Lack of parts available

[VagrootsDan]

Right,
First off, let me clarify that I am in no way trying to take things away from Dai and Classic Swede. They offer a top service which I cant fault.
however, coming from the VW scene, I have noticed that 340's seem to lack in a lot of spares. I'm sure you all have a small mountain, which i'm now slowly building myself, but this community seems to lack "pattern" parts.
Now I have a few friends who are 3d printers. I was wondering if there were regular plastics, trims or parts that arent readily available that people would want made up?
If i did these things as a group buy, i can get them discounted.
Hopefully this will open up a discussion
Thanks
Dan

[MCHUDD]

Hi mate.
A lot of guys would like Louvres. The holy grail
Cheers Mark.

[VagrootsDan]

Haha that's a definite, however I would need to borrow a louvre to have it scanned and put onto their system so they can print it

[360beast]

The plastic door pull Cups, they are almost always broken.

[Ride_on]

I'm more concerned about metal parts and thought about lost plastic moulding for the 360 diff mounts (ie 3d printed then moulded).

Steering column switch mounting bracket might be handy, but they are usually easy to repair with metal plates.

[Ride_on]

Got a useful one I'm on a mission for now. VSS modules to convert for later fuel injection upgrades.

You can find these 2nd hand on 440s or M1/2 VW and they just screw into the back of the 300 speedo. However looking at the 'market' a good proportion of VW clusters have them removed and are being sold for parts. Very few 440 clusters about and the prices are going up. A scrappy will not knowingly sell you a £5 part and destroy a £30 part.

You can buy fancy ones from Canada for about £50 with a pulse multiplier.

Anyway I think I know whats inside and it just needs a little moulding to hold it. You could make one out of bit of plastic/glue and metal but its just perfect for a printing project. Its a small item about 1" long. The electronics cost nothing <20p, the cheapest home printer could probably do the moulding.

Another one, not 300, is a moulding for a standard voltage/temp/clock digital module. The 940 already has a digital temperature guage blank that can be used but it takes a fair bit of wittling to fit the module. Maybe something could be made for the 300 too, but no standard place for it.

Anyone able to design on computer or suggest software to do it?

[Chris-m]

Got a useful one I'm on a mission for now. VSS modules to convert for later fuel injection upgrades.

You can find these 2nd hand on 440s or M1/2 VW and they just screw into the back of the 300 speedo. However looking at the 'market' a good proportion of VW clusters have them removed and are being sold for parts. Very few 440 clusters about and the prices are going up. A scrappy will not knowingly sell you a £5 part and destroy a £30 part.

You can buy fancy ones from Canada for about £50 with a pulse multiplier.

Anyway I think I know whats inside and it just needs a little moulding to hold it. You could make one out of bit of plastic/glue and metal but its just perfect for a printing project. Its a small item about 1" long. The electronics cost nothing <20p, the cheapest home printer could probably do the moulding.


Anyone able to design on computer or suggest software to do it?

Awesome idea, id buy at least 2 for projects i have going on at the minute

[Ride_on]

Well I've dipped my toe in this and it looks quite easy if you have some experience of CAD and design.

I used Tinkercad by Autodesk, you just sign up and use it on the browser, very stable and good quality. They do the processing on their own servers. There are options for scanning by photo using a phone app (123D catch, but my transparent example of a stapler didn't work). I think you need a turntable maybe, I'm sure there will be something cheap on the market soon, if not you could make it yourself..using 3d printing yey.

You design on screen and then order a print when you are ready. You can chose many materials, finish, colour etc, even laser cut and the print Hub service directs you to a service provider, I found one locally that could print the item in PLA for £3.12, or about +£0.61 per unit after the setup. But I need to check it first before ordering numbers, anyway it maybe better for people to print it themselves and keep locally, we'll see how the PLA works out. Its bio-degradable so not sure how long it will last.

Anyway in a few hours, most of which was learning how to use, I have drawn up a holder for the Hall sensor for the VSS and ordered it, still has to be accepted, paid then 5 day lead time. I also tested out the electronic parts on the bench with a spare instrument cluster I have and it seems to work.