leaves in cowl grille

[winghawg]

what is the best method for removal of leaves in the cowl grill. there is a lot of leaves after 20 years of sitting?

[green69rt]

On my car this is no perfect way.  Most of my leaves ended up in the vent grilles under the dash.  You can take the grill off and dump the leaves if you can reach the attachment nuts.  Otherwise I would just use a air hose to blow them around.  Make sure you block off the vents inside the car or the leaves will end up all over you seats

Maybe you could rig a small hose on a vacuum that you could shove up the passenger vents to get into the cowl area.

Just so you know what you are working with, here is a pic of whats under the cowl grill.

[JB400]

I'd duct tape some plumbing parts for a sink drain up to your vacuum cleaner and have fun.

[ws23rt]

I still get a few willow leaves on the carpet from 30 years ago. Thought I got all of them. So they can get further than the cowl. All in all not a big deal for me. It is a good idea though to cover the grate if one needs to park under those trees that shed.

[tan top]

 like whats been mentioned , with a shop vacume cleaner ,  remove heater box &  left fresh air vent  , use  compressed air to ,  make sure the drian holes are clear  ,  lot of stuff will blow out here with compressed air  ,

[resq302]

I still keep getting sand out from my fresh air vents from I guess when the previous owner sand blasted the car.  Sad thing is I hosed that all out and even before hosing it out, I used compressed air trying to get a majority of it out.  With the amount I got, I was sure I had gotten all of it out.  Guess not!   

[twodko]

You might also try using some newspaper and any kind of tape to cover all but a few inches of the cowl grille. Then with a combo of compressed air and a crevasse tool attached to a shop vac you might get them all out.
Oh, a lot of swear words help the process.....and beer.

[ws23rt]

I also had some volcanic ash from Mt St helens  mixed with the willow leaves for a while but that has stopped. I guess the residue has solidified. The up side for me is the historic value that residue has. Maybe worth 10-20k?

[tan top]

You might also try using some newspaper and any kind of tape to cover all but a few inches of the cowl grille. Then with a combo of compressed air and a crevasse tool attached to a shop vac you might get them all out.
Oh, a lot of swear words help the process.....and beer.

   
yeah , dont get your arm stuck either by sticking your hand with vac attachment  up the vent holes & as far as you can reach inside the cowl , i was younger & more agile & thinner then but got my hand stuck ,      come out easy after i stopped panicking ,  then got my hand stuck again with a mini paint gun  , while painting inside the cowl , was interesting to say the least , was using  2 pack paint , & was wearing an airfed mask    

[green69rt]

Maybe find a child to help out???   Their little arms and hands can get in the damnest places..