Technical 3D printing has a place in hot rodding...

In thinking about and seeing all of the different ways guys have on here to set up their steering columns (anywhere from hanging the column on nylon tie down straps, to wire shirt hangers), I figured I'd come up with an easier and more precise way to do it.
I have a 3D printer at home and figured I could utilize that. I started by measuring the thickness of the flange under my dash (0.75 in) and the angle of the dangle (approximately 82°) then used SolidWorks CAD software to create a solid model and convert it to an STL. It's now 3D printing while I'm doing something else on the car (I have to take the firewall out anyways to mock up the column).
Keep in mind that this is not a facsimile of my actual column drop - I intend to use one from Limeworks. This is only a fixture that I can clamp to the bottom of the firewall and stick my steering column through to determine if a 5-inch drop is what I want. T
he large triangular shaped hole is so that the wiring harness can pass through.
More pictures to follow when it's finished printing (19 hours)
View attachment 5213695 View attachment 5213696

 

What’s a whole lot better than my CAD program (cardboard aided design), I say if you have the tools use them to make life easier.

 

I believe Welder Series has some 3D printed stuff. Knobs, lenses, etc.

 

I'm happy to share the STL file with anyone that is interested in printing one themselves... If you wanted to try a four-inch drop, all you have to do is put a spacer in there - I'll probably create a model to 3D print that as well.

 

I like it, but I also find it strange that the HAMB which has traditionally scorned anything made from "billet" can now embrace 3D printing. Times sure change,

 

I'm sure everyone has an opinion (and no one asked for mine)...but I think it's all about the outcome. Billet looks like crap. Bad outcome.

Behind the scenes there is a lot of modern technology in play on the HAMB. There are some very talented CAD/Solidworks folks on this site. I see these new tools as just another dimension to resourcefulness and doing whatever it takes to keep our cars on the road, or building your vision of what your car should be.

Also, 3D prints can make for excellent casting forms. I imagine at some point we'll start seeing models for obsolete parts trade hands.

But again it's about the balance of having one foot in the now and the other in the past.

 

I found the 3D printer quite handy for mocking up too. The most recent one was pie cuts for an exhaust downpipe on a tight fit in my 51 Ford shoebox. I glued them together with crazy glue and it worked great. I just then copied the pie cuts in the aluminized steel. Like Bill above, I do use the cardboard a lot too! On the exhaust project I bought cardboard mailing tubes at Staples and old amazon boxes to mock up an exhaust and muffler setup (along with the 3D pie cuts). That way I ordered the minimum parts from Lyell's. Also I have made a few 3D printed floor grommets with TPU that I'm real happy with.

 

Some where on here, a guy made a waterfall dash trim for his car from a 3D printer, and had it chromed over the plastic. Looked great and he was thinking of making them for sale.

 

Search “35 Ford waterfall” it looks great.

 

Here is a banger intake manifold from a 3D printed sand mold. It’s not age that makes old car parts look old... it’s the style! Style the part correctly, and don’t tell em how it was made

 

Correct me if I’m wrong but if we’re supposed to be traditional in building these cars wouldn’t mig welders,plasma cutters , base clear paint and so on be off topic? I love the idea. One of these days I’m gonna have to teach myself solid works and try the whole 3D printer thing.

 

Keep in mind - It's a fixture that's going to end up in the garbage can, Not an actual part that's going to live on my car

 

That's awesome... There's also 3D printers now that print wax patterns for investment casting... I've seen some pretty cool parts come out of that process and they can look very vintage. I think Jay Leno does that often when he restores some of his obsolete cars

 

I used mine a while back to create bead roller profiles. It was a proof of concept that turned pretty well. It also forced me to learn some new stuff, which was pretty cool, even if a it tedious at times.

 

Some kinds of PLA can be 3D printed for investment casting, as an alternative to the wax. The wax is fairly unstable and does not provide good results for large unsupported designs. The PLA is better... but apparently doesn’t burn out of the mold as clean. The printed sand turned out awesome! Hardest part was finding someone to do it...

 

That Banger intake is amazing!

I too use 3D printing technology to suss out ideas, etc. that would normally be cost prohibitive to model and machine out of aluminum for R&D purposes. One case in point is the pitman arm for a Schroeder steering box setup. I want to make sure we get the geometry correct before making any chips and the 3D printer allows us to make a mock-up part and check bump steer, steering ratio, clearance, and aesthetics before the actual part is made from aluminum. Changes can be made on the fly and a new part printed up in a couple hours until we're happy with the design, then the file is sent off to the CNC.

The term "billet aluminum" is technically incorrect, at least in the way it's been used in the "aftermarket". In layman's terms, it refers to a solid chunk of aluminum, hence the "billet" term when a block of aluminum was placed in a CNC mill and machined down to a rear view mirror, for example. Simply put, it's a part made from a solid chunk of aluminum. I've machined many aluminum parts that wouldn't be considered "billet", but technically are. If you've ever machined something from a piece of aluminum round stock in a lathe, you've crafted a "billet aluminum" part.

 

Mig and tig go back to the 1940's.

 

Well put! Many are unwilling to accept a “billet” part under any circumstances. “Billet” is a style of arguably ugly products from the 80’s that has tainted the world of cars forever. Parts cut from solid bar has been a staple of racing since the dawn of the automobile. Cranks, rods, and cams all cut from solid bar, none of these considered “billet”

 

Wow. All I did was mention the wrong decade about an intake and it got my posts deleted.

 

A friend of mine made the 35 Ford waterfall after borrowing my real one. He even had it chromed and it really looks nice.

 

Starting to see 3D printed metal as well. There was a video I watched awhile back where an intake manifold was designed in Solidworks and printed with laser-sintered aluminum. Required very little machining when it was done. Probably a very expensive process, but as the technology gets better and more mainstream it will become more affordable.

 

If I had one ,new how to use it, and needed something custom or unavailable or something I couldn't find I'd use it . We are suppose to get a little wiser with age ,that's a good thing, but mainly because technology doesn't interest me I still have trouble with things like Facebook , Messenger ,phones , etc. A little behind the times . " 3D ? I thought that was those weird movies ".

 

Glad I stirred that pot. To be clear, I am not criticizing billet or the new technology processes. There is some amazing stuff being created,especially in biomedical engineering-imagine printing out a fully compatible, functioning kidney for someone.

 

Machined aluminum parts are OK, just takes so long to prep them.
- Grind on them to give some contour
- radius all the edges
- blast them to give a rough finish
- etch them
- heat, drip oil on them to make stains.

Be so much easier if I could just get a cast part, the CNC guy wasted so much time making it look pretty.

 

As I said before... if the part was designed with the era style in mind, the part won’t need any of this prep work to look “right”... aside from the oil stains that is

 

I think that's the ticket! In the '80s when Lil John Buttera machined the first "billet" mirror, everybody took that "blocky" design and the trend stuck. But there's absolutely no reason a part couldn't be designed and CNC machined to look more like a casting or a forging. That's exactly what I'll be doing with the pitman arm once I finalize everything. Turns out the diameter and spline count on the sector shaft is the same as a Schroeder torsion bar, so I will order a plain aluminum torsion arm from Speedway and send that along with the final CAD drawing out to be machined.

 

I could see where this may have a good potential. Anyone have a recommendation on a printer printer and model?

 

To blow everyone's mind and create that "ah hell" moment, Kong Jackson's 2 pc. aluminum Flathead Ford heads were billet in the sense they were milled from solid blanks of aluminum plate or bar stock on a manual milling machine. They just didn't call it billet back in the 50's....

 

Roller cams were billet back when Chet Herbert made the first one back in the 50's. Parts for engines have been made from billet in the aircraft industry since the 40's, that's where guys like Crower and Isky and many others got the idea to create some of their products once they returned from serving in the military after WWII. "Billet" goes way back, it just wasn't called that until more modern times.