Example of polyurethane foam car "sculpting"

[Blue07CivicEX]

Ok, so, I have my molded pieces of the front bumper (tape was a bad idea but I got it off and it worked sorta) now I have my pieces shaped but i'm finding they are curling away from the car. should I go ahead with the fiberglass and try to straighten them out by doing that or should scrap the curled pieces and re-plan my approach?

[3wheeled]

can you post a pic of what they look like?

[Blue07CivicEX]

I can post a pic later tonight of the car covered in foam (front bumper) but I gave up on the foam idea and trashed it i am going to do it with coroplast instead :-) i found a place that sells coroplast sheets and it will be easier to work with. So I think tomorrow i'll see how that goes should be a lot better and will hopefully still look decent.

[Keen]

This sounds like the same conclusion that I reached. In theory and in my head it seems like a fine Idea. In practice it is much messier. I ran into the same problem with the foam stinking to the tape, as well as the foam not holding the shape of the cavity. Lots of warping, twisting, and shrinking. Maybe something like pour foam would work better??? Anyone with experience in this? Three wheel man? Did you used any of the can stuff or all the two part mixing stuff?
In other news I just got a 48mpg tank w00t. Although I don't have those fog light openings (4dr) .

[3wheeled]

Originally Posted by Keen

This sounds like the same conclusion that I reached. In theory and in my head it seems like a fine Idea. In practice it is much messier. I ran into the same problem with the foam stinking to the tape, as well as the foam not holding the shape of the cavity. Lots of warping, twisting, and shrinking. Maybe something like pour foam would work better??? Anyone with experience in this? Three wheel man? Did you used any of the can stuff or all the two part mixing stuff?
In other news I just got a 48mpg tank w00t. Although I don't have those fog light openings (4dr) .

I have only used the board stock foam with the spray foam as glue. Sometimes we used the spray foam to fill small holes but I never really like doing that because the foam expands a lot and then becomes less dense - sort of spongy. Spongy foam is hard to shape. The board foam is really easy to shape. sand paper or a sandpaper block works great. The spray foam that I used was the red cap type. There is also a blue cap that might be better I don't know. I don't recall the brand but Home Depot sells it for around $5 a can.

The two-part pour foam looks to me to be much more dense than the spray foam. Maybe that is the same desity as the board stock that I have used. If it is, it would be great to work with.


Just to show you what you can do with board stock look at this pic.
The builder used many layers of board and then shaped it.
http://www.rqriley.com/images/xr3foam2-big.jpg

[COMP]

cool

[Keen]

Thanks for the reply and info.

Sometimes we used the spray foam to fill small holes but I never really like doing that because the foam expands a lot and then becomes less dense - sort of spongy. Spongy foam is hard to shape

That sounds like what I experienced. I'm going to order the two part pour foam from fiberglass supply this week. I'll let you know how it goes. Hopefully the foam will be easy to shape. I'll keep this thread updated with progress.

[jthistle]

Just to show you what you can do with board stock look at this pic.
The builder used many layers of board and then shaped it.
http://www.rqriley.com/images/xr3foam2-big.jpg

That site has some really useful information. They have a nice FAQ about fiber glassing over polyurethane board. http://www.rqriley.com/faq.htm

[jthistle]

Found a polyurethane foam board supplier. Foam from Aircraft Spruce

[kanaloa]

These pictures from website: EnglishRussia.com