head restraint info

[karthikpk]

we're a first year team from india. sourcing ethafoam and ensolite in these parts is proving quite a handful. any suggestions/ alternatives we can use?

[karthikpk]

we're a first year team from india. sourcing ethafoam and ensolite in these parts is proving quite a handful. any suggestions/ alternatives we can use?

[nicks94tbirdsc]

Confor Foam - Blue (CF-45)is an alternative. Not sure if it solves your problem of availability though

[Tech Guy]

The foam padding that is often used to package computers and similar equipment makes good head restraint padding. Blocks of it are often glued together to get the shape the manufacturer of the equipment needs. It is good and firm, not soft and spongy. The tech inspectors do not like the "soft" stuff. Neither is the styrafoam padding that is usually moulded to shape, and crumbles. The inspectors won't accept that either.

[BeaverGuy]

In last years rules it stated that Ethafoam and Ensolite were acceptable while they head restraint had to be non-resilient. Those foams aren't non-resilient. However, the new rules state Ethafoam and Ensolite as being acceptable and don't state anything about the resiliency. This should clearly mean that Ethafoam and Ensolite are acceptable materials. Last year we were using Ethafoam and were asked to change it out.

[Homemade WRX]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">we're a first year team from india. sourcing ethafoam and ensolite in these parts is proving quite a handful. any suggestions/ alternatives we can use? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
last year we had to make a last moment headrest...we went to the Pontiac walmart and bought some fabric and a life jacket...use your imagination from there

[nicks94tbirdsc]

I actually contacted the FSAE judges about this rule becuase I wondered why they specifically listed materials to be non-resilient when the manufacture lists them as resilient. The response:

"We seem to be getting hung up on semantics, "resilient", "semi-resilient", "non-resilient", etc. We inserted the phrase "non-resilient" into the FSAE rules a couple of years ago to convey to the teams that we did not want to see rubbery roll bar and head restraint padding such as pipe insulation.

Yes, Dow does classify their Ethafoam as "resilient". However, over the years we have found from experience that it does a very good job as roll bar padding or for head restraints in our forms of motorsport, e.g. Formula SAE, SCCA Club Racing, Solo II and Pro Rallying.

Confor foam CF45 (Blue) is approved by the FIA for use as cockpit and headrest padding for F1 cars above 30 deg C and for sports cars. Below 30 deg. C, F1 cars have to switch to Confor CF42 (Pink). These cars can run at a little higher speeds than we allow Formula SAE cars to reach, and therefore need to meet some tougher standards. Confor is an excellent material that works in these applications.

As far as the "weekend autocrosser" is concerned, our Formula SAE rules are more stringent for car safety than those for SCCA Solo II. So you should have no concern that a car complying with our rules will not meet the Solo II or local autocross rules. You do not need to use "FIA Approved materials". You may if you wish, but it is not necessary.

We hope this answers your question. If not, please contact us again.

Rules Committee,
FSAE"

I spent a lot of time trying to get ethafoam at a reasonable price so if they make us change it at the competition I wont be happy at all. If they are so picky about it they should at least list a compression rating for the material thay they want.

[James Waltman]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by nicks94tbirdsc:
...I spent a lot of time trying to get ethafoam at a reasonable price... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I hope you didn't have too much trouble to finding Ethafoam at a decent price.
Michael Jones put a great link here on the forum a while ago. (Easy to find if you search for Ethafoam)
Check it out here. (http://fsae.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/125607348/m/5246098675/r/8416095775#8416095775)

Froogle knows about it too. (http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=Ethafoam+&btnG=Search+Froogle&lmode=unknown)