Quote:
Originally Posted by strelnik
I have spoken to friend who is a retired plastics engineer with nothing to do.
Now that he's made scary faces for all his grandchildren for Halloween and all the little odd-shaped parts that he can use for things around the house, he has run out of things to do.
I'm thinking oif approaching him with making parts for the cars, especially those which are no longer available.
Some parts on the list now are
1934-57 Citroen Traction Avant motor mounts
1955-75 Citroen DS/ID motor mounts
1960s era MB 4 and 6 cylinder valve cover gasket
Citroen radiator shock mounts
Hood isolators from several Citroens and possibly MBs
I have thought about:
- Rebuilt MB W123 motor mounts and engine shock dampers
- Rebuilt W126 motor mounts?
- Hood adjustors
Your thoughts please!
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Virtually anything made out of a thermo-plastic resin will entail injection molding and the cost of the mold making can be prohibitive unless you're able to spread that upfront cost over a many pieces, unless it's a very simple part of course.
If you're using urethanes and two-part silicones the cost of any material is quite high, and you'll probably need some fixtures or molds but they can be made from many different materials.
If you're using natural or synthetic rubbers like neoprene you'll need fixtures/molds and the ability to heat cure and stabilize the parts.
The part will determine the range of appropriate materials and the part and the material will determine the method of manufacture.
That all being said there are certainly a large array of plastic materials out there to experiment with, I recently used a DEVCON 2-Part to rehab SDL engine shock mounts. They came out good but the material is not elastic enough compared to the original rubber so I'll be doing another set with the DEVCO softened up some.
Bonding plastic to metal such as engine shock mounts and engine mounts take some extra care and preparation to achieve a strong and lasting metal to plastic bond.