Working with 3D printing replacement early A-body parts

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Cuda416 said:
I think if you're going to do this, you're going to need to put pictures of the actual product instead of a pic of the model use to create it. Show people what they are actually paying for.

Good luck
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I've added pictures of the prototypes I printed at home to the catalog listing.

Let me know when you want to Print some rear quarters. I'll try them out for you!
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At first I laughed... then I realized some of the stainless steel fender trim might seriously be a candidate for printing. Larger sheet metal probably won't be economical to print, but I'll see what pricing looks like for smaller metal trim pieces first before I say never. But hey, if I print stainless steel quarter panels, at least they ought to hold up well if anyone wants to pay what they'd cost! :D

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I would expect if they can 3d print aircraft parts on an aircraft carrier that we should be able to print some trim parts for our old cars.
 
I have made quite a few parts in the last few years for my cars. As far as them not lasting I probably agree if you are using them on a car you use daily but for many of us our cars are treated better than some of our family members and only see any real environment less than 20 hours a year. Plus if you have a choice of a 3D printed part or nothing buy 2 or 3 of them and just change them out when they fail.
 
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Anybody watch the SuperfastMatt youtube channel? He talks about using printers for car stuff.

 
junkyardhero said:
heater delete plate plz. thank you.
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That's an interesting one. I've been thinking about the center section of the dash since it often gets cut up for radios. I could do ones that have a blank section for the radio and/or the heater as well as any other delete parts.

I tried to do a glove box insert; unfortunately it was too large for the print farm's plastic extrusion equipment and would need to be an extremely expensive SLA resin piece if I did that. So next up will be armrests, but I can definitely put together something for heater deletes as well.
 
MadScientistMat said:
That's an interesting one. I've been thinking about the center section of the dash since it often gets cut up for radios. I could do ones that have a blank section for the radio and/or the heater as well as any other delete parts.

I tried to do a glove box insert; unfortunately it was too large for the print farm's plastic extrusion equipment and would need to be an extremely expensive SLA resin piece if I did that. So next up will be armrests, but I can definitely put together something for heater deletes as well.
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if you need a guinea pig, i'm your huckleberry!

radio delete plates are fairly common and not outrageously expensive (for most cars). but i can see the appeal of a piece that covers up the injustices from a previous owner gacking up the dash. especially if you wanted to run a modern unit there.

heater delete plates seem to be few and far between.
 
DumpsterFire said:
I got a printer at work and it's been very useful for stuff like this. I'm going to try doing a tail light lens and see how that goes. Finally got one orginal one to work with
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.......maybe the clear part of a 68 barracuda back up light lens !!!
 
Glove box liners are on hold when it turned out they were too large for the print farm's equipment to run in one piece. It's looking like the dash center section may also be too big to economically do on-demand printing, although I will come back to that (and the glove boxes) later.

Right now I'm working on arm rests. Here's how it is progressing on the pads.

For items I can't check on my '66 Dart, I will need to borrow a part to measure. It can be in damaged condition as long as I'm able to measure all needed dimensions off it.

armrest pad work in progress.png
 
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cudamark said:
You may want to state the length of these parts as they are not all the same.
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Good point; these are 8 3/4" long at their longest point and 2 1/2" wide at the widest.

Right now I'm trying to use sales of these to bring in some money to do a run of voltage regulators, and then launch other repop electronics like ignition modules. If you're running a 3D printing business where you print things yourself and take them to events (I haven't really seen that at car shows, but I have seen that done elsewhere), I might put together some sort of licensing package once I have enough CAD models to make a package deal worthwhile.

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MadScientistMat said:
I've found a service that can do print on demand 3D printing, and I'm working on making some reproduction parts based on measurements off my '66 Dart. First one out the gate is dash vents, given how easily they break. I've also made ones to fit the 2.5" stock hose and also 2.25" hose. I can't be the only Dart owner who had a previous owner size the hose to match the heater core outlets and cobble it onto the dash vents as best they could, can I? Well, maybe not, but since they're print on demand parts I can make both.

If you're interested, I have them listed here. I've skipped PLA - that stuff is going to melt if used as a dash vent - and have listed them in polyurethane and resin cast. The print farm could also do stainless steel, but I'm not sure anyone would want to pay several hundred for a dash vent. :)

Standard '63-'66 A-body dash vents

2.25" hose '63-'66 A-body dash vents

Anything else you'd like to see that would lend itself to 3D printing? I cracked the glove box insert getting the dash vent out to measure, so that might be a natural next step. But I've been thinking things like armrests, or maybe the center section of the dash that the previous owner always chops up to put in a radio.
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I actually made a reducer coupling with my 3D printer that I installed in the heater box itself, so that I could use one diameter hose for both vents.
 
Cuda416 said:
I think if you're going to do this, you're going to need to put pictures of the actual product instead of a pic of the model use to create it. Show people what they are actually paying for.

Good luck
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3D printed 64 Dart tail light trim rings. ABS, chrome plated and sprayed with UV protective coating.

A73F0845-3CEE-4A11-B507-A9B1208393F1.jpeg
 
MadScientistMat said:
I've found a service that can do print on demand 3D printing, and I'm working on making some reproduction parts based on measurements off my '66 Dart. First one out the gate is dash vents, given how easily they break. I've also made ones to fit the 2.5" stock hose and also 2.25" hose. I can't be the only Dart owner who had a previous owner size the hose to match the heater core outlets and cobble it onto the dash vents as best they could, can I? Well, maybe not, but since they're print on demand parts I can make both.

If you're interested, I have them listed here. I've skipped PLA - that stuff is going to melt if used as a dash vent - and have listed them in polyurethane and resin cast. The print farm could also do stainless steel, but I'm not sure anyone would want to pay several hundred for a dash vent. :)

Standard '63-'66 A-body dash vents

2.25" hose '63-'66 A-body dash vents

Anything else you'd like to see that would lend itself to 3D printing? I cracked the glove box insert getting the dash vent out to measure, so that might be a natural next step. But I've been thinking things like armrests, or maybe the center section of the dash that the previous owner always chops up to put in a radio.
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I'm interested. I have a good printer but just haven't had time to get things professionally scanned so I get something usable. A lot of guys seem to be upset about the longevity. I say what choice do we have?

Something to consider: instead of printing the part, print the mold. Then cast the parts out of different kinds of materials to see what holds up best.
 
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