Pouring foam on side panels

[chevynut]

Yesterday I decided to try a different approach. I got a couple cans of "Great Stuff" spray foam insulation and sprayed it onto my panels. It takes a lot longer to expand than the pour foam I have, but the worst part about it is that it's more "rubbery" than the pour foam, even when fully cured. The can says you can cut and sand it but it sure doesn't sand as well as the pour foam.

I wish there was a way to add the pour foam through a straw or a sprayer like this insulation. My brother told me that taxidermists use pour foam and a black trash bag to control where it spreads. I guess they confine it to an area and they can actually move it around by hand somewhat. Problem is that if you work it too much it won't expand, and it also becomes "rubbery".

I'll keep trying.

[Rick_L]

There are a lot of products out there. There's probably some that do what you want. Sorry, I don't have any recommendations.

That's one reason that I'd pursue something like I suggested earlier.

[chevynut]

Made some more interior progress lately. I tried using canned spray foam but didn't like the bubbles and the more rubbery result. You can see it in the section by the door handle below. The pour foam is much easier to sand and much more rigid. I have everything poured and shaped except two sections on each front door panel. I only end up with maybe 10-15% of the foam left on the panels. The area of the armrest is about 3" thick, so I had to order more foam. There will be a removable armrest section that will be put on last, after the panels are anchored with screws to locate them more precisely.

I'm sculpting each section as I go, to get it to net shape. After that I will have to clearance everything for the fiberglass, 1/8" soft foam, and the leather. There's a lot of work in these panels and it's easy to see how a custom interior ends up $20-30K!

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Here's what it's going to (or supposed to) look like when finished. I want to put a chrome strip between the charcoal carpet at the bottom and the tan leather, so that will be interesting since it's about 2" thick foam there:

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Colors are charcoal and tan/beige. I have a preliminary design for the cargo area too. I'm not sure what will be in the center where I show a fender bird, nor do I know what color the console extension will be. The cover will be removable and everything underneath will be charcoal leather and carpet. The carpet will be wool from a Mercedes as will the charcoal headliner material.

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[chevynut]

Here's a better pic of my cargo area showing the charcoal and tan leather. The pointed "oblong" areas are 6x9 speaker grilles, probably made of polished stainless mesh or perforated sheet. The floor below the cover will be charcoal carpet as will the inside of the tailgate and the back of the "package tray". The tubs will probably be charcoal leather. I'll most likely use stainless trim on the sides of the floor, similar to the stock trim.

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[chevynut]

FedEX just came with another gallon of urethane pour foam. Just in time!!

[chevynut]

Got the dams ready to make the big pour in the center of the door panels. This foam needs to be 3" thick at the armrest, tapering to the back. I have found that it's difficult to pour such that you get a taper. Usually you end up with a lot more foam than you need in some places.

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[chevynut]

Well this was interesting. I used about half of my gallon of foam on these two pours and had some areas too thick and some too thin. I had to add some foam near the rear of each panel and may have to add a little more. I did better on the passenger's side as far as controlling the thickness front to rear.

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After the foam cured I took a saw and roughed out the shape so I could start sanding and filing. It's best to take as much off as you can in pieces, because the sanding makes a huge mess and it gets everywhere. This is after sawing chunks off....it's like cutting dry bread.

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Next comes filing and sanding the final shapes. I need to do one last pour at the bottom section, but that should be easy. I need to mount the courtesy lights first.

I got some glass microspheres to mix with the polyester resin to use as filler when I'm doing the fiberglassing.

[chevynut]

Got the last section poured and both front panels roughed out. I cut out the holes for the courtesy lights and I still need to figure out how to attach them to the panel. I was kind of afraid they might warp when I put the foam on but I put all 4 of them in the car to check for fit, and they fit really well. The clips and screws hold them in place nicely. Now I need to re-fit the rear armrest to the panels. I still need to fab a pair of removable front armrests out of aluminum and figure out how to attach them.

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[567chevys]

Looks really good , When you get them done send them my way I will try them on my car !

Are you going to make them and sell them when your done ?

Sid

[carls 56 (RIP 11/24/2021)]

good job, that is coming out nice.