Autofoam , anyone know about this?

[Mtoh]

hi all,

Autofoam , anyone know about this?

 

over rated/over priced snake oil or real deal?

 

care to sure?

[Thestig]

Sure, I believe its from Malaysia. Its some stuff that they can spray into your A/B/C pillar and make the car stiffer. Most people who are interested in soundproofing would have come across it at some point. Incidentally, I think I also passed by the main workshop in KL, near the Batu Caves area recently.

 

Was advised by a similar friend who was looking into it and told me not to do it because you won't be able to remove it if you want to do rewiring, etc. Also, he's not too convinced of their claim of non-combustibility.

 

But it's really up to you. Maybe you'll like to do some searched in the ICE section

[Mzrmazda3]

Have heard of this before and think it is from MY

 

It's like injecting or stuffing some stuff to reduce road noise or to stiffen a few areas of your ride

 

Can't comment much cos i did not read into the details

Edited September 7, 2007 by Mzrmazda3

[Try_conti]

hmm ... non combustable foam that can solidify. that's a first .

[Garlic]

Seen something similar on "Pimp my ride", its suppose to stiffen the body.

 

Its a mixture of chemicals which bloats and hardens.

[Kb27]

There is a similar foam I have done diy for SP

But it is best applied where there is a "container" to hold the foam, like filling a hollow beam or other enclosed space.

This foam is polyurethane and it will expand for up to 4 hours once exposed to air.

 

The application is messy and it will stick everywhere, so need to be done wearing gloves.

 

Once cured, the foam is green in colour. It is compressible and will regain its shape more or less.

 

The foam cannot be applied where there are moving parts like seatbelts, windows.

Applying it on the B pillar (seatbelts) or doors (moving windows) is quite impractical.

 

The foam is good for reducing noise, providing stiffness. It's not snake oil.

However, it is not UV resistant and will burn when a fire is applied to it.

 

The foam can be obtained in a can called PU foam. It cost about $7 at Teck Cheong hardware at Blk 5022 AMK Ind Park 2.

 

A supercar like the Ford GT actually used PU foam in the factory according to Discovery program.

Edited September 7, 2007 by Kb27

[Irene]

You tried it ah? How the result?

[Kb27]

Yes, I've used it. I have filled up my car's rear hatch door horizontal beam.

I put too much and it was still spewing out foam hours later.

It just make the beam stiffer, although I have nothing to test with, but just knuckle rap.

 

It is difficult to apply as the nozzle sprays downwards unlike normal aerosol can.

 

It's like when you pack a fragile item into a box, you put a lot of foam inside to fill up the box.

Without the packing foam, when you press on the box, it will flex and sag, but with the packing foam, the box will stay more or less in shape.

[Mtoh]

actually i search the net and come across this article , that is very good. And i have also found course conducted in the States on how to apply foam on automotive.

 

http://bodyshopbusiness.com/bb/bb10748.htm

 

but the key qns is , which type of foam,and what is the property of the foam used. Is it for automotive and use for improving NVH ??

 

there are, soft , medium and hard foam. i know the MY company is charging >2K RM to do up the whole car.

 

Piller A,B,C plus side sills, front & back..

 

so if this is only $7 bucks per can.... mmm..... its really cheap to DIY.

[Mtoh]

Auto Foam:

Proper Application and Placement

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Foam is showing up all over the modern vehicle. Although its presence adds a new level of complication to repairs, it

[Kb27]

That is a great website.

 

I have also tried "filler foam" as mentioned in the website. It is made by Hilti, bought from Choo Chiang, also around AMK Ind Park 2. It is used for construction building to fill gaps. This filler foam is much tougher but it does not expand like the PU foam. Getting it out after it's cured is a real mess too, it's very tough. You can punch on it and hurt your knuckles.

 

I haven't seen a foam specially made for automotive. I suppose anyone with a business sense could take one of these general purpose foam and called it "auto-foam" and make tons of money.

 

I was looking to improve NVH and a mechanic friend recommend expanding foam to me. He used it for a bit of SP when he does repair in his workshop.

 

For the desired property of autofoam, it should be structurally stable, UV-resistant, fireproof.

Unless you can find the real thing,... a $7 diy job is good enough for me.

 

But be warned, it's a messy job. I lost a bit of skin when ungloved hand accidentally touch the mousse.

Never get it in the eyes, wear goggles.

[Fishbowl]

I did Auto Foam on my ride. That guy from KL came down to Singapore to do the Auto Foaming for a few of us.

Each ride need to be in the workshop at least 4 hours. Estimated 2 hours to pump in the Foam, wait another hour for the foam to at least harden externally and then the worker spent another hour to trim off excess foam and put back the panels.

The KL guy advise us to give 24 hours for the Foam to cure fully.

The following day, I drove around to test test. Confirm, the foam do reduce the road noise. When going over hump, can feel the ride glide over the hump quite smoothly and when cornering, can feel the ride quite stable

This is just my opinion of this Auto Foam product. I believe the KL guy linked up with a shop located in Ubi to do this in Singapore. Cannot remember which shop though

cheers

[Irene]

I got a hatchback also and it always have some squeeky sound from the back. Will autofoam solve the problem? What difference did u notice after the DIY?

[Kb27]

Below my hatch door where you put would rest stuff, if you want to put things in; is just a flimsy plastic cover.

I took it out and put some Armaflex foam below the plastic cover to stabilize it.

Below the plastic panel is the chassis with hollow space inside welded together by two big pieces of metal.

 

Originally, when I rap on it, it would go konk konk sound.

This was an excellent place to put expanding foam in since there is no space to stuff Armaflex foam.

There were holes on the chassis, so I just push the nozzle in, and spray away.

That's when I realized I had put too much, and the foam keep pushing out through the holes as it dries.

 

After it cures, the chassis just sounds really solid since it's now filled up and no more hollow empty space.

Of coz, I have to clean the excess with razor blades and other sharp objects.

 

Squeeky sound can be a lot of things. Usually flimsy plastic panels rubbing against something else when the car is moving or some other loose parts rattling.

You would probably noticed that the squeek stops when the car is not moving.

Foaming must be done at the right place where the sound originates. Autofoam is not a cure-all when applied in the wrong area.

 

I use a mixture of Armaflex and expanding foam. They are good for sound proofing and they are also lightweight, so you don't worry about carrying a lot of deadweights around.

Edited September 7, 2007 by Kb27

[Mtoh]

actually i wrote a email to the guy who wrote this article, asking him which brand and where we can get this foams. and how much... waiting for his reply . will keep you guys updated ..

 

i the meantime, anyone who has done autofoam or DIY foam can feedback & share, ??

thanks

[Irene]

Tempted to try... Thanks for the advice.