Foam above radiator

Hi Greg,
Today I stopped by Lowes looking for your foam but they old had the round ones for piping.
Do you have the full description of what you bought and did it come in sheets?

thanks,
Mike

 

Let me know if you can't find it at Lowes.
I can send you some. I'm sure my foam supplier has this in one inch thickness with the 3M Very High Bond PSA already applied.
Ron

 

Must say, 1" is too thin. Mine (OEM) is 2"s and Greg's looks to be even a bit thicker.

Cheers,

Hank

 

Mike,
I'm back in China so can't look at the package but it came in a longer length and I had to cut it shorter. It was not in sheets as only the length has to be shortened, everything else was perfect.
Greg

 

Thanks Greg, Ron, Hank.
I will stop by Lowes/HD tomorrow to look again.
My foam on the 3.2 is about 1" thick, slightly diff from the 2" t setup.
I will look for a 2" incase and can always trim it down if its too thick.

let you know what I find.
cheers

 

I stopped by Lowes and HomeDepot today, but no luck.
Only thing they had that even came close were these weather strips, nothing in 2"x4"x25", only smaller sizes that I would have to double up.
I'll keep looking for now.
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Hi Mikey,

Question regarding the photo in your post #2. What is that grey "stuff" visible on the side that has the missing foam? Also, notice there is a little metal wall that the foam fits into. It actually hides some of the depth of the foam. Did someone laminate two pieces together and now we see the top piece missing on that left side?

Just curious,

Hank

 

Hi Hank,
On my car, there's only a smooth flat bonnet, the gray looking tape thing is just that, seems like it was the double sided tape that held the Foam to the bonnet -flat like paper. My good side foam amazingly is held together by air now, if I touch it, it just turns to dust in the wind.

 

Gotcha' ............... This foam stuff tastes terrible ! Let's go eat some real turkey leftovers !

Cheers Mikey,

Hank

 

Mike,
The one on the left is what I used and it fits perfectly on my '92 T.
Good luck,
Greg

 

Thanks Greg.
Today I picked up two of those HVAC foam and glued and trimmed them on my car. I used a spray adhesive to attach the foam back on the old tape lining. Works great and hold well. Seems like a cheap, quick, and easy fix. I just hope it doesn't melt from the radiator heat, I might have to add thermal heat tape on top if that happens. I'll keep you guys posted, but I guess if Greg is using the same material, he would have noticed a problem.

Thanks.
Mike
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Nice write-up Mike. Ours is long gone and without a trace....My question is...Do we need it?

The paint hasn't peeled underneath or on the outside of the hood. Engine doesn't run hot either. I'm reasonably sure it wasn't there when we bought the car from Shelton Ferrari. If they weren't worried about it (presumably), should we be?

dave

 

Hi Dave,
Here is the part for your car: http://www.ricambiamerica.com/parts_catalogs.php?V=diag&I=1955

I suspect Ferrari put it there for a reason, probably to absorb the radiator heat from damaging the bonnet lid components and/or the nice paint job on top. Its probably worth restoring if you plan on long distance traveling like to Mondipalooza in June. Just my $.02.
Of course, I didn't want to dish out premium money for an OEM foam that I can pick up at Lowes for under $10 without the Horsey packaging.

Cheers,
Mike

 

My first thought was the foam was there to keep air from flowing over the radiator versus through it.... hadn't thought about the heat issue...
Greg

 

Wouldn't it be the opposite, so air flows through the rad to keep things cool, instead of air getting diverted around (in this case over) the rad?

I will look, but I think in my car, any foam over the rad is a figment of my front compartment imagination!!!

Regards,
Jerry

 

The more I read about foam and radiators, the more I'm convinced its more for directing airflow to where you want it to go for more cooling and efficiency. The Frost King Foam Air Conditioner Weatherstrip I used is made of highly compressible open-cell polyurethane foam.

Without the foam you are recycling 200 degree plus air from under hood. The foam helps in all cases. Any gap between the radiator and core support, not only leaks airflow, robbing the condenser and trans cooler of airflow, but also recirculates preheated under hood air. I would imagine by adding the top foam, it adds the cooling efficiency and lowers temperatures some what.

 

+1

 

Have found a source for this type of foam in my home town. Had them cut a piece 25" x 4" x 1". Scraped away the old stuff and did a fit test before I used some adhesive to attached it. Found out that the tape Ferrari used to attached the foam was still sticky enough to keep the new foam in place. In fact when I tried to pull the foam away to spray some adhesive on it, the old tape Ferrari used came out with the new foam and I ended up using a little spray adhesive to adhere the old tape back to the hood.

Have attached a picture to see results. From the picture you can see that that long dimension probably should be 25-1/2".

Best part of this was I was able to buy two pieces of the foam, cut to the dimensions needed for $4.08 with tax. Vendor selected the foam for me as I told him it would be in contact with a radiator. They had another type which looked exactly the same, but it was not a high temperature type.

Will know Wednesday what the results are as car goes to a shop to have the thermostat replaced, so it will be tested then.

Although it may be difficult to see in the pictures the foam is touching the top of the radiator.

ceb39
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nicely done. what did it cost you and would you consider selling kits to other Mondial owners in need.

 

Before I answer about selling let me find out once the car is out of the shop Wednesday and I can take it out and get it hot, then let it sit for a while with it hot. From what the foam vendor said it should do okay, but would like to see for myself first.

Material cost is cheap, do not know about shipping. Depends upon what mode of shipping is selected. I think a shipping box would probably weigh more than the material.

Whether the foam acutally sticks to the existing adhesive on the car will depend upon the condition each car is in, and whether the old foam can be removed without removing the old existing adhesive Ferrari used. If that material is not sticky enough to hold the new foam some type of spray on adhesive would have to be used.

I used the srpay on adhesive I bought for the foam, to adhere the old Ferrari adhesive to the car. Will see what the results are with that.

Will report back after Wednesday, but only if I can take the car out and get it hot and see whether I have a mess or success.

ceb39

 

May I ask where is the store you bought the form. I also live in the bay area

thanks

 

The place is in Fremont, CA and it is called Bob's Foam Factory.

ceb39

 

Thanks