I used spray foam and it's better than Dynamat!

[RuffRider]

i just used the spray foam in my X, works great, excellent advice, however i have one question. anyone have any tips for removing dried foam from your seats....unfortunatley while i was spraying the foam i inadvertantly dripped some on my back seats, i tried to wipe it up right away but it only seemed to make things worse and smear it. it's not too big of a deal but i hate to have messed up my seats forever

 

[ACBlessing]

Thanks for the feedback on the air drying requirement, I guess I should have left the panels off and taken a few days...spraying a little at a time. I mentioned the three-week drying time because I thought it was funny to see the little mushroom plumes of foam showing up once in a while.

As per Mix's question...you didn't specify if you had leather or cloth but either way, let the foam dry...don't even try to wipe it off when it's wet. Once it dries, it'll peel off with no damage to your seat. If it's too late for that, get yourself some GooGone (goo and adhesive remover...general purpose) and soak it in the spary foam you wiped...a couple times and then use a plastic spatula to gently pry,loosen and remove the foam from leather (use a brush to get it off cloth seats) and then treat the leather with lanolin.

As per the two-part boat foam...I just wanted a quick, easy way to spray foam into places I couldn't lay Dynamat and it has worked tremendously for me. If someone were to try it now...I hope they heed our warnings about getting low-expansion foam, laying out taped (to plug holes) and newspaper (so you don't spill on your interior) and most of all......don't overspray...it really does expand, lol.

I am really happy with my results and enjoy the quiet, Cadillac ride.

AC

 

[Henry]

This sounds like quite an idea! One question, though: I know the stuff is quite light, but with as much as would go into the hatch door have you noticed the weight difference and do the gas shocks hold the door open all right?

 

[ACBlessing]

Good question.........the spray foam feels heavy in the can but most of that weight is liquid that evaporates as the foam dries. The end result is foam that is quite light (you could drop a basketball sized foam ball on your foot without hurt). As per the hatch, even after thoroughly foaming the pillars and hatch, there was a zero effect on the struts or opening speed.

-AC

 

[jeff96]

I know this is an old thread, but here is my question for you. Do you think these panels were meant to be hollow for a reason? IE..for collisions. Does the filling of these impact zones affect the safety at all. I know these cars are meant to crumple now adays to absorb the blow of a crash. So how can it crumple if its filled with foam? Just think that car manufacturers would spend the extra 50 bucks to do this themselves to make the cars a million times quieter, so there must be a reason. Any ideas?

 

[isuballr]

AC, i know this is an old thread...but i'm about to change out the amp and sub in the rear panel and thought i might as well try this since i'll have the panel off. have you had any problems in the last few years? still sound pretty good? any regrets? if it works this is an awesome $$$ saving idea. i never saw any pics yet though..haha!!

 

[davesexplorer]

I spray foamed a lot of my cavalier, and It didn't affect me at all in my wreck??

 

[west2100]

Very interested in doing this, but could you get some pics up? Did you fill the columns with it? If so how did you manage to do that?

 

[n3m3s1s]

we are in need of an update here...i dont think acblessing is returning.

maybe someone else has wisdom/pics to share.

i just want to see pictures of the keys areas i should foam, instead of wasting time on places where i wont notice a major change in noise.

i am mostly interested in improving the rear hatch, and the areas around my speakers

 

[west2100]

I started doing this anyway, I've done most of the back, including the pillars, but have yet to fill the hatch.
Later todayn I plan on stripping the inside of my car and prepping for peel and seal, and additional foam on the other pillars of the car.

 

[n3m3s1s]

any way you could take a few pics during the process?

 

[west2100]

I will as soon as I gett he chance, but there are practically monsoons going on right now, so it might be a few days.

 

[n3m3s1s]

i would really appreciate it west.

this is a very good mod...i cant wait until i try it.
wish i had a garage or a shop around here.

are you gonna try a write-up while you do it?

 

[Nwallins]

I'm very interested as well. Pics would help a lot.

 

[n3m3s1s]

yeah....hey west any updates or pics yet?

i still want to try this, my ex would be so much better if it were quieter on the highway.

 

[west2100]

Hey, wow, I totally forgot, sorry guys. I've filled every pillar in the back, with the exception of the c pillar, of which I've only done the bottom half. The tailgate is progressing nicely, though I need to go pick up more foam to finish it off.

I actually coated the walls behind the panels in the foam, I found it stuck very well, and though it looks rather lumpy, the sound deadening effects are just amazing, if tapping on the outside is any indication. I wish there was some way to cover the floor in it, but alas I have to stick with floor matting if I wish to remain cheap. I'm going by Ace Hardware again after work to pick up some more cans of foam, and then hopefully I'll be able to re-install my panels tomorrow.

In addition, after all the insulation is done I hope to begin work on an actual good enclosure for my subwoofer and amps. I've already purchased one 4x8 sheet of MDF, and hope to begin working on it soon. What are everyone's recommendations for the direction of the subwoofer to fire? I had it going up, but I want the most output(obviously) and I'm not totally sure how I'm going to have it yet.

Anyway, I will do my best to get pictures after work today, I'm sorry I forgot about you guys.

 

[LukeDog3D]

I undercoated the inside of all of my panels, then went to a fabric store and got a huge green sheet of high density foam (4' wide x 8' tall x 6" thick), cut it up, and stuffed in in all the hollows. That works pretty good...I figured it would be easy to remove if I ever wanted to. The whole sheet was like 40 bucks, but it pretty much filled everything. Just another idea to add to the pot.

 

[Nwallins]

A couple things:

1. Are there any tricks to removing the interior panels? I've done all four door panels but that's it (speaker install). Do you need a guide or is it pretty straightforward?

2. How much improvement in terms of a) outside noise coming in, b) rattles, and c) speaker resonance (less, hopefully)

3. I am most worried about 2 things: foam overexpansion and drying time. Any thoughts?

4. _Would_ solid, open-cell foam from a fabric store work nearly as well?

Thanks..

 

[airforcemook]

Standard dry-cut-n-shove-in-hole foam sounds like it would actually work the best. You can get large amounts of it from fabric stores. My mom was always huge into quilting so I remember being on more than a few trips to JoAnn-Fabrics when I was little and seeing huge rolls of the crap. It's amazing how thick some of that stuff actually is... but not all. I'd go for something that's very dense in order to soundproof. This, as someone else said, would be MUCH easier to remove. This COULD be an issue, however, if it doesn't get air to breathe. ESPECIALLY if you decide to go into any depth of water that could get up in there. Large amounts of wet foam with little ventilation would suck, and probably start rotting over time. Just something to think about.

As for the crashing with the spray-foam, I wouldn't see this as an issue at all. In fact, I might be wrong, but it would seem safer to me. You not only have the metal crumpling, but the foam is thick enough to absorb a lot of impact. The standard cut - n - shove foam wouldn't do that to any measurable value.

Either way it seems like sealing is an issue. You're going to have moisture get in there no matter what. It looks like you need ventilation in either case.

 

[S40R]

Any photos of how this is done yet?