A Cab and Carrera Small Interior Door Handle

[Ren]

I have just commissioned a man to model the very rare and expensive 356 A Cab / Carrera Small Interior Door Handle.

I intend to look into how much to get these made as a repro part.

I know of 8 handles that could find new homes right away.

Would anyone else be interested?

Obviously the more that are made, the cheaper the unit cost.




I will post image of model once completed.

I thought you outlaws and restos would be snapping these up.

Oh well looks like no interest means no product and the part stays expensive and elusive.

[Rustbucket]

Any chance of a pic of the final item you had made, and pic of one in situ ?
What would it be made out of etc?

Just intrigued !!
D

[CarreraRS]

Which Carrera models were these used on?

[Ren]

I am still waiting for prices and the 3d model of the handle.

I have asked for prices with handle being produced as close to original as possible.

As to what car the handle was fitted to. I have been told by a reputable person that this information is vague at best but appears they were mainly used on 356 A Cabs. I have also been told that they may have been used on some 356 A Carrera. I can not verify this info. If you look in the books like I have then you will not find much info in this subject. If you know better then please let me know.

I can show a pic of an original in place. Looks great on my repro s90 GT outlaw.

I have been told by one handle owner that he is not pleased that I intend to make copies. Probably because of the rarity of the piece and the value placed on said piece. Lots and lots and lots. In fact silly money for a handle. I hope to get the price as low as I can. I have over 8 people interested in sets but have been told price will depend on material used and time on the machine plus triple plating.

I will keep all interested informed. This will be a very short run just to help owners that want this very rare handle on cars. I will be passing all details of handle to a known UK supplier after production.

[Ren]

3D Models as promised. No prices yet but it looks like ten is the practical amount to produce. So watch this space.

[Rustbucket]

Looks like a pretty cool start !
Am guessing you are having an RP part rendered/built which will be turned into the master for tooling?
Will it be cast or machined out of a solid block?

[Ren]

copy of message from model maker.

by rapid prototyping, there is no tooling and you can have as many as you like or are prepared to pay for. Producing a batch will reduce the part cost and I should have a price for a 10 off rapid prototyped batch today. I am also exploring other more conventional methods of manufacture and will get back to you when I have some prices.

[Ren]

copy of message from model maker.

by rapid prototyping, there is no tooling and you can have as many as you like or are prepared to pay for. Producing a batch will reduce the part cost and I should have a price for a 10 off rapid prototyped batch today. I am also exploring other more conventional methods of manufacture and will get back to you when I have some prices.

[cubist]

Ball park figure per unit yet?

[Rustbucket]

Hmmmmm

I am a model maker mysef so Ican only make assumptions in my reply but-

You can get RP parts that can be made in metal impregnated resin, or just straight resin.
You def, def, will NOT get a ready to use part from this method, which is how I am reading your posted quote. It will not be strong enough !!

This is based on RP meaning Rapid Prototype, which is a form of 3d making based on printing resin into a 3d part, or by laser sintering.

I would imagine a master part built by RP technology would be made first, finished in shiny paint etc's, from which a high temp silicone mold is made.
This could then take metal casting.
However you would need to be very careful on the type of metal used as if its too soft it will simply round off the teeth mounts.

It could also be made from a single block of metal on a 5axis milling machine, which could give you an almost finished part, bar the final polishing up/plating etc.

I really, really hope I am not sounding negative or nasty but thought I should say something just in case...

D

[Ren]

Reply from model maker:

Your site visitor has obviously not heard of Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) where stainless steel, cobalt chrome, tool steel etc are now commonly used to create solid functional parts used directly in the real world such as toolmaking, dentistry, medical implants, automotive and aerospace components. These parts are not made from metal impregnated resins.

Check this weblink http://www.eos.info/en/products/metal-l ... ering.html

[Rustbucket]

whoops! Thats me told!

Sounds amazing, glad to hear its do-able.
Reading the material spec on the site it sounds liek you may well be able to polish the part up too, so no plating !
Good luck

[Ren]

Reply about price.

Hi Dave,

I have attached my quote for the handle replica. I have explored several manufacturing methods. Two that seem the most viable are included in the quote. One requires tooling and is on quite a long leadtime and the other requires no tooling or further machining and would be available in about 2 weeks from receipt of order. As the replica handle would be manufactured, there will be associated set-up costs and for 10 off, the part price will be higher than the £220 you can obtain one handle. However, if you require more than one handle, you may need to consider the small volume manufacture route I have quoted for.

Please contact me if you have any queries.

Kind regards

Mark Newland
Abraham Associates Ltd
Registered in England & Wales: No 307 44 37
Reg. Office: The Old Treasury, 7 Kings Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire. PO5 4DJ
Tel: 023 80 715 689 Fax: 0845 299 1652 Mobile: 07973 319 306
Email: mark@abrahamassociates.com
Website: www.abrahamassociates.com

To much for me needs (just one handle). So would anyone like to take up the batton?

[911-356 dave]

Hi, I may be happy to take on the project!
The lazer sintering process in my experience would leave a surface finish that would be to rough and would need to much rework to achieve a plating standard of finish.
The best route to go would be to have an SLA model produced and then silicon tooling to be used in the Investment Casting process.
I own and Investment Casting company and I already reproduce a number of hard to find parts from early Porsche's.
If you could forward the solid model to me, I could put some costs together.
dave@investment-castings.co.uk.
Cheers Dave

[Rustbucket]

Sounds like the best solution to me- you only pay for the tooling once, and the casting can pretty much be done to order.