Any body that can help

[arroldn]

[arroldn]

Anyone that can help a slotter out by printing these for me I would sure appreciate it. Or if you can direct me to a source that can do it. Shapeways list some printers but one was talking $500.00. The support is for the front spoiler on my SRT8. The factory no longer produces the spoiler. New you can buy a compete bumper cover with the spoiler built in for $320-$370. My plan is to repair the spoiler and save that money for slot cars.

[Frank9129]

My thought is to remove the good one and have it scanned. Once it is scanner there are several here who would try to replicate it.
Good luck.

[arroldn]

What do you scan it with?

[ccobra]

Best to just model it up and print it out using ABS filament.

[arroldn]

Not sure what you mean by model it up.

[SlotCat]

Draw it in a 3d software so that it can be 3d printed.

[chappyman66]

What he said.....

If you can model it, printing it is easy. If you can't model it, it requires having one to take dimensions and build it that way.
And ABS or PETG would be your best printing choices, yes.

[DRW-FJ40]

So the process of 3D printing those clips would be to draw a 3D wire frame digital model of the clip, export an STL file from the model. This is the industry standard file format for 3D printing. Then you can print the STL on a home 3D printer or upload the file to service like Shapeways and within seconds, they will tell you whether your model is printable if not, why, and options for fixing the file. Then what the cost of printing it will be in a wide range of materials. If you like the price, add it to the basket, check out and it shows up at your door in a couple weeks.

3D scanning generates the model from the object using a scanning device but the scan typically needs to be cleaned up a bit in order to print. To draw or model the part in some sort of CAD software is more practical for that clip since it's not a complex shape but you do need to have all the exact dimensions of the clip in .

The $500 price you were quoted was probably from a member of Shapeways and was to design/draw/model the clip. Printing that clip through Shapeways wouldn't be near that much and is a good option if you don't have access to a 3D printer.

These are some free tools for modeling for 3D printing. I haven't used these (I use AutoCAD) but I know a lot of people use Blender: https://all3dp.com/1/best-free-3d-pr...inter-program/

[SlotCat]

Excellent description of the process! Avoid AutoCad, Blender or others are much more user friendly, better customer support and cheaper, however freeware is not always the best option for someone starting out 3d projects.

[DRW-FJ40]

Thanks SlotCat. I use AutoCAD because I have access to it for work and I've been using it for 25 years but yes, it's not what I would recommend either for the same reasons.

[FC47]

It's a bit over my head buddy, but it's doable!

[arroldn]

Thanks to all who responded. Was hoping someone would say send it to me and I can print it for you. I guess I'll take it off of the car and see if I can get the measurements.

[FC47]

I haven't any plastics or delrin even, big enough, but with the chosen material, it'd be pretty straight forward to copy it on my Bridgeport..

edit.. what would you say the dimensions are if the clip was a 'block' as if it came from a cube?

[arroldn]

I will get the dimensions when I change the oil tomorrow. Do you want inches or mm?

[dinglebery]

I'd guess, based on the pictures of the known retaining screw clip, the cubed size would be about 35mm

[FC47]

Either is fine, then I can see what I've got for stock. If you think they're all the same we can make some from one as a pattern to go by..

[HO RacePro]

Now if this was my problem, on my car, this is how I would go at it...

First, I would note what material the part is made of. At a guess, from the photograph, it looks like polyethylene (PE). PE is the cheapest and weakest of all thermoplastics, but it is fairly tough -- will stretch a lot before breaking -- and it is supremely chemical resistant. It will laugh at road salt.

There is an upside to using a relatively weak material here. If the spoiler takes a shock these mounts would probably break first, possibly saving the spoiler itself. That, in fact, might be what happened here, and why one or more of these mounts needs to be replaced.

So I would be careful choosing the replacement material. I would not print these parts in PLA. PLA is notoriously brittle, and does not hold up well in harsh environments. ABS would be a better choice, and is a common material for printing filament. I might also consider PETG. I'd need to look into its environmental resistance.

Injection molded Nylon can be world-class tough, and black grades of the resin stand up well in the environment. It is commonly used in automotive applications. But I am a bit concerned that printed Nylon parts might not have good layer-to-layer adhesion, from reports I have seen. On the other hand, if the layer-to-layer adhesion is good the part might be too strong in total and not protect the spoiler from a shock.

Then there is the design. The original parts are designed for injection molding, but with 3D printing you have more design freedom. I can see opportunities to make the part more rigid, which may or may not be an advantage. A certain amount of flex may be desirable to help take up tolerances in mounting.

And it may be possible to add a notch to the part so its break-away feature is deliberately designed-in. Perhaps valuable if a stronger material is used.

I would of course print spares. You should always have spares.

Dunno why I was motivated to insert my two cents here. I do love design problems -- I find them fascinating and even entertaining. I may not have contributed anything valuable here. Could be I need to find something more useful to do.

Ed Bianchi

[arroldn]

Thanks Ed

[4424ever]

Was that clip not originally bonded to the actual spoiler?

[arroldn]

Not bonded. Double sided tape.

[mattb]

Not very clear to me exactly what this part is and how it works. How many are needed. Sometimes you can find an easy work around. If you go to the hardware store or a Lowes/Home Depot and walk around and look you may find something that will work to do the job this piece does. Not complaining, but a better picture of how it works and what connects to it might help. Not being clear about how something connects to this or how if actually work,s looks like a block of wood, a piece of aluminum channel or a piece of poly could be cut to do this.

[Kevan]

It'd be just as easy to measure it all up and get it milled in ally and wouldn't fail. I'm not sure I'd trust a non homologous 3D printed part on a real car unless it was nylon.

[mattb]

If there is a piece of something that fits on the bottom side of the white piece in the picture, could you removed the self tapping screw and replace it with a machine screw that would go thru both pieces?