ZROSSA Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 Howdy all, I went to find some florist foam to start some bucks for new airdams on my z and the old corrola and was shocked by the price of the stuff. They florists pay $3.50 for something the size of your shoe. What else can i use? The florist foam idea looked like the easiest to sand in to shape. Do you think spraying expandable foam on to the car and then sanding back will work? I would really rather not have to spray putty them and the extra work involved, nor for that mater do I have spray putty gun. Thanks Douglas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 Are you trying to buy the stuff wholesale? Try tracing the source of the stuff and buying from them--you'll probably need a lot of it anyway for "experimenting." Big Daddy Roth used plaster to make his bucks out of. This worked really well, but the drawback is the overall weight and the mess in cleaning it up. However, where there is a will, there is a way! Good luck Maybe Terry O can elaborate on where he bought his stuff from and how much it cost. Have you tried using the Net to find a supplier? Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 A "block" or brick 3" X 4" X 8" of this stuff (I used it today to make a couple of parts to hide the rear bumper bracket mounts on the rear valance panel) is only about 90 cents each, or a six pack for about $2. They either misunderstood you, or were wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueovalz Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 Look at the hobbie (craft) houses (Hobby Lobby is were I get mine). If you are getting it from a florist, look out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 Thanks for the FAST reply, Terry, and for the heads-up! Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 Yep, I bought about 12 bricks of it at a craft place for about 5 bucks I think. How big of a part are we talking about? Regards, Lone [ November 01, 2001: Message edited by: lonehdrider ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 There's a place out in the valley in West Virginia that makes Floral Foams, "Foot foam" and other "blown foams". I went there for a business trip for the Navy - hard to believe - and explain. You should see how they make that stuff (floral foam). Several gallons of liquid are poured in the bottom of a mold that expands on the vertical sides at a set rate. Within 10 or 15 minutes those few gallons of liquid "blow" into a huge, 12'x10'x10' green foam "dinner roll". They open up one side of the mold and a forklift stabs it, lifts it, and it eventually goes to a big bread slicer where they cut it up first into bread slice shaped pieces, then another machine cuts it horizontally. Imagine walking into a storage warehouse where huge 12'x10'x10' green "dinner rolls" are sitting around! I wonder how much one of those would cost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZROSSA Posted November 2, 2001 Author Share Posted November 2, 2001 I went to a florist. I have a lot to do. Whole over bumper air dams on the z and the corolla and i need to do flares on the corrola. I will check the wholesaler on monday. Everything stops at 4pm on fridays here. I was thinking of getting some expandable foam and making a box around the area i want to do and in fill it in. i dont know if it will stick though. Might try that this weekend. Looks like its going to rain anyway. thanks for the help. Any other ideas? Douglas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 The expandable foam will stick to anything (including you, took me 3 days to get it of my hands). The only problem is that sometimes the air-bubbles were a bit large so I had to fill it with body filler then do the final shaping, which if you dont want to do a lot of touching up of the final piece you will want to do this and make it smooth anyway. p.s. a good cerated bread knife and a steak knife will help u get the basic shape, and a round tube with sandpaper glued to it will help shape curves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Frank Rich Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 Try Looking in the Yellow Pages under "Plastics, Wholesale" and see if you don't also find some vendors for various types of EP Foam. Here in San Antonio, there's a source that will sell a 4'X 4'x 8' "pig" of EP Foam for less than $100.00. (It also looks really cool driving down the road with a chunk of foam that large in the back of your truck - just be sure to tie it down!!!) You can make LOTS of plugs for molds out of a piece that size, and sheet foam in 4'X 8' panels of varying thicknesses is pretty cheap too, if you go directly to a plastics supply house/manufacturer. Florist supply houses are notorious for marking up prices because they deal with a specialized market segment, and figure they can charge whatever the traffic will bear. Also try f'glass supply houses for a product called "ethafoam" - its more flexible than regular EP foam, not as brittle, comes in sheets and blocks and you can still cut and sand it just like EP. Good luck! "Lead me not into Temptation, I'm getting there just fine on my own!" Frank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 Douglas, The two part urethane foam as Pete described is best for your application. It sculpts and sands well and you can fiberglass right over it. There are lots of companies that sell kits, the two liquid components that Pete spoke about. You would need to build a wooden box to the size of foam block that you need then pour in the two parts and it will expand to the size of the box. I would use either a 2# or 4# per cubic foot density. These measures will be metric in New Zealand and I'm not that good with my coversions. I did a quick search under "urethane foam" and came up with the following company that sells kits http://www.uscomposites.com/foam.html If you are interested in molding products you might check out http://www.smooth-on.com/ Good luck, it sounds like quite a project. Would love to see some pics when you get done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted November 2, 2001 Share Posted November 2, 2001 Just went through this trying to make some brakes scoop plugs for the front of a Viper. 1. The two part urethane foam that we used shrunk after a couple days. 2. The florist foam dissolved when we poured the mold material onto it. 3. The first batch of modeling clay was the wrong stuff and never hardened. We finally walked across the street to a "secret" Porsche design studio and begged two bricks of the modeling clay they use. Worked great. We still don't know where to find the stuff, but it can be carved to very fine, sharp edges and hardens up at ambient (you have to heat if for a couple hours to about 120 degrees and then you have about 4 hours to work it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 4, 2001 Share Posted November 4, 2001 When I lived in california the surf shops used foam and covered it with glass (different resin though). We used to make small parts for our cars by forming the styrofoam then covering it with elmers glue(really!) then putting the fiberglass over that. Either elmers glue or lots of bondo should prevent the foam from melting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZROSSA Posted November 4, 2001 Author Share Posted November 4, 2001 Thanks Guys, I had a long chat with a local boatbulider yesterday and am going to see him tommorrow. He has lots of different foams to play with so i will poke around and see what i think will work. Will keep yall informed. Douglas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 4, 2001 Share Posted November 4, 2001 For others that are interested I found a real good supply for large sizes of foam and composite materials. Their catalog is over 300 pages THICK and has foam, fillers resins. AN fittings, Aluminum and steel tubing,instructional information etc. (as well as lots of other neat stuff!!) Aircraft Spruce and Specialty Company. Their address is below: 201 W. Truslow Ave. Fullerton, Ca 92632 Phone# 714-870-7551 fax 714-871-7289 800-824-1930 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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