mysterious foam

[supra!-ra!-ra!]

hello from vancouver, b.c.!

i got a question that i think belongs here.
it's about a strip of foam that's in the hatch between the sheet metal. it runs all the way up the driver's side where the hydraulic arm and wire lead for the defog is stickin' out. no camera,no pic.sorry.
sure seems to me that it may be at the root of all the corrosion goin' on at the top and bottom of the corners.
i tried tuggin' on it, but doesn't wanna give. is this someone's idea of preventing rust? something from the factory? most importantly, does anyone understand what the heck i'm talkin' 'bout?
my attempts at searching the database on this hasn't provided any answers.
first question, probably won't be the last,
cheers!

[CJSREDPRA]

Any possible way you know of someone who has a digi cam, or you can borrow one??? Unfortunately, this IS one of those times where a picture will be handy. Very hard to mentally picture this right now w/o a visual aide.

[supra!-ra!-ra!]

thanks for the reply, CJSREDPRA.
it seems on the "posting rules" at the bottom of this page, attachments are not allowed (yet?)
i hoped to show what i meant by using an image from the online tsrm.
oh well, the glass has got to be in soon or i risk overexposure.
i think this foam is mostly to blame for the corrosion in question, so i figure i'll pour some gas in one of the holes eaten through by rust and light it on fire.
it melts away the foam, i put out the flames before it melts anything else and call it macaroni.

[Dean]

thanks for the reply, CJSREDPRA.
it seems on the "posting rules" at the bottom of this page, attachments are not allowed (yet?)
i hoped to show what i meant by using an image from the online tsrm.
oh well, the glass has got to be in soon or i risk overexposure.
i think this foam is mostly to blame for the corrosion in question, so i figure i'll pour some gas in one of the holes eaten through by rust and light it on fire.
it melts away the foam, i put out the flames before it melts anything else and call it macaroni.

NO! Don't do it. Don't light it on fire. Relax. Take some Valium. :D Have a cold refreshing beverage. :mm_beer:
Go see another local Mk2 Supra owner before you take drastic action. There are lots of friendly and knowledgeable Mk2 owners in your area.
If you pour in gas and light it on fire, lots of bad things could happen.... Gas tank is in the rear of the car, what if it has a leak? :duh: At the very least, you'll ruin the paint on the hatch, warp the metal with the heat, shatter the glass or melt the defroster lines, melt/ruin the rubber seal for the hatch glass, ruin all the wiring that runs thru that area, etc.
There must be a better solution..... Really, there must be.

[Deanfun]

Yep.

There's quite a few of us in the Vancouver area that could probably figure out what you're talking about.

It sounds like someone has sprayed foam into the hatch frame... which should be damn near impossible.

[supra!-ra!-ra!]

i wish i could type as fast as mr D. i would have included the description of the foam in my inital message. i am familiar with the foam SliP's writing about, it keeps mice and drafts out of my apartment ;P
this foam in question is cut into a 1"-square strip. as dense as memory foam, but it's grey. i've seen it used for packing hard drives in the box. one side is either dried glue or a plastic coating in order to paste it with glue. it's broken at the point where the defog wire lead comes out from, a convenient place to run a wire coat-hanger down to where the wiper motor is, attach the foam and heave it up. how it got all the way up to where the hinges attach the hatch, uuuuhhh, maybe broke it up and pushed?
i can't see this being some factory-design. ie. it's not on the other side.
didn't mean to alarm anyone about setting fire to the foam. but a hilarious reply, fer sure.
but i would take a blowtorch on low or even a heat gun to try and melt the glue.
i've even considered grinding a stripwide enough to pull it through(somewhere out of sight, and patch it back up.
it will rain in vancouver. trust me on this one. those living outside of a rainforest-landscape may not understand how much moisture gets in the air, just to be held against my mk's hatch. it's gotta go.

[supra!-ra!-ra!]

so, i'm gonna try the photos from the mystery-foam excavation...
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m71/n-a-0/Image002.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m71/n-a-0/Image003.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m71/n-a-0/Image01.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m71/n-a-0/Image004.jpg
of particular note would be the difference between the right and left side of the hatch. i hope this works.
sorry 'bout the over-size, i now know better.