3D Printed First Gen parts

[MrQ]

For Sale thread open with available parts for sale: For Sale - 3D Printed Parts for 1st Gen

Just recently got into 3D printing and started trying my hand at making some of those unobtainium or "impossible to find unbroken" 1st gen pieces.

First, the oft broken sun visor bracket

And then the air vent surround that always breaks or falls out in the worst moments.

I have also designed and printed the manual transfercase shift bushing.
These are still works in progress and some tweaks need to be made, but these are functional, usable parts.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Did you post the STL files anywhere online? Which programs do you use for drawing & slicing?

 

[ChildIdenticant]

Post a list of any parts for which you don't have a good sample, can pull good ones from yards here.

 

[Rick]

Just recently got into 3D printing and started trying my hand at making some of those unobtainium or "impossible to find unbroken" 1st gen pieces.

First, the oft broken sun visor bracket

View attachment 437067
View attachment 437068
View attachment 437069

And then the air vent surround that always breaks or falls out in the worst moments.
View attachment 437064
View attachment 437065

View attachment 437066

I have also designed and printed the manual transfercase shift bushing.
These are still works in progress and some tweaks need to be made, but these are functional, usable parts.

Those parts came out nice.

My biggest wish is front armrests/door pulls. I think it would need a pretty good size printer, or maybe make interlocking parts? It's on my list if I ever get a printer.

 

[BKennedy]

@Rick , You can buy the door pulls on eBay. I have had a set of them for several years. Maybe the manual window pulls are different?

Those parts did come out nice.

 

[BrooklynBay]

What kind of plastic filament did you use?

 

[DaSovietPotato]

Just recently got into 3D printing and started trying my hand at making some of those unobtainium or "impossible to find unbroken" 1st gen pieces.

First, the oft broken sun visor bracket

View attachment 437067
View attachment 437068
View attachment 437069

And then the air vent surround that always breaks or falls out in the worst moments.
View attachment 437064
View attachment 437065

View attachment 437066

I have also designed and printed the manual transfercase shift bushing.
These are still works in progress and some tweaks need to be made, but these are functional, usable parts.

It would be cool if you had modeled the entire dash vent assembly, because all of mine are broken too.

 

[Rick]

@Rick , You can buy the door pulls on eBay. I have had a set of them for several years. Maybe the manual window pulls are different?

Yes, totally different door panel.

 

[MrQ]

To answer a few questions:

• These were modeled in Solidworks 2018 and dimensionally should be within .010-.020" of an inch. Measurements were taken with a caliper and part deterioration may lead to some inaccuracies.
• Slicer is Cura 5.1
• Printer is a Creality CR-6 SE with a .4mm nozzle
• Printed with Inland PLA+ filament
• .12mm resolution for the vent, .2mm for the visor clip both at 20% infill

I am partnering with Bandit Customs in designing, reverse engineering, and creating these and many other Ford parts. We eventually hope to make the prints available for sale if the demand is there.

In the future, I may release some of the simpler .STL files for people to print.

In the meantime, keep shooting over ideas for parts. I just recently invested hundreds of dollars into my setup to create a very sought-after part for the first gen. This part will be very difficult to reverse engineer and print, but I expect to have a prototype for review by the end of the year.
You are welcome to guess what it is.

 

[DaSovietPotato]

Is it going to be possible to special order said components with ABS plastic instead of the default PLA?

 

[BrooklynBay]

Interior parts get hot when the vehicle is sitting in the hot sun so PLA might distort unless you use high temperature PLA, ABS or PETG. As for your next project, work on an improvement for the blend door.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Did you think about becoming a forum vendor? Maybe you could set up a website with photos of parts that you printed, have prices for different types of plastics, and available color options then have customer's photos showing how the part looks in the vehicle.

 

[MrQ]

ABS is an option for higher temps, but so is PETG. I'll be evaluating different materials for these applications and I'll see what works best. Vendor status is an option, but I don't want to be premature. If anything will happen it will likely be early next year before I'm ready to move forward.

 

[Stic-o]

Those parts came out nice.

My biggest wish is front armrests/door pulls. I think it would need a pretty good size printer, or maybe make interlocking parts? It's on my list if I ever get a printer.

This is why in the Navajo, I swapped the door panels out to '01-03 panels. Easier to get right now and seem stronger. Besides not like I'm restoring it. And they fit the style I'm doing.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Years ago Jon was able to have Explorer Forum license plate frames custom made. I don't know if he could get them anymore. Your machine is large enough to print them. Maybe some members might be interested?

 

[~X~]

My dream is to some day have real headlights.

 

[ChildIdenticant]

real headlights.

Can you elaborate? You mean sealed beams?

 

[cz413]

Man I need STL for the second gen or 02 Sport Trac.

Specifically something to make the map light better!

Edit: I just found out the first and second gen have the same map lights!

 

[BrooklynBay]

Could you post a photo of what you're looking for with inner & outer measurements in millimeters? A digital caliper is recommended to get an accurate measurement.

 

[~X~]

Can you elaborate? You mean sealed beams?

Actually, a mount that would accept a decent led.
Anything would be better than what we have.....I've polished inside and out, increased my wire to #12 ga and wired relays, grounded near both lights, my low beams are still dreadful.