3D printed air valve block off
 

Hi guys, I just bolted this guy up today and it's working so far.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463532228

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463532228

My printing credits at school were about to expire so I made a block off plate to clean up my engine bay and give me a better place to pull my MAP line. I was wondering if there was any interest in something like this, I used educational software so I can't sell it, so I might as well give it out for free. Before I post the files, there are a few things I should tweak so I want to make sure it's worth my while. I could even add a turbo kitten while I'm in there if there's a vector pic out there.

Anyone want the files? You can get it made from Shapeways if you don't have your own 3D printer.

Good work. Its great to see some creative thinking and new ideas.

The only issues I see with using 3D printing on intakes is the plastic degrading due to the heat and either deforming and leaking or the nipple breaking off. It might last ok on a street car but any engine that sees lots of heat might have issues. You can make this in aluminum easy enough getting it profile cut out of 4mm a tapped 1/8" npt hole for a nipple fitting.

nice work. But yes ABS is iffy under an engine bay in extreme conditions. I prototyped 3d printed ABS intake pieces that have had fracture failures due to the heat.

Fun stuff. As far as printing goes, when you print FDM, you want to consider the orientation of the part in the printing volume. The orientation of the part determines the "grain" of the part. You have to consider the loads your part is going to be exposed to, and whether you have any small features that are going to be frail. You've printed your part such that the hose nipple is going to snap with very little side load. If you rotate the part orientation in the print volume, you can increase the strength of that nipple considerably.

Obviously it's cool to have everything printed at once, but wouldn't a better option be to leave a hole (similar to the bolt holes) that could then be threaded for a vacuum nipple?

Sure. And depending on the printer, you could even model in threads so you don't have to tap it.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1051352

@deezums on here designed that one a while back. You can see it on his car in his build.