So this past weekend I was using a little torch to heat up—and more than occasionally set on fire—the seam sealer so I could scrape off the big globs of it all over the car. I came to realize that the foam people speak of in the rear corner of the car is just put in there and covered with seam sealer.
How do the cool kids deal with this area when restoring?

Thanks

-Andrew

I dug the expanded foam out. Then used plenty of etch primer, finally 3M stonechip and finished with body colour. I can understand why the factory used the foam method, but if compromised the rot sets in very quickly.

One of my corners had rotten through and I had to replace the area above the indicator. I pulled out the foam from both sides. Lots of epoxy primer and then my entire underside is coated in a product similar to Raptor. I left my underside black but that's just my preference.

Long screwdriver to chip it out.

I used great stuff foam to replace the original. If you don’t reapply the foam, that area created a little shelf where mud and dirt will accumulate. If you don’t reapply it just clean the area about occasionally.

I spray the foam with carb cleaner. It just melts away.........


Once it dries, I paint with rustoleum.

That is a good tip. I chiseled it out of my project car, and it was surprisingly difficult to get it all out. May have to try this trick on my driver...

Here's the biggest chunk that came out of my project car. Looks all ancient and fossilized.
Click to view attachment

I just did the repair to fix a big rust hole caused by the foam and was concerned about this very thing - the shelf, that is. Good to know folks are able to address this in various ways w/out "refoaming".

This is my concern. I have 3 miles of gravel road to drive before hitting any pavement. I'm thinking caked mud is going to cause rust faster than the foam with good body sealer over it. There is a special body foam you can buy. After digging the foam out (wish I'd known the carb cleaner trick), I shot epoxy primer and then Raptor bed liner into the cavities. It is still a dirt trap though so I'm probably going to fill with body foam and sealer and just add checking the condition of the sealer to my maintenance routine.

Thanks everyone, Ill try the carb cleaner to get the last bits out then just leave it open and Raptor it all. It is now a SoCal car so if I clean it out once in a while I should be ok.

-Andrew

Fender Liners,,914 rubber

https://shop.914rubber.com/Fender-liners-se...p3plqscsfapp001

I am waiting for a set of their fender liners for exactly the same reason, a 2 mile gravel drive. Dug out all the foam, cleaned up the rust, epoxy primed and sealed with seam sealer. Hope it all helps. Ordered the fender liners a few weeks ago and was told it would be a few weeks so hopefully soon.