Firewall stripped

We pulled the windshield and began stripping everything off the firewall and cowl. Someone has replaced the windshield in the past. Instead of gluing it in they installed it in a bed of butyl caulk. It was a big sticky mess and cutting it out was a chore. Also, the upper corner of the glass on one side had almost no clearance between it and the window frame. Either they installed it cockeyed or something is tweaked.

The stainless header/pillar trim and visors were attached with a hodgepodge of mismatched screws all thoroughly corroded in place.

The cowl beneath the wiper motor was packed with dirt and debris as was the passenger side drain area. Seems the Chrysler engineers could have come up with a better solution for draining the cowl under the wiper motor than to have it dump out on the firewall just above the gas pedal mount. While I'm not positive, I think this is the source of one of my water leaks. I can't find any rusted out areas inside the cowl.

There's a center cowl drain just above the gas pedal mount.

The heater box and evaporator cover were in really poor shape with a lots of cracked and broken fiberglass. The mounting points are also a good place for water to get in, especially given the condition of the box. The blower motor is seized.

Inside there was no shortage of surface rust on the dash frame, pedal assembly, and underside of the cowl. It'll take a lot of work to get it all cleaned up. The wiring's a mess as is the myriad of vacuum lines for the heater system. A non-AC car would be a piece of cake.