Cowl prep

[mopar4don]

My upper cowl has been removed. It and the lower cowl have been epoxy primed.

Is the epoxy primer good enough or should It get paint? Maybe with a rattle can?
What Should I use? Something like SEM trim black?

Should the back side of the upper cowl get some kind of dampening material sprayed on it?
Like undercoating? (With it clamped down, it sounds a little tinny if you knock on it)

Also do they make a weldable seam sealer to go between the upper and lower cowl?
I ask because when I removed the upper cowl there was what looked like seam sealer all along where it had been spot welded.
Here is an older pic showing the lower cowl painted with the epoxy

[hemi-hampton]

If really concerned with it lasting long & not rusting anytime soon I would epoxy prime with 2-3 layers good quality epoxy prime in a spray gun. no thin water spray can garbage. Then if not viewable paint with a good quality (not thin watered down spray can) single stage urethane or polyurethane (imron) in flat or semi gloss Black. a flattening agent can be added to paint to achieve a lower gloss. or spray gloss black if not seen. This may sound like a lot of extra work & a waste of time to some but best for longevity. LEON.

[AKcharger]

ah! so that's what the inside of the cowl looks like!

wait, is that car like a skeleton? 

[westcoastdodge]

epoxy prime then raptorliner,mine was rusty with a few repairs,used the weldthru primer around the original spotwelds no sealer tho

[hemi-hampton]

I raptorlined this cars floor & undercarriage. LEON.

[AKcharger]

WOW! so taking them down that far...4 years to get it on the road again?

[mopar4don]

epoxy prime then raptorliner,mine was rusty with a few repairs,used the weldthru primer around the original spotwelds no sealer tho

Thanks WCDand hemi-hampton, I like the look of that raptor liner!

I will defiantly spray some more paint to get more protection.
But I am still wondering about the seam sealer around the perimeter.
Just seams to me water would get trapped between the upper and lower panels and rust would start quicker

Others please give me your opinion.

[green69rt]

epoxy prime then raptorliner,mine was rusty with a few repairs,used the weldthru primer around the original spotwelds no sealer tho

Thanks WCDand hemi-hampton, I like the look of that raptor liner!

I will defiantly spray some more paint to get more protection.
But I am still wondering about the seam sealer around the perimeter.
Just seams to me water would get trapped between the upper and lower panels and rust would start quicker

Others please give me your opinion.

I put some sem seam sealer between the upper and lower sheet metal.  Welding was a circus.  IT kept catching fire and I kept squirting it with a water bottle to put the fire out.  After all that I  reached up into the vent holes and used a garden spryer to test for leaks.  found some and got anther tube of sealer and rigged up a thin plastic hose to get inside and seal up the leaks.  I found that I could reach far enough into the plenum with my hand to press the sealer into the joint.  Only one or two places.  Tested again with the garden sprayer and not a drop outside the plenum.  You might see how far you can reach into the plenum before you try any of this, you arm may not fit like mine did don't want to have to cut you out!  Pictures in my thread. at reply #112

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,54582.100.html

[Domino]

Save yourself aggressive cancer and either use panel bond and clamps no welding or just weld thru primer.  Don't weld seam sealer, paint, etc. #tirefire

[Eldovert]

The factory was able to weld right through the thin seam sealer with their big assed spot welder..probably done very quickly and cooled off fast...mig welding will introduce too much heat for seam sealer...as mentioned above a few coats of epoxy and weld it on..after the car is painted you could shoot some waxoil in there...but lets face it,after all the work you have put into this car...it is not going to be sitting out in the rain.
Cheers,Pat

[mopar4don]

Thank you for the help!

[green69rt]

Forgot to mention that I plug welded my cowl top on as my thread shows.  If I had to do it again I would cut notches in the edge of the cowl and stitch weld the edge.  No welding thru the sealer.

[mopar4don]

Forgot to mention that I plug welded my cowl top on as my thread shows.  If I had to do it again I would cut notches in the edge of the cowl and stitch weld the edge.  No welding thru the sealer.

Let me get this straight. If you were to do it again you would seam seal it, and cut slits into the upper cowl along the edges then run a continuous stitch weld along the edge? Before you did that you would have to fill the holes created by the spotweld cutter. That sounds like a LOT of work.

[green69rt]

Forgot to mention that I plug welded my cowl top on as my thread shows.  If I had to do it again I would cut notches in the edge of the cowl and stitch weld the edge.  No welding thru the sealer.

Let me get this straight. If you were to do it again you would seam seal it, and cut slits into the upper cowl along the edges then run a continuous stitch weld along the edge? Before you did that you would have to fill the holes created by the spotweld cutter. That sounds like a LOT of work.

No extra work filling spot weld cutter holes,  I bought a new upper cowl from AMD so just cut v shaped notches in the upper metal edge to provide weld points.  The flange is fairly wide so you can apply the sealer bead back from the weld area  .  That's got to be better than what i did trying to weld thru the sealer.

[mopar4don]

Thanks Mitch