PELICAN01

My mirror is fine except the plastic shell is crumbling, and part of it is already gone for some reason. From what I can tell, nobody wants to sell just the plastic part, and I'm not going to buy an $800.00 rear view mirror. 3D printing seems the way to go if I could find someone who wouldn't mind me scanning theirs. I wouldn't mind paying a few bucks for the help. Any takers?

crazyinventor

Hi Pelicano1, Are you referring to the rear view mirror on the door, I have both r&l mirrors in 040 black. I also have both convertible top front cylinders with latches with brand new seals.
How many miles do you have on your car, when I sold my 93 I had 181k on the od, I put 119k miles on the car and loved every mile. Thanks, Dennis

PELICAN01

Hi Dennis. I've got about 120k on it, and it's just a weekend toy. Lots of fun to drive, but a pain to drag myself out of. No, I need the interior rear view mirror. Like I said, the mirror-motors-electronics are all fine, but the plastic shell just crumbled. Since no one seems to want to sell just the plastic shell, and I'm too cheap to pay 600-700 for just a piece of plastic, 3D printing looks like the best bet. I've already printed clips for the sun visor, and they came out fine, but I need a good scan of any object I print. Thanks for the offer, though.

Lee Wireless

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MERCEDES-SL-...pYoOW7&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MERCEDES-SL-...3D302223263548

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MERCEDES-SL-...3D391507572387

Auzivision

Mine is cracked, but complete and could possibly be used to scan if doesn't crumble during removal.

I also need visor mount surrounds. These are all made from some sort of plastic that has lost it's life.

So you are thinking a 3D printer could create a suitable replacement for these?

I'd be willing to buy these and help with the scan. A friend of mine has a 3D printer, but I think his work is created using CAD files. Would be surprised if he has the tools to measure or scan the part in.

Might be nice to offer these for sale to forum members. I presume just SEM paint to match interior.

PELICAN01

Thanks Auzivision, but I finally found one for less than an arm and a leg and bought it. 90 bucks seemed a little high for the plastic, but that's all I could find.I still like the idea of 3d printing for hard to find parts, and I don't think scanning will be much of a problem. I do it with a Kinect from XBox. Plug it into the laptop, and fire up free software, and you've got a 3d model pretty quick. There are also online sites like 123catch that you can download a bunch of pictures to. and they will generate a pretty good model. If you're interested, you can either send me your old part, and I'll scan it, or we can work together with one of the online sites. I won't guarantee we will come up with something usable, but it's worth a try.

Dale B

Thanks for the posts! This kind of information is the reason that I joined the forum.

Dale B

PELICAN01, I am also having problems with small plastic parts that have become brittle with age. You mentioned the sun visor clips that you recreated with a 3D printer. Mine are very brittle and one is cracked. Will you make such parts for others? It sounds like a great business opportunity.




Yes you can find them in junkyards, but you still have 20 year old brittle plastic parts.


Thanks,
Dale

PELICAN01

Sorry Dale, but I haven't really thought about making stuff to sell. I'm retired, and that sounds a lot like having obligations and a schedule and such. When I get around to it, I might just make a few pieces up, and if they come out OK I;ll offer then to people here. I've printed a few other things, and some are OK, but others were crap. I guess that's the way it is with a fairly new hobby.

Dale B

PELICAN01, I am recently retired myself and understand. It is not out of the realm of possibility for me to buy a $5000 3D printer to make a $100 part. But I started thinking that I didn't need to buy a 3D printer, I just needed to find a friend that would buy a $5000 printer and have him make the $100 part for me.


Thanks,


Dale