Hi Folks,

I bought 1972 914 last summer and I've been working on various little improvements to restore/repair some issues. This forum has been a great resource - an ongoing source of information and advice, so thanks to everyone who has contributed their experience.

While performing the various fixes, I decided to 3D print some of the little bits that I needed along the way. Most are actually available and not expensive, but: 1) I live in Canada and it can be annoying paying shipping, duty, taxes that end up being 2-10x the cost of the actual parts and 2) I wanted to take on the learning challenge and come up with my own solutions.

My designs are shared on Thingiverse and you can download the STL files for printing as well as the original FreeCAD files I created them with. They are mostly nothing special, but perhaps they will be useful to others some time. I looked around and did not find anywhere here where we can catalogue 3D printable parts for our cars, so perhaps we can start with these. I'd love to see what other people have come up with too.

The items I have so far are:

- Marker light clips
- Targa bar trim buttons
- Window winder handle trim rings
- Window regulator buttons
- Rear brake adjuster covers
- Trim washers for M5 flat screws
- Button plungers for contact switches


I'll be pleased to answer any questions or take your suggestions for improvements.

I don't have a printer, and thus not a consumer, but this is really great of you. Thanks for supporting the community.

Very cool

We looked at making 3D printed parts and found that the stresses on some parts exceeded the strength required. A key item is the button on the window regulator (early)
I'd runs some engineering before you put these into production. It's also hard compete with the nylon part injection molded at $6.25 a pop.

Not that I don't think there is a market for some parts, but the devil is in the details.

Unless i am reading it wrong he is not providing these. Just sharing his cad files if you want to do it yourselves?

Thank you for sharing the files. We have a printer at our public library that I have always wanted to try. Now I have something worth the effort to print.

I think that is great that you are offering the files for free but Mark has a valid ppint about the stress on some parts makes them unsuitable for 3d printing. I remember a member offering engine lid hinges that were 3d printed and some failures were reported.
The window crank disks and rear caliper adjuster caps should be fine.
What material are you using?

Materials and printers have come a long way in the last few years. Some people have printed ghost guns with 3D printers. It is not just the old fused filament machines anymore. There are even printers that can fuse nylon powders with a 30 W laser. The cost of the machine is high (30k), but so is the cost of injection molding dies. That may be something for 914Rubber to consider but not the everyday Joe like me.

There are lower cost alternatives that can produce parts from other engineering resins. Of course the material must be matched to the application if it is to work. I have a FormLabs UV printer that can print in a huge variety of materials, high temperature (460 deg F), rigid polyurethane, engineering resins and even rubber/elastomerics.

https://formlabs.com/material-selector/
https://formlabs-media.formlabs.com/datashe...-TDS-ENUS-0.pdf


I understand MajorMojo's motivation (thanks for sharing the files!) I too am in Canada and getting stuff across the border is a real pain in the butt. Take a $3.95 part... add $30 shipping, $40 customs clearance, and import taxes and if it doesn't get screwed up by FedEx or the US/Canada Postal, it turns a cheap part into a very expensive part.

Naturally, you need to have a 3D printer to take advantage of this. I have the 3D UV printer for other reasons and it would not make any sense to invest that much money just to print a part or two.

The printers are fantastic for one-off parts that nobody is ever going to sell commercially. I have printed a custom DIN mounting sleeve for a Sony CarPlay head unit, center cover caps with a Porsche shield for my RevolutionWheels, and a phone mount that exaclty replaces the curved metal ashtray (great since I don't smoke).

There is some real satisfaction pulling the part from the goop, washing it, curing it, and having it fit perfectly. It will never replace our suppliers like 914Rubber or AA but it is always amazing to have more options.

Oh, I forgot to mention...





Welcome aboard MajorMojo !!!

[center cover caps with a Porsche shield for my RevolutionWheels,

[/quote] @vitamin914
Got pictures of the center caps.
I have revolution wheels but I don’t love the center caps.
“Corvette ish”
Thanks

Thank you for sharing.

[quote name='sb914' date='Jan 3 2023, 09:27 AM' post='3048949']
[center cover caps with a Porsche shield for my RevolutionWheels,

[/quote] @vitamin914
Gob pictures of the center caps.
I have revolution wheels but I don’t love the center caps.
“Corvette ish”
Thanks
[/quote]

@sb914

Yup... my thoughts exactly... too "Corvette ish" and too British for a German car.

My car is in winter storage so I don't have quick access to to it but here is a photo of one of the trial 3D prints I did. The gold color is from pressing the part onto a freshly sprayed piece of plastic film. I still have not decided if I will do this in gold, silver or leave black.


For those that don't know what we are talking about...

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

Click to view attachment

one problem is that it takes way too long to print a part, hence not worth it with small cheap parts (we have over 500 injected molded side marker pins on the shelf) if we had to print them, we would still be doing it!!! LOL

I don't have a 3D printer and I know nothing about CAD files but..................thank you very much for furthering the parts possibilities for the 914 of which I have an apparent addiction. I've read that they are 3D printing houses now as well. One futuristic forecast is that we'll be printing our Rx one day. Not sure that would be a good thing but the possibilities are endless and what currently appears to be ridiculous can be fact tomorrow. Thx again for your unselfish contribution.

It is hideously slow - one print can easily take 5 hours or more (depends on size / complexity). Good for prototypes, DIY or very low volume or custom specials - as in "made to order". Also most machines have small print volumes which limits size or number of parts that can be done at once.

It is too costly of a process for making parts to sell that have a reasonable demand.

[quote name='vitamin914' date='Jan 3 2023, 06:58 AM' post='3048954']
[quote name='sb914' date='Jan 3 2023, 09:27 AM' post='3048949']
[center cover caps with a Porsche shield for my RevolutionWheels,

[/quote] @vitamin914
Gob pictures of the center caps.
I have revolution wheels but I don’t love the center caps.
“Corvette ish”
Thanks
[/quote]

@sb914

Yup... my thoughts exactly... too "Corvette ish" and too British for a German car.

My car is in winter storage so I don't have quick access to to it but here is a photo of one of the trial 3D prints I did. The gold color is from pressing the part onto a freshly sprayed piece of plastic film. I still have not decided if I will do this in gold, silver or leave black.


For those that don't know what we are talking about...





[/quote]
Thanks for the response. And I appreciate you !
To bad they take so long….

It’s nice to see some other printable parts being shared, thanks! To be clear, my intent is not to produce or sell parts. They are mostly readily available now commercially, but some day they might not be. For me, it’s mostly about the satisfaction of learning something new and producing something useful for myself. I wanted to share them with others in case they find them useful too.

I prototyped everything in cheap PLA and that’s probably fine for some parts. Others I have re-printed in carbon fibre PETG for durability. I’ve also tried printing some in ASA (a deriviative of ABS) but it’s pretty tricky to work with. For some of the parts, the commercially available ones are almost certainly better quality. But that could change over time as 3D printing evolves and improves.

As others mentioned here, I don’t think there’s much of a business model for mass producing small parts like this via 3D printing. Most of these small parts print in 30min or less. Some, like the trim rings, I did in batches that took a bit longer. For those that do have a printer, getting a useful part later today is a lot better than waiting a week or more for it.

Thank you for the welcome.

I’m also working on a cupholder that fits into the center console storage bin. I will share that design too when I’m done prototyping it.

I think people are missing the point when they dismiss printing. Sure it doesn’t make sense for commonly available parts but it’s awesome when you need a part that’s nla or like previously said, a $1 part with $50 in shipping charges. One of the guys at our shop uses his 3d printer to make small clips, brackets, spacers, etc. he can print it overnight and we have the needed part the next day. A customer wanted a certain steering wheel on his car. We had an adaptor made quickly to do it. Ferrari steering wheel on a Datsun/Ferrari clone. We also use it for prototyping a part before getting one made in another material. Testing the fit and functionality before spending money at the fab shop is a big win.
Metal printing machines are pricey but give them time.
And another benefit, no need to order 500 of a slow selling item, just to have 495 of them sitting on a shelf. Print one as needed.

It’s certainly not to only way to make parts but it’s a great tool to have available.

MajorMojo

"I’m also working on a cupholder that fits into the center console storage bin"


Sweet! can't wait to print that. Been looking for one!

I just picked up a Sovol SV06 and love it! Got to learn fusion360 though, still muddling my way through the youtube videos!

This is a great idea for a thread. Thanks for sharing!

I've printed stuff for my 964 and 914. I'm in Japan so printing a single part that I dont have to ship makes sense if its an easy drawing. Also there is being able to make stuff that doesn't exist.. For example I'm using 2 locking seat rails on each seat instead of the stock single locking because my seats twist and slide back with the sudden jolt of power from the 2.7 mfi. To take the seats out seats 3 hands so I printed 2 wedges that slide in and lift up the locking rails so I can slide my seats out. I'm also printing spacers to raise the front of the recaro cs seat in my 964 as there is no tilt. Once you get going the possibilities are really endless.

Its fun and the thing about the printer is that even though it takes time you can be doing something else while its getting laid up- unlike fabbing something out of wood or metal.

OP- nice stuff! Thanks for sharing.

Just in case your interested here is what the 964 guys are doing:

3d 964

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4878943

Enjoying this in one of my cars...



Paul

Love this part! Finally gave a reason to buy a printer. Suggestion for this size of job?

I am seriously considering buying a 3D Prusa Mk4. Thanks for the input!

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6238862

It's also nice for just mucking around if you don't want to spend 500 dollars on something like a hockey puck.

@mepstein nailed it.

I have been posting the few moderately useful and / or entertaining things I've designed on Thingiverse as well. Mostly small NLA parts or simple tools. I usually print in ABS which should be more durable and take higher temps. For this crowd:

• Cylinder hold down
• Relay wire hold down clip
• Manual throttle rod end cap
• Fuel rail clip
• Gap gauge

That's great. I recently picked up a 3D printer and wanted to model/print a hockey puck was well. You beat me to it!

Nothin special but just uploaded this simple bulkhead plug:





plug

I want one of these! Can anyone print and sell me one (I don’t have printing capability).

Thank you! Printing these now!

glad to contribute! Let me know how it works out. Fit my car perfectly, but my car has some bedliner sprayed on the bottom of it so let me know if it needs any tweaking.

Peter.