3D printed car parts

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I suggest a new forum for an overall “Parts Development “ section. For example, @DNasty777 is working on a bullet cam sensor for Coil Near Plug use. His parts are in R&D. Many of us 3D Printer guys collaborate on R&D as well.
If any member is making anything, ie. fiberglass, 3D printing, CNC’ed parts…., then a new section would be a great collection point.
For the sales, when a part is ready to hit the market just link your F/S ad. Many parts in development never hit the market. If a guy gets to his final design they can post that link to sell it.
 
3d printing can also work as prototyping for custom or hard to find metal pieces/brackets etc. You can flatten the file after it's finished and send it to someone who does laser or water jet cutting then bend/weld as needed.
 
go-fish said:
I suggest a new forum for an overall “Parts Development “ section. For example, @DNasty777 is working on a bullet cam sensor for Coil Near Plug use. His parts are in R&D. Many of us 3D Printer guys collaborate on R&D as well.
If any member is making anything, ie. fiberglass, 3D printing, CNC’ed parts…., then a new section would be a great collection point.
For the sales, when a part is ready to hit the market just link your F/S ad. Many parts in development never hit the market. If a guy gets to his final design they can post that link to sell it.
Click to expand...
We have talked about it behind the scenes and Joey is open to the idea of a separate forum for 3D threads. .
 
Been working on this cluster bezel for a few months. This is the final test print. It's two colors because the place I'm working with can't print large-format pieces so it has to be done as two halves and glued together. The final product will be printed elsewhere as one piece in black.

Depending on how it turns out, I have considered offering these for sale. There are molded ABS dash panels available from various vendors but they absolutely suck. They lack any sort of detail and just look really chintzy despite being priced at nearly $300 each. No thanks.

I wanted this bezel to accommodate aftermarket gauges but still look and install like a factory part. The goal was to retain as much of the detail of the original as possible. It kind of bridges the gap between a factory original part and a race car aluminum panel. For all you weight-conscious cats, the part itself weighs nothing.

Additionally, 3D printed parts can be painted. The guy I am working with even uses Bondo on some of his things so that should tell you that it's not a problem. Getting it printed in black will save me some work. I am going to try and replicate the vacuum plated trim with chrome paint so wish me luck on that. If I wanted to make it look 100% correct I would send it out to get vacuum plated but that would probably cost way more to do than the print.

Final print was ordered, should be in my hands soon. I'm stoked.
IMG_9014.jpg


Also working on an arm rest base cover for cars with roll bars. No pics on that yet. Stay tuned.
 
rmchrgr said:
Been working on this cluster bezel for a few months. This is the final test print. It's two colors because the place I'm working with can't print large-format pieces so it has to be done as two halves and glued together. The final product will be printed elsewhere as one piece in black.

Depending on how it turns out, I have considered offering these for sale. There are molded ABS dash panels available from various vendors but they absolutely suck. They lack any sort of detail and just look really chintzy despite being priced at nearly $300 each. No thanks.

I wanted this bezel to accommodate aftermarket gauges but still look and install like a factory part. The goal was to retain as much of the detail of the original as possible. It kind of bridges the gap between a factory original part and a race car aluminum panel. For all you weight-conscious cats, the part itself weighs nothing.

Additionally, 3D printed parts can be painted. The guy I am working with even uses Bondo on some of his things so that should tell you that it's not a problem. Getting it printed in black will save me some work. I am going to try and replicate the vacuum plated trim with chrome paint so wish me luck on that. If I wanted to make it look 100% correct I would send it out to get vacuum plated but that would probably cost way more to do than the print.

Final print was ordered, should be in my hands soon. I'm stoked.
View attachment 1716429943

Also working on an arm rest base cover for cars with roll bars. No pics on that yet. Stay tuned.
Click to expand...
The Chrome part is going to be the interesting one, I went through several things when doing my center caps. If the part was full chrome, I would think about hydro dipping. Otherwise, the thing that I found that works best so far is UV cured Chrome nail polish. There are some other products out there that you could airbrush on, but it requires a super smooth surface to make it look really good. I'm still looking for a better solution though
 
ec_co said:
The Chrome part is going to be the interesting one, I went through several things when doing my center caps. If the part was full chrome, I would think about hydro dipping. Otherwise, the thing that I found that works best so far is UV cured Chrome nail polish. There are some other products out there that you could airbrush on, but it requires a super smooth surface to make it look really good. I'm still looking for a better solution though
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm not really sure how I'm going to go about that. I've never really had great luck with "chrome" paints. I will look into the nail polish though, thanks for the tip. I believe vacuum plating includes a UV curing process so it makes sense. One thing I'd be wary of is the durability of it, it's usually not meant to last very long.
 
RustyRatRod said:
My concern with this is, whenever people offer to make a product for our A bodies, it's always for the 67-76 and usually for a fewer select years than that, say 70-72. Usually it's "whatever" the person has that's doing it......and that's cool. You're still offering a service that's not currently offered and I'm behind that 100%. But as usual, the early A guys are forgotten about. And what about the poor souls that own something from 60-62? LOL
Click to expand...
I work on mostly early A bodies because they are the hardest to find parts for.
 
Me too; I've got a '66 Dart and the scarcity of parts for early As is what motivated me to make a couple parts for them.
 
If I could color match the headlight bezels on my 64 dart I would print them right away. I got like 7 of them and none of them are in the best shape
 
It's the future of the Hobby.
A lot of parts have, or are becoming scare, or hard to find.
Ideas or suggestions on what's need would be a big help.
So a forum to discuss . Then.....

Maybe a sub forum in the sales thread for those that can or will make the parts
 
rmchrgr said:
Been working on this cluster bezel for a few months. This is the final test print. It's two colors because the place I'm working with can't print large-format pieces so it has to be done as two halves and glued together. The final product will be printed elsewhere as one piece in black.

Depending on how it turns out, I have considered offering these for sale. There are molded ABS dash panels available from various vendors but they absolutely suck. They lack any sort of detail and just look really chintzy despite being priced at nearly $300 each. No thanks.

I wanted this bezel to accommodate aftermarket gauges but still look and install like a factory part. The goal was to retain as much of the detail of the original as possible. It kind of bridges the gap between a factory original part and a race car aluminum panel. For all you weight-conscious cats, the part itself weighs nothing.

Additionally, 3D printed parts can be painted. The guy I am working with even uses Bondo on some of his things so that should tell you that it's not a problem. Getting it printed in black will save me some work. I am going to try and replicate the vacuum plated trim with chrome paint so wish me luck on that. If I wanted to make it look 100% correct I would send it out to get vacuum plated but that would probably cost way more to do than the print.

Final print was ordered, should be in my hands soon. I'm stoked.
View attachment 1716429943

Also working on an arm rest base cover for cars with roll bars. No pics on that yet. Stay tuned.
Click to expand...
I'm planning to do the same and would love to jump on one or files to print one locally.
 
one concern I have is if our software could accept the files people may want to trade. Can anyone help me out on this?
 
Joeychgo said:
one concern I have is if our software could accept the files people may want to trade. Can anyone help me out on this?
Click to expand...
Attachments | Manual | XenForo

The most common file type is a .stl, but editing that file can be tough. A .stp or .step file is a universal CAD format, which is much friendlier for editing.

But, I wouldn't upload directly to the forum anyways. There are too many sites dedicated to sharing 3d printing projects, a link to one of those would allow us to share and keep stuff updated without needing the forum to change any settings
 
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Joeychgo said:
one concern I have is if our software could accept the files people may want to trade. Can anyone help me out on this?
Click to expand...
No need to host files, this will save a lot on backend costs and complications involved. Just a normal section that allows photo posting and linking to externally hosted files like those free ones above (non-commercial).

Thank you for your consideration on this topic, I think it is a great logical evolution of restoration resources that will benefit the whole community
 

General automotive but have a Section of it specifically for random bullshit that doesn't have a home like tutorials or trinket printing too.
 
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