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Rasta Monsta · Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 11724 Location: PacNW

https://jalopnik.com/porsche-is-3d-printing-hard-to-find-parts-for-the-959-a-1822959539

Only a matter of time.
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Toofah King Bad

WeiBe (1987 924S 2.5t) - 931 S3

Eric P · Joined: 21 Jun 2017 Posts: 175 Location: NY, USA

It's really neat that Porsche is starting to do this. Small quantities are where 3d printing really shines. As long as you keep the parts small, it can be a really useful process because it doesn't involve specific tooling.

I actually have a few 3d printed parts in my car. The sunroof hinges, the sun visor clips, and a couple other small parts. There are a few websites that host libraries for 3d printed parts. I just had to click download and print. All the hard work was done for me.

There are also some other parts available out there like nose vents for the 931 and sunroof gears for the 924S/944. You just have to look around and have access to a 3d printer. I have friends with access to the local maker space and believe it or not, my local library has one that they let people use. It would be really cool to make a library of parts specifically for our cars. I'm sure our community could come up with a few good ideas and with free cad software like tinkercad, anyone can draw up parts. The free software isn't as nice as programs like Solidworks or Autodesk Inventor, but for non-commercial low volume parts it does ok.

Printing parts can be a great alternative for small plastic parts like sunroof latches that can cost over $100 for a pair. I'm sure metal parts would be great too, but SLS isn't as common as FDM for most people.
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1980 924 NA, US model
1987 924S, US model

snakoil · Joined: 09 Feb 2010 Posts: 362 Location: Montreal, Canada

just got this idea while replying another thread

- door handle inserts with PORSCHE script
- Shifter cap with dogleg pattern

anyone has youtube tutorial on how to do the drawing...I might get started on that.
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1979 924 NA

morghen · Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 8886 Location: Romania

My 924s are running with 3D printed parts since quite a bit

My 931 has 3D printed ABS bushings for the alternator, my 924 had various trim parts 3D printed as well.
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https://www.the924.com

Goldwolf · Joined: 25 Jun 2017 Posts: 264 Location: Athens,GA

I saw that article too. The company will print anything if you have the designs and enough money.
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1981 Weissach Edition #179