Project pretty prius grill block - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Daox · 10-26-2011, 10:12 AM

I've been wanting an upper grill block for the Prius for quite some time now. Especially now with the PHEV kit and a short commute my engine doesn't even get up to temperature on the way to work and its not even winter yet! After seeing CigaR007's wonderful looking grill block I had to have one for myself. However, There was no way I was going to remove my entire front bumper cover just to make a grill block. Instead, I had recently picked up a great stuff gun for doing some home improvement work. I decided to give it a try for shooting a foamed in place grill block.

I started it last night. I did as CigaR007 did and put down a layer of aluminum foil to act as a backing for the foam. I then just shot the foam in with my gun. The whole process went pretty fast. I was done taping/foiling and shooting the foam within about 45 minutes.

I'll get more pictures later on, but here is what I have so far.

Vekke · 10-26-2011, 01:06 PM

When you shape that foam into shape and smooth the plastic padding with sanding paper. You can check the curvature with that aluminium foil also. Just sweep it ovet the plastic padding and you can see the bigget faults in the vurvature without painting it first

. Foil mirror the surface pretty nicely.

vtec-e · 10-26-2011, 01:12 PM

Good job! Ciga seems to have started something!

jimepting · 10-26-2011, 04:22 PM

Hey, now that is a neat approach. I think I'll try some of this with my Insight. One could quickly make a couple of grill blocks, one for cold weather and one fore moderate weather and just keep the alternate in the trunk.

What is the spray material? I don't recognize it.

Daox · 10-26-2011, 04:29 PM

For this one I used Great Stuff window and door. It was what I had attached to my gun already, so thats what I used. We'll see how it is to actually work with. It is pretty flexible once cured.

CigaR007 · 10-26-2011, 05:17 PM

Looking forward to the end result !

tru · 10-26-2011, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daox

For this one I used Great Stuff window and door. It was what I had attached to my gun already, so thats what I used. We'll see how it is to actually work with. It is pretty flexible once cured.

how much was the foam? in my area its usually pricey

BamZipPow · 10-26-2011, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tru

how much was the foam? in my area its usually pricey

Should be about $3-$4 a can. Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes should have it in stock. Same goes fer Ace Hardware/True Value Hardware stores.

Daox · 10-26-2011, 08:29 PM

Foam in a can is 3-4 dollars around here I think. As I mentioned I used a great stuff gun, it gives much better control and is reusable unlike a normal can of great stuff. I have a picture of it below.

As you can see, you just tuck the aluminum in as best you can around corners and tape it down on the edges.

This is the great stuff gun (pro 14). Its great.

Tonight I sanded down the grill block. It went pretty quick. The only difficulty comes from the fact that the foam is a bit spongy. If you aren't a little careful you can end up ripping it instead of sanding it.

Removed the grill block and trimmed the edges.

As you can see, the surface is far from perfect. I'm going to put some fiberglass over the front face to reinforce it. We'll see what its like after the fiberglass goes on.

BamZipPow · 10-26-2011, 08:33 PM

Keep in mind that the aluminum foil can scratch up yer grill if you leave it on there. Another option would be to use some plastic food wrap as yer release agent...