I have a multi-thousand dollar idea.

Kinja'd!!! "Vince-The Roadside Mechanic" (vincent-becker)
06/29/2014 at 15:20 • Filed to: None

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Mostly all of us love the Stratos but even the Kit car is expensive. So what if we would make a kit that would go on a Fiero chassis? It would be priced cheaply around $2000 and would include new Stratos like panels. We would make them out of fiberglass and would use a 3D printer for some parts, as you can already 3D print a small Stratos we would print parts of a big one. So what do you think Oppo?

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(Small 3D printed Stratos to the left.)

Hi, I hope you enjoyed my horribly written article My name is Vince. If you would like you can follow me on Twitter @Vincent_Becker1 (no link because that is too fancy for my articles.)


DISCUSSION (23)


Kinja'd!!! Bricks > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic
06/29/2014 at 15:21

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3d printing is still only good for prototyping smallish objects.


Kinja'd!!! Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > Bricks
06/29/2014 at 15:22

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I thought it could be used to make the door handles or badges and other small things like that.


Kinja'd!!! Bricks > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic
06/29/2014 at 15:26

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I still think it would be better to go with a process like injection molding or milling for that stuff.


Kinja'd!!! Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > Bricks
06/29/2014 at 15:28

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But that would be more expensive.


Kinja'd!!! BJohnson11 > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic
06/29/2014 at 15:31

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It'd be fun, but you gotta look at the demand. As awesome as the Stratos is, I'm not sure that many people would buy a Fiero based kit car. That low demand means that the cost for the kit would be enormous. Having to make all the tooling for the fiberglass layup of the panels and all that would be difficult and expensive, and unless you're making thousands of these, the cost for each individual piece would be huge.


Kinja'd!!! dogisbadob > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic
06/29/2014 at 15:33

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Here's a Stratus that's cheaper :p

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Lancia likes to rebadge Chryslers hahahahahaaaaaaaaaaa


Kinja'd!!! Bricks > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic
06/29/2014 at 15:33

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thousands worth of dollars of 3d printers, the professional stuff, not the hobbyist grade crap. Is going to cost a lot more than what a injection molding shop can get you. and they'll probably get a better quality product too.


Kinja'd!!! Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > BJohnson11
06/29/2014 at 15:34

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I would need a large demand. I could even sll them completely assembled on a $1000 Fiero.


Kinja'd!!! Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > dogisbadob
06/29/2014 at 15:35

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Not as fun.


Kinja'd!!! PS9 > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic
06/29/2014 at 15:35

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$2K wouldn't result in something worthwhile, even if it's just bodywork. I'd rather not just use a Fiero chassis, as everyone has tried turning it into an italian supercar with varying degrees of failure.

Try $10-20k, and nevermind the 3D printing.


Kinja'd!!! Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > PS9
06/29/2014 at 15:37

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Mr2 chassis?


Kinja'd!!! PS9 > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic
06/29/2014 at 15:44

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$10k Might be enough for our own bespoke chassis. The miata based Exocet is only $8k bare. Just have a stratos owner lend you theirs and copy the specs 'til you get everything exactly right. $10k more is more than enough for body panels, engines, transmissions, and other drivetrain stuff. I'd pay $20k for a good stratos replicar.

If you're thinking, "But that's 10x my initial estimate!" Well, yeah it is, but quality costs money. Cheap price = cheap results.


Kinja'd!!! PS9 > dogisbadob
06/29/2014 at 15:45

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You're grounded for that. Go to your room.


Kinja'd!!! Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > PS9
06/29/2014 at 15:45

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I suppose I could do it right.


Kinja'd!!! SteyrTMP > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic
06/29/2014 at 15:48

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You're not too far off from what I've been working on.

As I've done my own bodywork already (on the 7), I know it's not easy. True, fiberglass is a lot easier than aluminum, which is what I've been using.

Also, I'm working on a 3D printer, with large scale being my objective—also primarily for body work.

In all reality, going pricewise, a CNC gantry router would be a much more affordable and practical route. You have two options—a large (think 6'x12'x6') gantry, with a 5-axis router to machine large blocks of styrofoam. Once your car shape is machined, bondo is applied, sanded, painted, waxed, and you are ready to lay your first molds.

Second option would be to have a 3-axis router, and still with the large scale, 6'x12', just with a much lower z-axis, maybe 4-6". That would be able to drop the necessity for the extra two axis, and you would built a mold slightly differently. Large sheets of foam are cheaper and easier to find than large blocks, so you start your base by having some free-standing dowels, weither it be 2 or 4, etc, lined in a row. You take your CAD program and slice it, so each layer is cut, then added to the stack, along with a good layer of glue. Once everything is stacked, the same thing is done as the first idea, however some shaving may be necessary.

The same can also be done with 3D printing. Even if you don't have a large scale printer, the full-scale CAD file can be cut up into small pieces, which are individually printed, either having interlocking mechanism, like Constructs/Fisher-Price Technix, or bolted/glued together. You'd still end up with the same result.

Without having tried any of these yet, I'd think the 3-axis gantry router would be the easiest approach. Since you're making a buck, rather than a mold, it doesn't have to be spectacular. It's the mold that counts. Once you've done that, the buck either gets thrown away, or put away in case the mold breaks.

There is a "how-to" on the CNC gantry router out there. Some Canadians made one for about 1500 bucks back in the day. With Obama inflation, call it 2500-3000 bucks to do it, if that.

Either way, get ahold of me if you're interested, I'll look into your ideas and share what I know, and see if I can point you in the right direction if it's over my head.

BTW, I forgot to mention... I have a Fiero stripped to the chassis, waiting for something exactly like this. We were looking for something in the GT40 direction, but this would be interesting too.


Kinja'd!!! Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > SteyrTMP
06/29/2014 at 15:52

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I thought it would be interesting to do but I have basically no money right now.


Kinja'd!!! Ike > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic
06/29/2014 at 16:30

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"Great ideas never come to men with means, a fire in the belly, for something better is what you need"

-me circa just now


Kinja'd!!! SPNKiX > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic
06/29/2014 at 16:35

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this would probably be the only fiero kit where you have to shorten the wheelbase!


Kinja'd!!! SPNKiX > SteyrTMP
06/29/2014 at 16:54

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Bear in mind that you can mill the foam, apply bondo, and then do a finishing pass instead of sanding the bondo. Much more accurate. Only light sanding necessary. I just did this last week on a mold I was making.

Also, unless you have tons of time, don't build a mill! But if you do, you can break up the whole car into smaller sections and glue them together when you're done. Build keys into your sections to make sure they line up. Efficiency wise, a 2x2x2' envelope would work great. And don't skimp on your Z. 6" or 2' takes the same effort.


Kinja'd!!! Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > SPNKiX
06/29/2014 at 17:27

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LOL.


Kinja'd!!! SteyrTMP > SPNKiX
06/29/2014 at 18:05

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Yeah, I'm holding on my printer at the moment due to work and whatnot, but once I can get this running right, I'm aiming at a 3'x3'x3' bed capability. Might be content with 2'x2'x2'.

The whole reason for skimping on the z depth is to avoid the necessity of an extra axis or two. I guess if you slice the original CAD just right you might be able to pull it off with a 2' quill/shaft.


Kinja'd!!! Axial > Vince-The Roadside Mechanic
06/30/2014 at 05:33

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Nooooo!

#SavetheFieros


Kinja'd!!! Vince-The Roadside Mechanic > Axial
06/30/2014 at 10:19

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LOL