Foam-Filling the Chassis

In any high-performance car, it is impossible to make the chassis too stiff. The stiffer the chassis, the higher
its natural frequency, making the energy imparted to it by bumps less likely to excite the body's structure. A
stiffer chassis enables the use of stiffer springs and shocks without hurting the ride. This is because a stiff,
non-flexing chassis transfers more force into the suspension where it can be dissipated by the springs and
shocks instead of transferring the force to the occupants. A stiff chassis is also more responsive to roll rate
tuning for balancing understeer and oversteer. This is one of the reasons why automotive engineers are
continually investigating ways to stiffen chassis without adding weight.

In a final bit of reengineering to stiffen the body, we injected the chassis with catalyzed rigid structural
polyurethane foam. Structural foam, in the 2 lb per cubic foot density that we used, can stiffen chassis
members up to 40 percent.

Higher densities of foam can increase stiffness by up to 300 percent. Since we cannot retool custom parts to
redo the Z's body, we figured that this would be an excellent, low-cost way of greatly increasing chassis
stiffness. Injecting foam is not a new technique for chassis stiffening. The Infiniti Q45 uses this sort of foam
in some of its chassis members to increase stiffness, as do a few other premium cars. In fact, the foam we
chose is the foam recommended to repair damaged Q45s.

To get the correct foam for our project, we contacted Art Goldman, Foamseal's automotive product manager
and author of an SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) paper on the use of structural foam for the
stiffening of automotive unibody structures. We used Foamseal's two-component foam kit, p/n 11-22 to fill
the main members of the chassis. Like we mentioned earlier, Foamseal is the supplier that I-CAR, a national
certification group for quality auto repair, recommends for the repair of damaged, foam-filled chassis. The
Foamseal kit uses a two-part catalyzed polyurethane foam, which quickly cures into rigid, waterproof,
closed-cell foam. To prep the car, we carefully masked off all painted areas anywhere where the foam could
drip. As this sort of foam is a thermosetting catalyzed plastic, we realized it could be icky if it spilled on paint
or any part of the car's interior. This foam is nasty stuff. It is impervious to all known solvents and cleaners.

Rubber gloves must be worn. Get some of it on your hands and it will stay there for more than 3 weeks--
don't ask how we know. Do not get this stuff on your paint. Wear old clothes; we ruined ours while learning
how to handle the product. We injected the foam into the rocker panels and frame rails of Project Z through
existing bolt and drain holes. When injected, the foam reacts like shaving cream and quickly expands to fill
the empty space. You can judge how much foam to add by watching its expansion progress through some of
the holes. Once injected, the foam expands and begins to cure in about a minute so you need to work fast
and plan how you inject the foam before you start.

The life of the foam kit is limited to a few hours once the seal is broken. We filled all of the Z's unibody frame
members using five foam kits. When foaming a chassis, you must remember the wires and other lines that
pass through the chassis must be relocated or they will be entombed forever.

We were amazed at how this simple procedure improved the performance of the car. The chassis now
almost feels like it has a roll cage. A sloped driveway can be driven up sideways with nary a creak. Even
though the Z already has a pretty tight chassis, it feels more solid. The ride has improved and road noise
has been reduced noticeably. We bet that the car will be even more responsive to chassis tuning measures
in the future. If you are a slalom racer, a road racer, have a lowered car or even just want a smoother ride;
foaming is a worthy, easy-to-do modification. Foamseal has foams in densities as high as 10 lbs per square
foot if you desire to make things even stiffer.

Do not--I repeat--do not attempt to use cheap, hardware-store canned foam. This is not the same thing, and
if injected into your chassis, will form a gummy mass that won't dry. Foamseal foam is a professional grade
foam, which although it is a little unforgiving to cleanup mistakes, has superior mechanical properties and
catalytic curing so it will dry even in an enclosed space.