Foam Board, insulation and such.....

Brian · 02-13-06, 07:59 AM

In the GTD build manual there is a disscussion in regards to insulating the cabin for a variety of reasons, and one of them is to strengthen the sills. They advise the expandable foam type of insulation, having properly treated the fuel tank so as not to "glue" it into the car. I decided to pass on that approach after experiencing the mess of injeting expandable foam into the void between the cabin and engine compartment. The foam worked great, but the mess was significant when the gunk shot out all of the holes and cracks.

So I picked up a piece of the Corning pink foam board at Home Depot and cut it to fit in the space above the fuel tank and it works great.Once the tank is in, I can stand on the sill without it deflecting and the sill is like a block of cement when I rap it with my knuckles.

I plan on gluing the foam board in with thier adhesive and then covering it with Dynamat to further reduce road noice and neaten up the appearance.

Has anyone used this approach and if so, do you have any observations that would be valuable hear before I get any deeper into this?

I know there is no one size fits all approach and I'll be using 5 or 6 different products and techniques depending upon where it will be applied and what the intent is.

Thanks
Brian

Brian Durbridge · 02-13-06, 09:24 AM

Brian I used the same on my GTD works great,make sure you dont glue the board upto the edge of the door,as the return edge of the sill fits between the board and the top panal edge covering the tanks,best of luck with you build Brian

Frank Catt · 02-13-06, 09:49 AM

Hi Brian, if it can stand your weight -------------! Just remember that however well you build the car, and however many times you stand back and say " Im glad I dont have to do that again", you will finish up dismantling it again for some reason or another, so build in easy access and removal - it will happen, Regards, Frank

Brian Magee · 02-13-06, 10:08 AM

Brian

I used a similar material on top of my tanks but just cut it to fit and left it without glueing it,it will go nowhere. Also I came across a car recently that had the fibreglass area removed from the top of the sill and an aluminium panel screwed on. As Frank says one day you will want to get in there and this approach makes life so much easier.

Brian.

Brian · 02-14-06, 07:33 AM

Thanks guys, I appreciatet the feedback. I intend to cut the foam a little shallow and use some strips of closed cell foam to allow for some compression when we snug up the tank.
Speaking of tanks, Frank I'm down 40 pounds now, shooting for 100 total by the end of the year, you won't recognize me the next time we meet as I'll be as skinny as Malcom, of course 'll never be as good looking now will I? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

Howard Jones · 02-14-06, 01:13 PM

I used the same stuff from home depot. It really works good and is easy to cut. I agree with Frank build it so it can be taken apart. Less adhesive is better than more. Several dabs around the edges instead of one long bead is much easier to take apart later.