3D printing brings the past into the present

The older a car gets, the harder it becomes to find original parts to replace broken or worn out parts. An exotic car dealer recently contacted Custom Prototypes as they were having a difficult time finding replacement lights for a rare Renault Spider.

Andrew Sliwa, Owner of Custom Prototypes, quickly got his team together to reverse engineer the lenses. They then decided to use Stereolithography as the additive manufacturing technology for the job and chose Somos WaterShed XC 11122 as the material for the entire assembly for its clarity and ability to be colored easily.

They printed, dyed and clear coated the part to protect it from UV and the customer was able to quickly install it back on the car. The customer was pleased with the outcome of the parts and can now drive the classic car as if it was new again.

Since it was such a success, the team at Custom Prototypes decided to build another set to enter into the AMUG (Additive Manufacturing User’s Group) technical competition. The lights may look like a simple, standard part, but with 5 different finishes, the jury quickly recognized the extensive work and they were awarded the 3rd place prize.