HVAC Heater Box Foam Seals

Hello,

I have my heater box down to replace the heater core and evaporator core. Ive found that the Seals / foam for the top of the heater box, blower motor area etc are no longer available.

I have heard from numerous sources as well as i have read here that you can replaced those "foam" peices with closed cell foam that is available at Lowes or Home Depot. My problem is that i cant seem to find any foam to use. I have browsed the stores and i have asked numerous employees and no one can help me.

Can you guys share with me where you got your foam to make these pieces, and possibly what it was called?

I have searched and all i have found is the following thread:
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=985954

My Jeep is my DD, and i would hate to have to wait to get something ordered. I would like to get what i need locally.

Thanks!

You could look at craft type stores like Joannn Fabrics, etc. I found some there, then painted it black with paint that stays flexible...I think the stuff I used was called, "Bumper Black" or something similar.

Seriously? They've discontinued it? Try every dealer you can, and wholesalemopar.com - a firewall leak would suck.

I'm not sure exactly what you are looking for, but Dr. Sholls might be able to help. Cheap mouse pads could be a source as well.

I used foam tape, most auto parts stores should have it but here is a link to it at home depot as well:

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs..._mmc=shopping-_-googlebase-_-D25X-_-202066510

Yeah that foam tape is easy to come by; i can use that on the seams of the heater box.

The closed cell foam im looking for is rubbery... Im looking for sheets of it that i can cut pieces out of to replace the pieces that are above and the the back of the Heater box. One piece goes to the firewall and is around the heater core. The other piece connects to the top of the dash and i believe is for fresh air.

From the thread i posted to earlier i saved some of the images and put arrows on them to show what pieces that i am talking about:

http://i42.tinypic.com/256hc9z.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/zk63ix.jpg

Sporting goods store, look for closed cell foam sleep pads.

maybe some upholstery type high-density urethane foam would work, it's pretty durable and soft enough to compress and seal that area up pretty well i would think.

Try a marine supply store.

Well the closest thing i have found locally is some foam sleep pads at Walmart, but they are thin only maybe 1/2 inch.

From what i can tell the stuff i need is 3/4inch.

I did some more researching and from what i can tell something that is Polystyrene is a good choise for this also. What do you guys think?

I found some Polystyrene at the local lowes that is 3/4 inch thick that i think might work.. here is a link:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_15355-46086...=1&currentURL=/pl__0__s?Ntt=389697+&facetInfo=

EDIT

Nevermind... thats expanded foam which is rigid... that wont work.
The search continues.

Might be a little dense, but you should be able to find a workstation leg fatigue mat somewhere in roughly 3/4 in. I haven't seen what exactly you are after or how wide a strip you need. Foam pipe insulation could be used for filler around the sides of a heater core.

Couldnt find anything local i could use... so i ended up ordering a few different types of foam... I ordered 3/4".. i will see if that will work and if not then i will order 1".

The only thing i found that might be able to be use was those interlocking foam squares that you can buy for kids for a play area (they also like to make forts with them). They are a little stiff though and i would hate to steal one from the kids

I will keep this thread updated with the type of foam i choose, size etc.

Yea please keep us updated... I have a hellacious firewall leak. I think it's coming from where the fresh are comes into the heater box, because when I was driving over a mountain pass in the dead of winter the air coming in was ice cold.

Whatever you do, don't order from factorychryslerparts.

Maybe apply a little GreatStuff expanding foam at the firewall leak? :gee:

Monster Mopar said:

Yea please keep us updated... I have a hellacious firewall leak. I think it's coming from where the fresh are comes into the heater box, because when I was driving over a mountain pass in the dead of winter the air coming in was ice cold.

Click to expand...

If you have a Manual Transmission, look on the Driver's side where the Auto shifter cable runs through. On the Manual equipped Heeps the Factory puts in a rubber plug. Which can age due to the heat from the nearby exhaust and fall out. Makes for one huge pneumonia hole in the firewall!

Go ahead, ask me how I know...

Expanding foam... No thanks.... And it's an auto

Most foam you can buy locally will deteriorate or not hold its shape over time. The seal for the blower motor to firewall I think I cut from a 1” sheet of Armaflex and the inlet seal was from the dealer. The Armaflex is holding up great and will probably never need to be replaced. I like www.mcmaster.com when trying to find the right material for a project.

Looks like i may need to order some 1" foam as i purchased 3/4"... i will see when i get the sheets i bought if i can make it work.

It's been a while so I could be wrong about the 1".

Alright, i finally got the foam that i ordered.

The right stuff is minicel. I ordered it from www.foambymail.com because they have fairly decent prices.. however it took almost two weeks to get the foam.

Here is a direct link to the foam:

http://www.foambymail.com/MC2-/minicel-foam-2lb.html

Its the 2lb minicel. You will want to order in 1".

When i ordered, i actually bought 3/4". This was perfect for the fresh air intake foam seal, but not for the firewall seal around where the Blower motor goes. I ended up having to carefully attach another peice of foam to the seal i cut originally. This worked great for me, but if i would do it again i would use the proper size to make the seal for this area. I just traced the old seal on the new foam and then cut. An electric carving knife is your friend here.. you wont want to try and use scissors.

I also ordered some 1/8" foam from the following link:

http://www.foambymail.com/NE/neoprene-foam-sheets.html

Its neoprene.. the regular density is what i ordered. I used this for the blend doors, and i also could have used this for the upper section of the heater box.. but the current foam in there was just fine so i left it alone.

Dap Contact cement was purchased to attach the foam to the blend doors and plastic. I bought both the gel kind, and the regular kind. I found the Gel to be much easier to use and work with a small paint brush. I didnt seem to make as much of a mess with it either.

I also purchased some 1/8" sticky back foam from Ace Hardware that i used in all the seam areas.. this was much easier than trying to attach with the contact cement in the smaller areas.

Finally, i purchased one of those foam pipe insulation things and cut just a really small peice for the evaporator core drain. You can get these things cheap just about anywhere. I didnt buy the harder foam kind (probably polystyrene) but the rubbery kind (like neoprene).

I have a quick question...

The original blend door foam had a "wedge" piece on it. Thats the best i can describe it. Anyway, i thought about attempting to replicate this wedge, but im wondering if i even need to. Im not sure of its actual purpose... the only thing i can think of is some additional weight on one side of the door but i dont really know. Thoughts on this?


Thanks!