The other two ended up looking pretty damn good! Currently printing with the TPU that arrived. Took me a good 5 tries to get a proper profile that would actually print. It's the equivalent of trying to print ramen noodles in your printer. The second there's any form of resistance, it wants to curl up around the bondtech gears.
Solution? Print hotter, and way way slower. So far, so good.
Will post some final pics when it all comes together on them and i've had some time to buff them.
My boss here at Autobooks wants to know when you'll be printing Alfa-Romeo and Citroen lenses next.
I do love me some Jalpa updates.
Keep 'em coming!
Jerry From LA said:My boss here at Autobooks wants to know when you'll be printing Alfa-Romeo and Citroen lenses next.
i mean if he's got an example, i suppose i could probably make something for him.
here's the final result.
TPU gasket. PETG lens.
Gasket has a taper on the inside, basically did a subtraction from original part to get an exact gasket fit. So it snaps in place around the lens. Like a glove. Obviously the colors aren't what the factory are, but I don't really care. Long as both sides match it's all good. I wasn't entirely sure how crazy I could get with angles since it's my first time printing TPU, so I went with a flat top surface whereas factory is thin and angled. But it printed so easily i'll probably reprint it with a similar shape to factory, it handled overhang VERY well.
It was quite an odd challenge to get the TPU printing properly after multiple profiles, but after some setting changes and new profiles, and a realllllly long print time, i got it!
Even more interesting, on the print surface area, you can hardly tell it was printed because it melts and merges so incredibly well.
Here's an interesting video where you can see how well the TPU bends and flexes. Interesting stuff.
And here's the actual video of it clipping in place.
Awesome thread, it took me 4 days but I read it from the beginning. Been lurking and reading for a long time, this finally got me motivated to register and comment. Huge respect and admiration for what you have done! I remember as a youngster seeing a Miura go by and asking my dad "what was that?!" I've been a Lamborghini fan ever since.
A couple of comments on the 3D printing - I printed a cellphone holder for the dash using PLA, on a sunny day with the windows closed, the car will get hot enough to soften the PLA. As others have already pointed out, heat and softening could be a problem for your velocity stacks and airboxes.
I have been working on a set of front brake ducts for my car for a while, 3D printing ABS forms, using acetone to solvent weld multiple pieces together, then covering with carbon fiber braided sleeving and high temperature epoxy. I also did a set of plates for the brake rotors by printing forms using PVA which is water soluble, covering with carbon fiber/epoxy, then dissolving out the PVA form in the sink. For various small brackets, I print 2 sides of a form using PLA then sandwich layers of carbon cloth with epoxy between the forms until it the epoxy cures.
I started with a Maker Select like you have, that works amazingly well for the price. Make sure you have done the upgrade for the bed heater MOSFET, otherwise it will eventually burn out the board and connector. I upgraded to the Prusa Mk3 v3 which is incredible - fast, quiet, and accurate.
R56fanatic said:Awesome thread, it took me 4 days but I read it from the beginning. Been lurking and reading for a long time, this finally got me motivated to register and comment. Huge respect and admiration for what you have done! I remember as a youngster seeing a Miura go by and asking my dad "what was that?!" I've been a Lamborghini fan ever since.
A couple of comments on the 3D printing - I printed a cellphone holder for the dash using PLA, on a sunny day with the windows closed, the car will get hot enough to soften the PLA. As others have already pointed out, heat and softening could be a problem for your velocity stacks and airboxes.
I have been working on a set of front brake ducts for my car for a while, 3D printing ABS forms, using acetone to solvent weld multiple pieces together, then covering with carbon fiber braided sleeving and high temperature epoxy. I also did a set of plates for the brake rotors by printing forms using PVA which is water soluble, covering with carbon fiber/epoxy, then dissolving out the PVA form in the sink. For various small brackets, I print 2 sides of a form using PLA then sandwich layers of carbon cloth with epoxy between the forms until it the epoxy cures.
I started with a Maker Select like you have, that works amazingly well for the price. Make sure you have done the upgrade for the bed heater MOSFET, otherwise it will eventually burn out the board and connector. I upgraded to the Prusa Mk3 v3 which is incredible - fast, quiet, and accurate.
Thank you for the kind words!
I've been running the stacks for a while which so far have been fine. I have considered reprinting them in PETG since it holds up to heat far better. But it has crossed my mind that longterm it /could/ become an issue. It's definitely valid. I think with the airboxes with fresh air coming in through the vent on the side of the car though, it should keep them cool enough to not exceed those temps.
I prefer PETG over ABS since it isn't toxic and full of fumes to print, and I have a good solid profile for PETG. My biggest issue with PETG has been with overhang and the need for support structure since my velocity stacks are pretty aggressive on the flares.
Was completely unaware you could essentially weld parts together with acetone on ABS though, that's actually VERY cool! I'd like to find a good way to do the same with PETG if it's possible, do you know of any plastic welding techniques with PETG?
Regarding the printer, I now have 2 of othem. I don't think I posted that update. I've got the V2 select with my glass bed, and it went up in flames after 3 PETG prints (go figure, those melzi boards are crap). I rebuilt it with an MKS 1.4 board and went with dual mosfets. I still found that it just didn't do everything I wanted. I recently bought a Prusa i3 MK3S. I've also recently built one of the lack enclosures for it so I could easily print PETG. My biggest struggle prior was that with any draft what so ever in the room, my prints would lift up off the bed and warp. Now they print consistently and it's a piece of cake to print it.
The soluble mold idea for carbon is brilliant. I hadn't even considered that. I love doing hand laid carbon and still have a roll and some resin I haven't touched in forever. That'd be a slick way to do it. Have any pics? Would love to see some of your work! Very cool!
Printing TPU, I never would have thought of that. Incredible. I need a printer now... I need all the lense gaskets for my current project.
java230 said:Printing TPU, I never would have thought of that. Incredible. I need a printer now... I need all the lense gaskets for my current project.
It's good stuff. A little tricky to print, but very cool stuff.
Yeah, I'm super impressed by the work you're doing with your printer. That makes me want to order one too.
I know you've gone into detail on your printing set-up before, but 64 pages... Can you give the quick rundown on your machine and the materials you're running?
TVR Scott said:Yeah, I'm super impressed by the work you're doing with your printer. That makes me want to order one too.
I know you've gone into detail on your printing set-up before, but 64 pages... Can you give the quick rundown on your machine and the materials you're running?
There is a 3D printer thread or two around that might be a better fit for that discussion. I'll try to find it and post the link here.
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/who-has-a-3d-printer/153409/page1/
In reply to Stefan :
Thanks!
Here's a couple of quick pics of what I have done with 3D printing and carbon fiber. Designs were done in FreeCAD, sliced with Cura. I'm now learning Fusion360.
The air ducts had to be printed in multiple pieces because overhang so I used ABS and then solvent welded the pieces together with acetone:
Then covered with braided carbon sleeveing and epoxy. Check out www.sollercomposites.com for materials.
Test fit of the concept for the rotor plate, the idea is to direct the air into the center of the rotor so it blows between the inner and outer rotor faces.
Here's one side in rough carbon, next to the PVA form for the other side. I put multiple layers of carbon/epoxy on top of the form then just dissolved out the PVA with water. Would have been better if it had been vacuum bagged, but the finished plate is just a few ounces and incredibly strong.
And here is a finished rotor plate installed behind the rotor.
TVR Scott said:Yeah, I'm super impressed by the work you're doing with your printer. That makes me want to order one too.
I know you've gone into detail on your printing set-up before, but 64 pages... Can you give the quick rundown on your machine and the materials you're running?
I've got two machines right now. Previously I had a monoprice v2 select which I had converted to a glass bed.
I now am rocking a Prusa i3 MK3S. I haven't made any modifications to the new printer, it's dialed in and printing well exactly the way it is. Had I know it was such a solid printer, I would have never purchased my v2 select and would have gone straight to it. Because I really want like.... 2 more of them.
I have built an enclosure for it, however, since PETG is very picky about drafts and temp variations.
My most common settings for materials that seem to work great are:
PLA 210/60, 50-60mm/sec print speed, .8 retraction, 25mm/sec retraction, 100% cooling
PETG 235/75, 50-60mm/sec print speed, .8 retraction, 25mm/sec retraction, 50% cooling with overhang, 25% cooling without overhangs
TPU 210/40, 15mm/sec print speed, NO retraction, 100% cooling. I'm still playing with this as it's new to me, and I suspect less cooling will help with layer adhesion.
Here's a rundown on all the features and everything it has
https://www.prusa3d.com/original-prusa-i3-mk3/
R56fanatic said:Here's a couple of quick pics of what I have done with 3D printing and carbon fiber. Designs were done in FreeCAD, sliced with Cura. I'm now learning Fusion360.
The air ducts had to be printed in multiple pieces because overhang so I used ABS and then solvent welded the pieces together with acetone:
Then covered with braided carbon sleeveing and epoxy. Check out www.sollercomposites.com for materials.
Test fit of the concept for the rotor plate, the idea is to direct the air into the center of the rotor so it blows between the inner and outer rotor faces.
Here's one side in rough carbon, next to the PVA form for the other side. I put multiple layers of carbon/epoxy on top of the form then just dissolved out the PVA with water. Would have been better if it had been vacuum bagged, but the finished plate is just a few ounces and incredibly strong.
And here is a finished rotor plate installed behind the rotor.
That is insanely impressive stuff. I love how functional you've made everything. This is awesome! Such a cool idea for carbon work and beats the hell out of having to make a mold by hand.
I'm just looking for the easy way out. 
I find it really cool that if you can imagine it and put in the time to learn the tools, with a 3D printer and a bit of patience you can build just about anything.
Now back to your Jalpa.
R56fanatic said:I'm just looking for the easy way out.
Now back to your Jalpa.
I agree entirely. Friends have asked me what the limitations are of 3d printers. My response is generally, "If you can draw it up in cad, or if you can 3d design it, you can print it, period."
Regarding the engine out over the weekend:
We got the engine out, transmission apart and assessed the damage. Sure as E36 M3, I forgot all 3 locking nuts, and the guide tube was falling out entirely, slamming into the clutch. Needless to say... the damage was nifty. It mushroomed the end.
Want to do a full engine out on a lamborghini after you just did an engine out on a lamborghini? Don't double check your work on the transmission.
The culprit, literally 3 missing nuts:
The damage. In a nutshell, the guide tube was intermittently smashing up against the clutch as it spun and was literally being pushed INTO the clutch:
So out she came again.
Tomorrow i'm snagging the necessary hardware and am gonna slap it back together. From there, I can finally address all the little E36 M3 that has been plaguing me.
I love this thread! Great work!
I found this thread (or, rather , it found me...) Tuesday night and chunked away at it over the past few days.
Seeing as how it was an effort to READ about your build, I cannot imagine the amount of effort it took for you to actually pull this off.
Thank you for persevering, and thank you for documenting this for the rest of us to enjoy.
Well guys, we got the clutch fixed.
So here's the rundown:
The guide tube itself is attached to a set of needle bearings which the mainshaft rides on. So not /just/ the guide tube came loose, so did the needle bearing. Zero damage to the bearings, thankfully. However, up behind the guide tube is a sprung plate.
Link to diagram (can be seen as #12)
https://www.bullstuff.com/lamborghini-parts-manual/jalpa-1981-1988-jalpa-3-5-usa/17.24
On the Jalpa transmission, there is a plate BEHIND the guide tube that appears to be sprung to some degree, my guess is that it's part of a release when taking the actual transmission apart. I cannot find anything about it in any documentation or diagrams. However, it's held in place entirely BY the guide tube. What was happening was that as the clutch was being actuated, and from vibration, this tiny plate with tension was wiggling itself loose and pressing the guide tube further and further out, eventually causing it to entirely push UP against the center portion of the clutch. It was getting a mad amount of heat. We got that delicately ground down nice and smooth since it was a little shroomed out. No cracks, no major damage, all good.
Slathered her up with a good safe coating of white lithium, made sure there were nylon locking nuts on EVERYTHING, set the adjustment screw, got it re-aligned, double checked the plate, everything in place, and it's happy once again.
3 tiny nuts, one simple mistake, entire engine out. Learning opportunity. I'm glad I caught it early than late.
Car will be back in my garage tomorrow morning, and I will be putting it all back together and getting it back on the road. I've been working on a custom fusebox for the megasquirt.
One thing I DID find, which is odd, is that it appears the runners are starting to crack, at least 2 of them, on the edges. My friend suspected it could be due to uneven machining and vibration, and said usually on runners like that, they end up having braces, which mine have none. I'm going to take the runners off (easy to do with the engine in the car, very accessible), and braze the aluminum and see if I can easily repair them. I think I'll just go with a thicker gasket on them. It's also possible my old machinist torqued those buggers down wayyyyyy too tight.
I want to address it before I go driving, in the off chance it's going lean on one cylinder, the last thing I want to do is end up melting a nice new shiny set of forged pistons.
Feels fantastic to have that out of the way. I am, fingers crossed, going to make it to the festival of cars this year.
corsepervita said:Jerry From LA said:My boss here at Autobooks wants to know when you'll be printing Alfa-Romeo and Citroen lenses next.
i mean if he's got an example, i suppose i could probably make something for him.
She. Her husband's the Francophile. Don't worry, I wouldn't want anything to inhibit the forward motion of this project.
Well guys I did a thing. I've had zero luck finding anyone to fully repair the old gauges. I bought some round LCDs that fit perfectly in the old gauge pods and I'm loading tuner studio up on a pi and i'm going to just do digital gauges. Trying to get a modern swing with a retro feel that is similar to the old gauges.
Don't mind the grid points, it's in design mode lol
In reply to corsepervita :
Badass!
This thread is the gift that keeps giving. That's badass.
Ooooooohhh that's brilliant!
That's giving me ideas!
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