Rust prevention -- cleaning out drains

[DV65CustomCab]

After this weekend's work I decided to put together a page on the various cab drains and how to find and clean them. Have a look:
http://mongrelmotorsports.purpleflyingmonkey.com/pages/f100rust.html

[dotcentral]

Good post.

I'd like to see some more info on the cowl area if anyone has anything. I have a leak, not sure if its the cowl or my old windshield gasket.

[modeleh]

I just checked DV65s info on cleanouts and didn't find reference to the rad support.
I just took the front sheetmetal off my 66 which is super rust free, but found a spot of rust about the size of a quarter at the bottom of the rad support. It seems water can get into the lower channel of the rad support through the two speed nuts at the lower center of the grill, and on either side of the rad at the base (inside engine compartment). There aren't enough drain holes in the rad support lower crossmember IMO. There is only one on each end. Mine was filled with rusty sludge/clay powder. Mine is a 4x4 so it uses the early style cab, but I would think the problem would be the same for all years.
I strongly suggest you guys take the time to blow compressed air and vacuum, jamming coat hanger wire up the holes, then flush out, and perhaps spray some solvent in these areas. Even some of the best looking slicks out there may have a rad support filled with crud, a slow time bomb, rotting out the lower supports.

[Von Dud]

Nice work here gents. 2 items:

re: DotCentral's Cowl:
I tracked down a tricky cowl leak that seemed like a windshield gasket problem but was actually associated with the stamping in the cowl's sheet metal. Have a close look at the depression around the windshield wiper stanchions. The metal was being asked to do a lot in this area, and if the stamping dies weren't lubricated / soaped just right, the metal can get pulled mighty thin. The "thin", in my case, became a hidden stress crack - allowing water into the interior. Only decent solution here was welding in a patch panel fabbed from another cowl.

re: Care and feeding of drains:
Don't forget to seasonally reach deep down into the bottoms of your kick panel vents. You may be surprised how much material (bugs / leaves and whatnot) you'll find waiting to cause trouble in the front quarters.

[randyr]

Do you think it would be helpful to drill a half inch hole in the lowest point on each side of the rear cab crossmember for drainage and to facilitate cleaning them out? That wouldn't really weaken anything would it?

[BarnieTrk]

Do you think it would be helpful to drill a half inch hole in the lowest point on each side of the rear cab crossmember for drainage and to facilitate cleaning them out? That wouldn't really weaken anything would it?

Well, after thinking about this for some time, I decided that a half inch hole would NOT weaken it and for the sake of cleaning and allowing water to drain, I decided it was a worthwhile choice.

So yesterday PM, I drilled holes in mine........ BOY - did I find the crap inside that crossmember!

Just as DV65CC says in his 61-66 F series Rust Prevention site, http://mongrelmotorsports.homestead.com/f100rust.html ...it's not a small task to clean out the crossmember!

To my surprise, there was probably a half cup of thistle seeds (once upon a time there must of been a mouse moving in) packed inside the crossmember as well as small stones and dried dirt..... After about 15-20 minutes on each side, and much poking and prodding with a wire and continuous blasting from my air hose (in the top slot, in the drilled hole, but mostly blowing from the OEM crossmember hole located near the center - blowing toward the end) finally the newly-made drain holes blew clean. Once blown out, I opted to spray some old fuel oil / rust deterrent into the hole and in the slotted opening at the top of the crossmember, near the floorboards. This was allowed to run inside the crossmember and a few drips out the new drain hole.

I highly recommend cleaning this crossmember and I'd recommend drilling a cleanout / drain hole at the very bottom of it on both sides. My decision on the oiling was based on the premise that although oil may cause some dirt to stick, dirt will collect anyway - and the dirt will hold moisture, which will cause rusting anyway. So I figured that the application of oil should slow/reduce the rusting process more so than nothing...and oil-soaked dirt is better than just dirt.....

Just my opinion on the subject,
BarnieTrk

[ebentraywick]

sweet dude thanks