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Window/Door "Blue Can" Expanding Foam...anyone used this?

1K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  adventurefar 
#1 ·
Yes, she rattles like no other vehicle I've had. Also, now that I have a lot of my chassis set up the way I want, I'm turning my focus to building out the interior. So, in the field when we do windows and doors we use this foam.
Spray Foam.PNG

Now, its better than the big gap filler or normal foam in the sense it does not push out with the same pressure. Also, since its window and door rated the can says its mold and mildew resistant. So, has anyone used something like this for the big voids in the interior unibody? I've used it to silence the rattling nut rivets I have in the sides with great success. I am aware of not using it in doors due to drainage concerns. However, body cavities once my electrical is ran?

Thoughts?

Thanks!
 

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#2 ·
adventurefar said:
... I am aware of not using it in doors due to drainage concerns...
That was my problem with it. Stops the natural drainage wherever you put it. I suppose if your interior is water tight (I don't think any are), it would be ok. But the minute you get any water in there, it will telegraph to the area and live there in it's red-brown mush for years.

Lump
 
#3 ·
Good point. Damn.
I saw another post where a fellow spray foamed the whole interior. Won't quite work for me. I guess an advantage for me is living in AZ. My trips to the high country (condensation) and back would yield the opportunity to just have the water evaporate without rust concerns. Hmmmm.......

I guess if I wanted to spend the time I could look into the cavities with my Milwaukee camera and look for body drainage holes and only put it where there are no holes present. (Thinking in writing).
Thanks Lump.
 
#4 ·
I put silicone sealant in gobs between some of the outer panels and the inner sheet metal structural parts. My van does not have the third set of side windows and I noticed the metal that is there instead was movable with my hand so I injected the silicone in between to keep it from rattling.
 
#6 ·
My daughter had a hardtop Geo Tracker that sounded like a tin can. I put a fiberglass blanket on the underside of the hood and used the window/door foam you showed behind the interior panels everywhere but the doors. I was worried about moisture in the door panels so I glued several layers of bubblewrap against the door skin and made sure I didn't plug any drains. I pulled the seats and carpet and put down house carpet foam underlay and then put it back together. I had to glue some of the foam underlay against the floor board up under the dash where the carpet didn't reach. Not only was the car extremely quiet, it stayed much warmer in the winter. With each step I took it for a test drive and actually the hood blanket which I removed from a car at the junkyard seemed to make the most improvement in noise reduction. I found the foam expanded more than I expected and I had to do some trimming where it expanded out beyond the openings. I didn't mess with the interior hardboard panel against the roof. It was a cheap car to start with so there was nothing to lose but in the end it was a nice ride.
 
#7 ·
Ken2.7 said:
...... I was worried about moisture in the door panels so I glued several layers of bubblewrap against the door skin and made sure I didn't plug any drains.
Thanks Ken2.7,
I too have just put house carpet down up to the point of my rubber mat. Definitely helped. When you mention gluing bubble wrap to the door skin......is that all you did to the inside of the doors?
I have been driving without door panels now for awhile while I'm working on it. I've got to get these rods settled down. Was going to put cut vacuum hose over them. Reminiscent of the cloth covers I had on my 50's and 60's cars; when looking at lock/handle door linkages.

You feel the bubble wrap helped silence door noise enough to make it worth while?
Did you use 3M adhesive to secure it?
Did you cover the door with anything (all the voids) such as those sound mats or sticky (foil looking) covers they sell prior to re installing the panel?

Best
~D
 
#9 ·
Probably I should have used something else but I used a Liquid Nail panel adhesive. I can't say the bubble wrap did as much to quiet the door as the adhesive did in making the door skin stiffer and less likely to flex. If I did it again I would use some type of foam instead of bubble wrap. I recently inspected the inside of a computer cabinet that was lined on the inside with a foam panel to absorb noise.
I have been working on noise issues with my Astro and I found on mine that the doghouse didn't seal as good as it should as some carpet was crossing the rubber seal. Fixing that has been my biggest improvement so far.
 
#10 ·
Most of the creaks and rattles are from where the inner wall touches the outer wall, the indented sections with cutouts. Push the outer skin outwards and squirt polyurethane sealant in the joint.

I have used gap filler in my front fenders and paid particular attention to allow drainage. I used foil to separate the foam from the actual panels. So water can still flow. I painted the inner panels too to further prevent rusting. My fenders are rock solid as opposed to tin can sounding now.

Hose to direct water from the cowl drain channel:











I have also used it to fill the gap between inner and outer walls around the holes I cut for the windows, to stiffen it up not to seal against water.







So yeah it works in some places. Another good one as mentioned would be the gaps between the roof skin and the roof cross-members to further stiffen up the roof. Definitely DO NOT use it in your doors. The pillars are not squeaking, filling those will only create issues. You may need to access hardware in some pillars and you may also want to run wire in there at some point.
 
#11 ·
Definitely diggin on that. I was actually going to run ENT flex conduit through the large section of the pillars for future wiring. Seems like hardware has nut plates on it. This discussion has helped me form a better plan on not only the sound/squeak mitigation, but the insulation factor as well. I've already spent one night in it, and boy...if bare skin hits that steel....Holy Hell thats cold!!!

I had not even considered work on the front end such as you have done '97C. Great stuff.

Smoke machine/EVAP problem to do on Thursday...and hopefully start this process first stages on Sunday. Will start with the stiffening of supports. Like that.
 
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