ok integ21, this is what ya do… if you are talking about the same panel i had a problem with then you mean the metal one under the trunk lid and over the bumper between the tail lights as you stated… well this is what i did and it has been rattle free ever since.( i know this works cause i have 4 JL 12 w6’s in mineand i did this 4 yrs ago)… now it is a bit of a pain in the butt. and to be able to access the wires for bulb changes and such after you do this, you will have to spend hours preping. but i will explain that later on…so here we go…
step 1: go out to any hardware store like home depot and grab a can or two (took me 1 1/2 cans) of spray foam insulator… usually found in the home insulation section of the store. ask a sales clerk he’ll know what you mean.
step 2: pull the interior panels off from the trunk (like you were gonna change the bulbs in your tail lights)and make sure u take the system out too.( makes the job easier if u can sit in the trunk and see what the heck you are spraying) then do something that i didn’t do and wish that i did…that is find some thin plastic tubes that are larger in diameter than the wire bundles going to all your bulbs. split the tubes lengthwise with a razorblade after cutting them to the length of the wire bundle and wrap them around the wires. tape the ends with a good sealing tape like electical or something…duct tape is too sticky and masking tape will peel away when the foam puts pressure on it…make sure u tape off the connectors themselves good too. you’ll see why later(u can find these also at home depot but make sure they are thin and flexable).
step 3: now put the panels back on so the area is sealed again…
step 4: now grow some gonads and start filling that whole area with the foam. there should be a little attachment tube that came with the cans of foam to slip in between the panels to inject the foam with. now this stuff expands rapidly and i mean EXPANDS!! so be careful and just squirt a little blast at a time. if it starts to pop out from the bottom of the panel and onto the floor STOP…u have injected enough…stop if it comes out any area for that matter…you’ll know cause the stuff is yellow… now if it does come out don’t panic, it is easily removed after it dries but don’t try to mop it up wet ok? repeat this process over and over untill u have move from panel to panel and injuected the whole A** end of the car…remember though that the foam expands and sqeezes into the tiny spaces wherever it finds them… so look around real good before starting and tape off any holes u don’t want to be filled.
step 5: let it dry. it doesn’t take all that long but wait about 2 hours more than the can says just to be sure or you’ll get yellow S**T everywhere.
step 6: THE FUN PART!! now that it is dry you get to clean and cut all the places that the foam splirted out that you didn’t want it to. so start by pulling off the access panels for the tail lights and cutting away the foam till u can find those tubes u installed. then remove them…this might be a pain in the butt to do, but it’ll be worth it when u need to change a bulb. see i didn’t do the tube step and found out that i had to cut away a crapload of foam from the connectors just to get them out. so you’ll see that after u get the tubes out you have room to move the wires around and get the connectors off… now if some of the foam leaked out tward the floor the best way to trim it to make it look nice and clean is to accually pull ALL the trim from the rear of the trunk and trim the foam with a razorblade about an 1 1/2 inches above the edge of the trim…and it looks kinda cool to see where all the foam went. you’ll see that it is not that bad after it is dry to remove it…just cut and pull it comes right out. it is also easier to get the tubes out from the wires when u can see the whole wall of foam u just put in there…
now i know that this sound like a lot of work and mess but if you are carful when injecting the foam, take the time to prep the job well, and wait for it to dry before you try to clean up any mistakes, you’ll see that when u are done, noone will see it and you will have the tightest, cleanest, hardest hitting car around!
this foam works so well for two reasons…one it puts a little pressure on that rattling panel… and two you now have a massive wall of foam between your subs and that metal panel to absorb all the sound waves that are causing the rattle in the first place.(kinda like a sound proof room)
cost= about $18 for the foam, your trouble, well that’s priceless!
well i hope this helps you. and if you have any questions feel free to e-mail me…i check it everyday!
oh and i am glad that where u injected the sprayfoam worked… i never thought about that one…nice thinking… and i am curious…how much splirted out? and was it a pain to make it so noone sees it from an angle?? well have fun foaming this week…
