[CSHADES]

last night i decided to work on the bottom of the cowl. as most of you know i have a lot of these trucks and parts of trucks. everyone i have ever had has been rotten on the bottom of the cowl. after cutting into it i can see why, there is no place for moisture to go once it gets into the space. i repaired the bottom of the cowl on the 40 when i built it but that was long before i had a clue what i was doing or the correct tools to do it. the bottom of the cowl is rounded so i made a pattern first of what i wanted and then made a hammer form from a old particle board shelf that was laying in my odds and ends pile. i cut it out of 18 gauge sheet metal, bent the jamb side in the brake and then hammer formed the bottom edge. i was not very happy with the result. after looking at it against the truck i came to the conclusion that 18 gauge is too thick to get it formed the way i need it and the brake i used is not sharp enough in the bend. so my next plan is to use what i made for the inside cowl piece on the other side and make the outer piece from 19 gauge and use the press brake to make the jamb bend. hopefully then i can shrink the jamb edge and get the small curve i need. i also got lucky and found an original reveal piece that goes on the lower cowl in front of the rocker. most of them rot and fall off. this one was on the leftover parts 40 that i am building. i am going to use the rusty part as the pattern to bend new ones from the left over pieces of rocker that i have and then weld them into the new lower cowl.