Often I'll buy a salvage part and ask for the 'pig tails' so I can put it on the bench. But that does not always work as the donor vehicle shell may have already gone to scrap metal. So in the past, I'll take hobby shop, brass tube; solder on hook-up wire, and; use epoxy putty to fabricate a kludge. I used transparent tape over the connector as 'mold release' so I would not brick the connector. The reason this is a problem is the growing universe of keyed and custom designed connectors ... one of a kind. Often keyed and obscure rectangular-like shapes, they are all over modern cars. But when I try to find these at the parts counter, it becomes a BFD. Then it occurred to me that home, 3d printers have become available for reasonable prices. One thought is to use a cheap, 3d printer to fabricate a mold to cast the connector. This avoids the risk of 'bricking' the connector with epoxy putty. The cast material can have substantially improved thermal, mechanical, and electrical strength over the mold material. A thermo-plastic mold material might be reusable to minimize material costs. So my question for @3prongpaul and @ericbecky but anyone in the community, have you seen any reports of shops using 3d printers to fabricate custom plugs? I have read about 3d printing parts but more as demo than practical reality at the local dealership. Bob Wilson
I have seen small parts 3d prices ted, but not plugs. It takes a fair amount of time to draw up the dimensions of the plug. Probably end up doing several iterations. Kind of a lot of work if it is a one time job. Might be worth it if you have an ongoing need. That said, I have access to several 3d printers and have used them for different car and non-car projects.
