Working with 3D printing replacement early A-body parts
Let me know when you want to Print some rear quarters. I'll try them out for you!I can understand the concerns here. That is why I'm not using PLA (although the PLA shift knob in my daily driver has held up for over 2 months in Atlanta sun so far, dash vents will be subject to more heat), ABS, or PETG. The low end option I have is a polyurethane, and the higher end is a SLA resin that uses light curing rather than melting and forming it. The print farm I'm working with could print these in nylon with a 600 degree F melting point or even stainless steel, but I doubt anyone's interested in paying what that would cost. (If you are, let me know! A stainless version would have the threads cut instead of relying on the nuts' teeth, so it would need a new CAD model.) The design also has a few anti-sag features built in - the vanes are taller than stock, for example, and curved instead of flat to better resist warping.
I expect the TPU version is going to have the striations you usually see in 3D printed parts, but it's meant to be a functional, cost effective version while those more concerned with the best appearance can go with SLA resin. Resin printing has a much smoother appearance. Some of the things I intend to print, the only competition out there is going to be used parts that have had 50 years of temperature cycles and are already quite brittle.