Heater box and blower foam replacement- Best Alternative

[BLTZKRG]

I had to strip out virtually the whole of my dashboard to rebuild the heater core in my 1970 280SL
I noticed that whenever you pulled anything apart the foam would disappear into dust...I tried finding suitable foam but could find nothing thin enough, I tried using the thin white packaging material, it was simply useless...Then I discovered something very simple, we have a local store that sells Velcro on a roll, its self adhesive. I simply used the soft side and it works perfectly

Here is one of my heater boxes, its such an easy thing to use

[Tyler S]

Nice job! As these cars age and more parts go NLA, Improvising is becoming a common theme.

[roymil]

thank you for that tip!   I was just about to start putting my dash and heater back together and this will sure be helpful.

[rwmastel]

I will probably get into this job this winter.  I've never been into that area of the car.  What is the purpose of the foam?

[Jonny B]

My good friend Barry and I have done this job twice, once on his car, and once on mine. He found a roll of foam material with an adhesive backing. We were able to use that quite easily. I don't recall the vendor but it was nothing exotic. I will double check with him to see if he remembers.

The foam provides a seal between all the hard plastic pieces of the blower box, heater core cover - which, as has been stated, turns to dust over time.

[Jonny B]

The search function is your friend: I used  - "heater core" foam - as the search term and got one page of hits, so it is easy to read through what others have done for the foam.

Here is the link to a few pictures of what Barry and I did for our cars, plus some from a few others
https://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=21431.msg188137#msg188137

[teahead]

Sorry if O/T, but I'm about to tear out the heater blower motor/core/etc.

I already have the speedo out (and center cluster).  Would it be easier if I leave it out?  Or makes no diff?

[Jonny B]

Here is the information about the foam pad we ordered for doing the seals
McMaster Carr. To make it a bit easier:
Prod no 86225K53
Flame-Retardant Super-Cushioning Foam Sheet, Polyurethane with Adhesive back, 24"X24"X1/4"

[Cees Klumper]

Another alternative, I used this for my Lancia Fulvia heater box foam gasket replacements. Very high quality material actually, I have used it for several other purposes as well. Only 3 mm thick and also available in half that (1/16 inch):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081PR51GV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1