something with the side vent area as well (not sure what year you have, my frame of reference is 69/70).
Sorry, forgot to list it. 68 standard hardtop, no vinyl top
So I just sprayed the hose into the cowl, and most of the water drained out of the cowl and underneath the car, but some of it started to drip through the fresh air vent on the driver’s side. . Should I just buy a cowl cover?
The fresh air vents are infinitely easier to repair than the cowl. I would suggest taking the side panel off, remove the vent and see what you have there. Sure, a cowl cap would work as a bandaid but you might want some ventilation from time to time? A personal choice.
Like Bob said, remove kick panel and vent, if the leak is at the vent where it’s spot welded, you can buy a top hat that is plastic, they come in pairs, and comes with sealer and slides up into the vent, these work quite well. Cost about $15 bucks
Thank you both. I’ll be looking into it more. The water seemed to be coming from inside of the vent, so i hope its that