3D printing car parts

"StudyStudyStudy" (jesterjin) 07/20/2017 at 15:15 • Filed to: None

10

24

This seemed like a lot of content on a very specific part so making its own post.

Money shot:

A friend got involved with some 3D printing. I had always wanted to learn how to do 3D design and graduate from paint and hand drawn diagrams, so I asked him for a lesson.

He was really helpful, but I realized I needed to familiarize myself with some basic content before I would really understand so I watched some basic how to videos. He also had a spare printer he wasn’t using he lent me to play with.

After going rthough the basic tutorial I figured I would get my feet wet.

Designed this box for an arduino and a motor shield, the lid would end up having a fan to help cool the stepper motor chip.

Then onto the printer. It is absolutely nuts that you can design and have a physical part in a matter of hours.

I printed a couple more pieces and figured I was ready to move the knowledge onto cars.

We brainstormed and my friend designed and printed these two pieces. A cut outer ring with a chamfer allowing it to expand. Honestly I was just looking for a plug, but he persisted haha.

A conical inner ring with a matching thread to expand the outer ring as it was screwed in complete with a hole and fixings to hold a hex bolt.

These pieces combine and allow for an expanding plug to take place of the now defunct center gauges.

Then a very simple little design on my part to join the two gauge pod adapter pieces

And another to hold the tablet.

Still can’t get over how crazy it is to have fairly complex pieces come to life (no that isn’t a dream filter, just a dirty lens)

And with the tablet inserted. I upped my game from a nexus 7 to a samsung as the old tablet had battery and charging issues from what I can tell. For about the same price I got a tablet with 4 times more ram and a better operating system.

So what is all this for? Budget dashpack with 0 permanent modifications. I run a megasquirt ECU which controls the engine while monitoring all sorts of inputs. It also can display all these inputs on a computer. With tablets getting smarter it really only was a matter of time. Instead of having to source a speedometer, tachometer, boost gauge, AFR gauge, and coolant temp gauge, I can just buy a $70 tablet and print some parts, and use a $50 bluetooth sender to send all the information. The tablet slides in and out of the slot so I can take it with me to charge or for security.

Crazy age we live in nowadays.

benjrblant > StudyStudyStudy 07/20/2017 at 15:24

2

If that’s ABS, you can improve the look by vapor smoothing. This can be a bit tedious and tricky as acetone can fully dissolve the ABS.

DucST3-Red-1Liter-Standing-By > StudyStudyStudy 07/20/2017 at 15:32

1

Very cool. Is there any sort of delay, as far as you can tell, with this readouts on the tablet?

Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever > StudyStudyStudy 07/20/2017 at 15:33

1

It blows my mind that a custom information display can be put together that cheap (relatively speaking).

P.S: The display layout looks great, too!

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > StudyStudyStudy 07/20/2017 at 15:37

1

Need video.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > StudyStudyStudy 07/20/2017 at 15:39

1

this is so cool

diplodicus > StudyStudyStudy 07/20/2017 at 15:43

0

Any recommendations for a cheap but not terrible 3d printer?

way2blu does a rev update > StudyStudyStudy 07/20/2017 at 16:18

1

Does they make such an ECU for older engines? I already have a tablet and access to a 3D printer but I assume it’s the ECU that brings it all together. Looks really cool!

DrDDay > StudyStudyStudy 07/20/2017 at 16:19

2

I just wanted to stop and say that the pictures gave me a very tingly feeling inside and when I’m done reading this I will probably have a bunch of questions for you.

Seriously though, fucking awesome job and post.

StudyStudyStudy > way2blu does a rev update 07/20/2017 at 16:21

1

Thanks!

Megasquirt is a universal system. Depending on your desired control and outputs you would have to change things such as if you wanted fuel control you would want to run injectors or if you want timing control you would have to run some type of electronic ignition, but with those and a couple basic sensors it can run pretty much any engine.

StudyStudyStudy > benjrblant 07/20/2017 at 16:22

0

It is PETG? I’m honestly very new to the printing game. I have heard of acetone smoothing, but honestly I’m looking for function, and the form really is not too bad in my book. Definitely more studying to do.

StudyStudyStudy > Rust and Dust - Oppositelock Forever 07/20/2017 at 16:24

0

It is really nuts, in case he was busy I looked up having these parts commercially printed by a printer and they wanted somewhere around $50, which still isn’t bad for a custom one off piece. In cheaper prototyping guise it would only be $25ish. Amazing what a little bit of knowledge can unlock.

StudyStudyStudy > DucST3-Red-1Liter-Standing-By 07/20/2017 at 16:26

1

It is honestly very fast. This is transmitting via bluetooth at a fairly high rate. It is transfering data as if it were sending it to a laptop so as real time as it gets. With the faster processor and ram I’m honestly surprised how fast it shows the changes. I’ll have to shoot a video in daylight soon.

StudyStudyStudy > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 07/20/2017 at 16:26

0

Sure thing coming soon!

StudyStudyStudy > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 07/20/2017 at 16:27

1

I am geeking out so much. Can’t believe it is physically real. We are making some changes, but should be better for it.

benjrblant > StudyStudyStudy 07/20/2017 at 16:28

0

Household desktop printers are usually either ABS or PLA. Makerbots exclusively use PLA. There’s pros and cons to each.

ABS smells kinda like meltey plastic when printing, PLA has a faintly sweet-ish scent.

You could take a segment of unused filament and dip it into acetone. If it softens and gets goopey, its ABS.

StudyStudyStudy > DrDDay 07/20/2017 at 16:28

0

Feel free, honestly with a micrometer and some reasonable spatial reasoning it is pretty easy to whip up basic designs. Tablets are powerful and cheap and there are even apps for modern cars to output via OBD2 if you have a new engine in an old car for example.

StudyStudyStudy > diplodicus 07/20/2017 at 16:29

1

Honestly I wouldn’t be the one to ask. The white object was printed off of a monoprice mini v2 with mods. It has a really small footprint so I have it next to my bed in the corner to chug away. My friend made a DIY kit for his, honestly the 3D reddit forum would be a much better place to get some info or reviews.

way2blu does a rev update > StudyStudyStudy 07/20/2017 at 16:30

0

I’ll definitely keep that in mind if when I do an engine swap on my MR2. Not sure it’d be worth putting it on the stock Camry engine...

The customizable outputs sound great too.

DucST3-Red-1Liter-Standing-By > StudyStudyStudy 07/20/2017 at 16:32

0

awesome! keep up the good work!

StudyStudyStudy > benjrblant 07/20/2017 at 17:26

0

Oh yea I mean the black parts are definitely not PLA for sure. His printer can run a little bit hotter with a bigger bed. He told me it was PETG which is a type of prototype plastic, but with a higher glass rate (I forget the exact term, but the temperature things become gooey) so it would be better suited for cars. Depsite being able to make out the zig zag pattern the PETG stuff is really smooth compared to the PLA. Like you can run your fingernail across the PETG and not really catch anything, where the PLA feels like a washboard.

StudyStudyStudy > way2blu does a rev update 07/20/2017 at 17:29

0

Short of whatever engine you are running having a good ECU option like for Honda’s Hondata is very popular and affordable, megasquirt can be made to be fairly reliable and docile.

You could throw it on there if you plan on running another 4 cylinder in the future. Squeeze a little more out of it, then swap it all over. That is what I did on my car. I had it on the 7mgte engine and when I went 2jz all I had to adjust was the timing offset and it pretty much started right up.

random001 > diplodicus 07/20/2017 at 18:28

1

Monoprice. The mid level one is a Wanhou replica, and it’s awesome.

random001 > StudyStudyStudy 07/20/2017 at 18:31

0

I’ve been loving my 3Dp action. Very nice work!

way2blu does a rev update > StudyStudyStudy 07/21/2017 at 15:13

0

I still haven’t decided what my future swap plans will be. Thinking anything from zero cylinders (local company does high-performance EV conversions) all the way up to 6 with a 1MZ or some such V6. I’d love to do 5 or 8 cylinders but it’s unlikely to be an easy swap.