3D Printing Question

[CajunJeff]

Hey, people. I've been lurking here for a while, as I have an '06 Ion Redline I'm eventually going to build into a Goblin (I think). My problem is, my car's starting to fall apart. Specifically, the plastic pieces, like the ECU bracket, door trims, etc. I'm debating if it would be worth my time to get a 3D printer to recreate some of these parts that are no longer available from GM. Would ABS filament be sturdy enough to survive under a hood? My gut instinct is no, but... wanted to see what people's experience is with it.

 

[Rauq]

I don't have an exact answer for you as the Goblins don't have much of an engine bay to stick prints in.

I've been gearing up to print a coil pack cover in PETG, which is obviously a higher conduction temperature situation than a bracket in an engine bay, but it's also not a critical application likely to cause problems if it doesn't work well. ABS might be even better for the application, but I've not used it before.

I will say if you're starting out with 3d modeling AND 3d printing, you're likely to spend a lot of time (a lot of time) in coming up to speed. There are probably brackets in the engine bay that can't feasibly be recreated exactly through 3d printing due to the way it works. That doesn't mean that something different but functional can't be created.

 

[CajunJeff]

I'm familiar with 3D modeling, but I have very little experience with printers, other than understanding how they work- I've never run one.

 

[r3drckt]

I would assume ABS would work fine for under hood temps when not directly on the block or SC. Something like the ECU bracket should be fine in ABS.

 

[CajunJeff]

That's what I was hoping... the ECU bracket isn't near the exhaust at all, but underhood temps still get pretty high. And who knows what else will break that I need to replace!

 

[r3drckt]

ABS has a melting point of 220C or 430F which is well above under hood temps. It becomes pliable at a much lower temp, but I don’t believe that pliable temp to be below 215F (half of the melting point) and under hood temps should be below 215F for the most part due to air flow from movement or the radiator fan.

 

[CajunJeff]

Or of course, I could just bite the bullet and start building a Goblin... that would solve the issue, right?

 

[r3drckt]

That always solves the issues with a 15+ year old car

 

[CajunJeff]

I mean, mechanically, the car will need a rebuild no matter what I do with it. Clutch, upgrades, control arm bushings, etc. etc. and most of those things would transfer over to a Goblin. But if I want to continue to use it as a daily, I've got to come up with a way to keep fixing the plastics. Or just be hardcore and use a Goblin as a daily... which might be an option.