Prepping for Final Body Install - Have Question About Footbox Foam

[SCFFR]

With the body finally back from the painter, getting the chassis prepped for the final installation which I hope will be this weekend. Everything appears pretty much ready to go but I was looking at the expanding foam that is to be placed on the footbox just forward of the door hinge. According to the label on the foam, it is 1/2" x 1" that expands to 2" once it is installed. Although you can press it back to its compressed shape, it appears to be pretty firm.

My concern is that the foam will be strong enough to push out the sides of the body in front of the door which will mess up the fit between the door opening and the door that I worked months on to get into alignment. Has anyone seen this happen? I want some type of seal in that area to keep engine compartment heat from blowing into the interior but don't want to compromise the door fit. I guess I could look for a more porous foam instead.
Any suggestions???

Thanks,
Ron

[CraigS]

I think you have a valid concern. Another option is the window AC unit foam. They have it in 2x2. You could glue it onto the spot you are thinking about. I really like this stuff, you can squeeze it down to 1/2 inch if needed but it's not too strong that the rebound would move anything. get it at HD or lowes
http://www.frostking.com/air-conditioner-weatherseal/

[edwardb]

Use the stick-on expanding foam tape provided. It works great. It doesn't have near enough expanding pressure to affect the shape of your body, door fit, etc. It will very nicely fill the gap and stop with very little pressure. Unwrap and place right before you're ready to set the body in place. It will start expanding right away, but you have a reasonable time to get the body on. The mistake many guys make, in my opinion, is they forget or don't know about this tape until after the body is installed. Then have to resort to other methods or materials. No need to re-invent anything here. I've used the material from FFR, and also similar material from McMaster.

[Slider]

I put the expanding foam tape that FF supplies with the kit on the car as instructed. Then the body went on and there was still a huge gap a day later. I could see daylight through the gap between the body and the foam (could easily put my hand between the body and the foam). So I started researching options and found the suggestion of the foam packaged for insulating around air conditioners as suggested above. A couple of days later I bought two packages, and went home to put them in, and found that the foam from FF that I had installed had continued to expand and had completely sealed the gap. I did end up using a bit of the air conditioner foam for spots where I didn't get the FF foam (right at the bottom of the footbox) positioned correctly, but I think if I'd done the job right, I wouldn't have needed anything else but the stuff that came with the kit. My suggestion is just to make sure it has 2-3 days to expand before getting excited about any gaps. And... I can't see that foam impacting the position of the body at all. The expansion doesn't seem to have that type of force.

[SCFFR]

Thanks for the information. Looks like the FFR supplied foam will work fine but the roll that came with my kit uncoiled and has pretty much expanded instead of staying flat. I will try to find something similar at HD or Lowes or I guess I could install it "as is", i.e., expanded and put the body over it. My biggest concern was it pushing out on the sides of the body but that appears to be a non-issue.

Ron

[Jeff Kleiner]

The gooey stuff FFR provides did not spring enough to effectively fill the voids on my Mk3 (plus it's just a pain to work with!) so took a different approach when I built the Mk4. I picked up some medium soft foam weatherstripping intended for sealing window air conditioner units in their openings and applied it using 3M Super 77 before installing the body.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jkleiner/Mk4%207276/100_2609.jpg

Ran from the end of the bulb seal to the bottom of the footbox on the pasenger side:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jkleiner/Mk4%207276/100_2612.jpg

On the driver's side I ran it all the way up and across the top of the footbox to meet the bulb seal at the cowl:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jkleiner/Mk4%207276/100_2610.jpg

It is soft enough to compress almost to nothing without deforming the body and fills the gap fully providing a much better seal:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jkleiner/Mk4%207276/100_2618.jpg

Cheers,
Jeff

[SCFFR]

Thanks Jeff!!
Appreciate the pic of the package you posted too. Have to run back to the painter and pick up the side vents which he forgot to paint and will detour by HD/Lowes and pick up a roll of that seal.
Ron

[edwardb]

If you're interested, McMaster sells an expandable foam product that is what I used on my Mk3. 7650A14 Gap-Filling Expandable Foam Sealing Tape 1" W, 13' L, 1/2" Compressed/2" Expanded Thickness. I didn't find it hard to use at all, and worked very well. Installed it at the painters right before we dropped on the body for the final time. Everything was sealed up in several hours.

[Johnc1]

Thanks for the pix Jeff. I have a lot of heat coming through from under the dash. It feels like it may be coming from where the foam meet the bulb seal. Or in that area any way. I am going to see if I can get a look today. Form the pix it look like this is a body off operation.

[Johnc1]

SCFFR I have a lot of heat coming from around and under the corners of the dash. I can just get my fingers tips to the corners. It feels like there is a gap between the bulb seal and the foam. This may be an area you may want to look at close.
Needless to say on 90 degree + days in North Carolina I do not need any more heat.:-)
On the passenger’s side I may be able to push a piece of foam from the engine bay. I am going to try AC foam like GraigS mentioned. Not sure about the divers side. Looks like the only real fix is to lift the body and redo the seals. Winter project.
John

[SCFFR]

Jeff - was able to find the same type/size of a/c seal at the local WalMart for $2.97 a pack which saved me a 70 mile round trip to the nearest Lowes/HD. Will use some 3M Super 90 glue to attach.

John - I know what you mean about the NC heat.................just as bad to the south of you. Thanks for the heads up on the leakage around the dash. I think I'm going to put two strips of foam instead of one..............can't hurt I guess. Looking at the areas around the dash, there looks like there are many gaps/spaces where hot air could come in. That's the main reason I installed the footbox vent system.

Thanks again,

Ron