3D Printed Car Parts

More and more people are toying with 3D printing for car parts. If you've printed any parts for your car, please post some articles in this section describing how you did it. Whether if was for your DSM or not. With more and more OEM DSM parts becoming obsolete (no longer produced) 3D printing will become a popular option in this community.

Here are some resources I found to give people more info on getting started with 3D printing car parts.

7 Best 3D Printers for Automotive Cars & Motorcycle Parts – 3D Printerly

3dprinterly.com

3D printing car parts: all you need to know – 3D Solved

3dsolved.com

The Free Beginner's Guide - 3D Printing Industry

3dprintingindustry.com

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Post your own Articles on this subject!

 

[greekgodchaos]

I didn't realize there were as many of these as there are between 1G and 2G.

​

MD076175​	FWD​	NT​	6-bolt​	​	1G​
MD089360​	FWD​	T​	6-bolt​	​	1G​
MD095656​	AWD​	​	6-bolt​	Man. Trans​	1G​
MD150760​	AWD​	​	6-bolt​	Auto. Trans​	1G​
MD191137​	FWD​	T​	7-bolt​	​	1G​
MD191169​	FWD​	NT​	7-bolt​	​	1G​
MD191170​	FWD​	T​	7-bolt​	​	1G​
MD191171​	AWD​	​	6-bolt​	Man. Trans​	1G​
MD191173​	AWD​	​	7-bolt​	Auto. Trans​	1G​
MD195125​	FWD​	​	​	Auto. Trans​	2G​
MD195137​	BOTH​	​	​	Man. Trans​	2G​
MD195138​	AWD​	​	7-bolt​	Auto. Trans​	1G​
MD339957​	AWD​	​	​	Auto. Trans​	2G​

Unfortunately, I have no idea what this one is from, exactly. My guess is 1G 6-bolt FWD turbo but there's no markings on it to verify.

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Not going to say it is perfect, but it isn't bad, either. I was actually pretty pleased with myself on this one.

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As far as reproducing it - I ran it through some quick prototyping quoting services (Protolabs and Xometry) and that bulge or pocket was difficult to account for in any process outside of stamping. And stamping required a custom die be made. And that was $$$$. I think its overall dimensions are too large for our printer here; I'll double-check and see if I can't get one printed, just to see how close I am.

Damn that looks incredible

 

[19Eclipse90]

Thanks, @greekgodchaos .

Our printer had some issues and a queue backed up due to those issues, but I finally got it printed. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, mainly due to that third mounting point that would be attaching to the bellhousing. The piece itself is pretty delicate due to overall material thickness. Support material blocked off that hole and attempts to remove it didn't work. In any case, I think mocking it up will give a pretty decent indication as to whether or not it is close enough. I'll get around to that one of these days.

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Revisiting the Miller tool, I took what I had, found some material, and made a two-tooth tool to remove the castle plug. I'm not a machinist but I can make chips. So dimensionally, I'm close enough though I know with more time or more talent I could get a lot closer. And with the oil pump on the bench, I came up with this arrangement to remove the castle plug. I do not believe this tool would work with the oil pump on the car. It was extremely important to keep pressure on the tool as I turned it. Prior to adding the clamp to the mix, I was using my weight to press on it as I turned it. The tool slipped off the nut and damaged the case area surrounding the plug a bit. It would be difficult to accomplish the same with the engine still in the car.

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For those interested, I used this drawing to rough out my two-tooth tool. The teeth need to be about 7.9mm wide [.304-.314in] with about 31.2mm [1.228-1.233in] spacing between them. The drawing shows them to have angled walls but I made them straight for ease of manual machining. OD should be around but not exceed 32mm [1.417in], so it fits in the "pocket" where the plug sits in the case.

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With the plug out, I was able to measure and model it up. The thread is a M20 x 1.5 and the plug itself is steel.

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I looked at other design options for this plug and I'm not coming up with any great ideas, mainly due to where the timing belt rides right in front of it. From the outer surface to the opposite face (inside of the threaded boss) the plug is extremely thin - like less than 2mm thin - and less at the center dimple. So not enough material to go that way to add a feature to turn it out. The O-ring groove underneath this plug has an OD of about 30.9mm. The distance between parallel pockets on the plug itself I measure at about 31mm so not much there to do much differently. I'm still thinking on this one, but making no guarantees...

More to share soon, I'm sure.

 

[GSXRunner]

Thanks, @greekgodchaos .

Our printer had some issues and a queue backed up due to those issues, but I finally got it printed. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, mainly due to that third mounting point that would be attaching to the bellhousing. The piece itself is pretty delicate due to overall material thickness. Support material blocked off that hole and attempts to remove it didn't work. In any case, I think mocking it up will give a pretty decent indication as to whether or not it is close enough. I'll get around to that one of these days.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

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Revisiting the Miller tool, I took what I had, found some material, and made a two-tooth tool to remove the castle plug. I'm not a machinist but I can make chips. So dimensionally, I'm close enough though I know with more time or more talent I could get a lot closer. And with the oil pump on the bench, I came up with this arrangement to remove the castle plug. I do not believe this tool would work with the oil pump on the car. It was extremely important to keep pressure on the tool as I turned it. Prior to adding the clamp to the mix, I was using my weight to press on it as I turned it. The tool slipped off the nut and damaged the case area surrounding the plug a bit. It would be difficult to accomplish the same with the engine still in the car.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

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For those interested, I used this drawing to rough out my two-tooth tool. The teeth need to be about 7.9mm wide [.304-.314in] with about 31.2mm [1.228-1.233in] spacing between them. The drawing shows them to have angled walls but I made them straight for ease of manual machining. OD should be around but not exceed 32mm [1.417in], so it fits in the "pocket" where the plug sits in the case.

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With the plug out, I was able to measure and model it up. The thread is a M20 x 1.5 and the plug itself is steel.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

I looked at other design options for this plug and I'm not coming up with any great ideas, mainly due to where the timing belt rides right in front of it. From the outer surface to the opposite face (inside of the threaded boss) the plug is extremely thin - like less than 2mm thin - and less at the center dimple. So not enough material to go that way to add a feature to turn it out. The O-ring groove underneath this plug has an OD of about 30.9mm. The distance between parallel pockets on the plug itself I measure at about 31mm so not much there to do much differently. I'm still thinking on this one, but making no guarantees...

More to share soon, I'm sure.

Great ideas, but that flywheel cover will never hold up to the heat. My experience with 3d printing for automotive is that anything close to the engine will warp and anything that is in the interior will eventually warp from high temperatures of the sun. I had a door lock actuator fail on my wife's Infiniti. Those actuators are over $500 each. I opened it up and found that a plastic gear broke apart. I reverse engineered the part and it worked for a week or two until it seized up because of thermal expansion. Tried three times, but couldn't get longevity.

However, I did have success making some helpful tools.

 

[19Eclipse90]

The goal of printing the inspection cover is, like with most 3D print jobs, to check fit and verify the model. I would never expect to use a 3D printed version of these covers for this application.

 

[GSXRunner]

The goal of printing the inspection cover is, like with most 3D print jobs, to check fit and verify the model. I would never expect to use a 3D printed version of these covers for this application.

What would you fab this in? It'd be quite expensive to have that done by any fab shop.

 

[19Eclipse90]

What would you fab this in? It'd be quite expensive to have that done by any fab shop.

...As far as reproducing it - I ran it through some quick prototyping quoting services (Protolabs and Xometry) to try to get any sort of idea for what costing might look like and that bulge or pocket was difficult to account for in any process outside of stamping. And stamping required a custom die be made. And that was $$$$....

Yup. If the fit is right, I'll post the file and anyone interested in fabbing one up can have at it. The original is steel but that's not to say it couldn't be done from a different material. It's only a start because, again, there's so many different versions of the cover. But since I only have the one, can't do much past that.

I'm not a fabricator or a business man so I have no plans to reproduce these.

 

[Shooty]

I've played around today and tried copying the top door vent for 2G's. I printed a rough idea of how they would look like and they turned out great! Some minor modifications must be done for a better fit

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[Justin DuBois]

I've played around today and tried copying the top door vent for 2G's. I printed a rough idea of how they would look like and they turned out great! Some minor modifications must be done for a better fit

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Can you make the dashtop defrost vents? Most dash are old and the skin is shrinking exposing a gap between the vent and the edge of the hole. If you can expand the flange, to cover a larger hole, this would help with older dashboards.

 

[Shooty]

Can you make the dashtop defrost vents? Most dash are old and the skin is shrinking exposing a gap between the vent and the edge of the hole. If you can expand the flange, to cover a larger hole, this would help with older dashboards.

I've looked into that before and it looks not too bad to achieve. However I believe due to it's size it would be a two pieces which is the deal breaker in my opinion

 

[ceasarmo]

I've played around today and tried copying the top door vent for 2G's. I printed a rough idea of how they would look like and they turned out great! Some minor modifications must be done for a better fit

Would you sell/share the .stl?

 

[19Eclipse90]

Some things I've been playing around with over the last few months, mostly just for fun.

1G Side Mirror Inner Covers for Power Mirror Models (MB479156 and MB479157)

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1G Wing Wiper Trim (MB574107)

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1G FlipUp Sunroof Latch Mount (I'm calling it version B)

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Engine Lift Bracket / Hanger (MD130498)

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Valve Timing Belt Idler Pulley (MD156604)

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Timing Belt Tensioner Pulley (MD129355)

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6-Bolt Timing Belt Hydraulic Tensioner (MD164533)

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1G BLANK Dash Button Switch (MB522133)

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1G Switch Holder A1 (MB522135)

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1G Fog Lamp Switch (MB522126)

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1G Rheostat / Dimmer Switch (MB522127)

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Assembly of Switch Holder A (1Gb version, no pop-up button)

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Oil Pump Driven Gear Helical (MD174582)

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Oil Pump Drive Gear Helical (MD174581)

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Starter Motor (no solenoid)

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Thermo Valve (MD103867)

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Water Temperature Switch (MB439576 / MB568959)

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Radiator Cap (MB605277 / MB6600735)

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Oil Pressure Switch Light (MD138993)

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2G Timing Belt Hydraulic Tensioner (MD308086)

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[jdxnc]

Ignore the carboard backing for now, this will be replaced with 2mm carbon fiber but I have the mount for my Fueltech completed.

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