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BUSY BOLTERS Are you one?  The Shop Area
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Jul 21st, 2025 | | | | Joined: Sep 2012 Posts: 20 Wrench Fetcher | | Wrench Fetcher Joined: Sep 2012 Posts: 20 | My brother-in-law is industrial designer. I asked him if he had any ideas on solving my dash problem where PO cut out portion of vent for a stereo. His response: it's simple. 3D printing.
The idea is to scan a 54 vent and print it out in plastic. My truck is not going to win any car shows. That hole will greet me daily.
What is better option: simple plastic fix or hole in dash? Note: i have ruled out trying to find donor dash. | | | | | Joined: Jun 2011 Posts: 1,901 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Jun 2011 Posts: 1,901 | I simply cut out the trashed area and welded in a new piece of metal to patch mine. Was quicker and cheaper to boot.
Give me ambiguity
or give me something else
| | | | | Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 1,002 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Nov 2002 Posts: 1,002 | Go for it, plastic or not. If your brother in law can do it. It would be interesting to find out how it comes out. 3D printing is the big thing right now. I think it is over hyped, but they are working on some pretty exotic stuff. I do think 3D printing will be an opportunity for small businesses to produce low volume parts.
Larry
I don't own a vehicle that isn't old enough to drink.
| | | | | Joined: Feb 2007 Posts: 434 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Feb 2007 Posts: 434 | If you have the original to scan...
R-Bo
1959 Apache 1/2 ton Big Window, Short bed Fleetside (under reconstruction)
1966 GMC 305V6 in the family
| | | | | Joined: Feb 2012 Posts: 504 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Feb 2012 Posts: 504 | Absolutely give it a try. It would be very interesting to see how strong and durable the part was when it came out. Would it by paintable? I used to work with a guy that was a quality enineer for Ford a while back. They had a vendor what could metal plate plasitc parts. It was a bit of a process, but you could get chrome on a plastic part. If the durability and finishability are there, it could be a gold mine for hard to find small replacement parts.
Do it and then do some quality control testing. Post some pictures and a full report when you're done!!
Thanks
Larry
| | | | | Joined: Jun 2009 Posts: 1,596 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Jun 2009 Posts: 1,596 | If you have the original to scan, can't you cut it out and weld it in? If not, 3D printing is a fine solution (although I am an engineer), and as was suggested it could be plastic-chromed or painted, whichever is your preference. | | |
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