3D Printed OEM-lookalike Speaker Cover Build

[KlickitatPhil]

Howdy!

My '86 HJ60 only came with one (sort of) intact speaker cover. Not satisfied with the naked speaker, I decided to design and 3D print a replica. Regrettably, I broke my one good cover as I was trying to take it off, so I guess I'll have to make two of them.

It could use a sanding and a lick of Toyota Forklift Gray paint, or perhaps I should have used black filament to begin with... For now I'm satisfied. The model has almost the same number of holes as the OEM cover. There are exactly four extra ones on the corners where the original plastic rivets went through the door card.

I tinkered with the design for four nights, first discovering the limits of Google Sketchup, and then learning how to use FreeCAD. It's not a perfect replica, but it's as close as where my patience and CAD skills intersected.

Fourth try's a charm!:

The final version took 13 hours to print and used 115g of filament. It was a pretty fun project, and I think it doesn't look half bad!

Cheers!

 

[gbogh]

I have been meaning to learn how to use freecad to print some speaker covers. Looks good!

 

[Gimme a 60]

Inventor 2020 Professional is a GREAT program for 3D printing. Learning how to use it in school. love seeing stuff like this as I hope to start building my own bits and pieces soon. Tinker CAD is also a great free program as well, though it’s not as sophisticated as Inventor it’s great for beginners. Anyways amazing work!!!

 

[Gimme a 60]

I have been meaning to learn how to use freecad to print some speaker covers. Looks good!

I have been meaning to learn how to use freecad to print some speaker covers. Looks good!

If you have a 3D printer you can download designs off of Tinker CAD or Thingniverse for free.

 

[buoytech]

Those look great. Would you be willing to sell a pair?

 

[KlickitatPhil]

Those look great. Would you be willing to sell a pair?

I'm not sure how well PLA filament will hold up to heat. Free-standing PLA prints tend to warp in a hot car, however a few years ago I made a USB charging port that lives in a switch blank on my VW and that's still holding up. My hope is that this speaker cover won't do any warping because it's securely bolted to a flat surface. If there are issues then I'll have to try ABS filament, and that's an entirely different can of worms to work with.

If that doesn't scare you away, send me a PM and we could work something out.

 

[Spook50]

Not bad! Another difficult to source part achievable with 3D printing.

 

[ChaserFJ60]

PLA always seems to let me down hard when it comes to heat. It prints at a lower temp than ABS and also melts at a lower temp than ABS. There are other plastics that would work better than PLA that print like pla, but nothing as good as a UV resistant High temp plastic. Great work on the design! With a good coat of paint you'd never tell!

 

[KlickitatPhil]

PLA always seems to let me down hard when it comes to heat. It prints at a lower temp than ABS and also melts at a lower temp than ABS. There are other plastics that would work better than PLA that print like pla, but nothing as good as a UV resistant High temp plastic. Great work on the design! With a good coat of paint you'd never tell!

What types of filament have you had success in the heat with? I'm definitely interested in more resilient materials to use for future parts.

The PLA plug that I made for my VW survived the 115 degree heat wave we had last summer with no warping. For parts that aren't expected to move or support a load, I think you can get away with using PLA.

 

[Rusto]

I ordered two in black and they went in easy and look great. @KlickitatPhil did a bang up job with the covers and he included the hardware as well.
Not OEM, and maybe I should have painted them dark gray, but black was close enough and they look damn good in my opinion.

 

[KlickitatPhil]

So far I've sold four pairs with hardware. The ones in my own rig have shown no sign of warping after this hot summer, so they should be good to go! It's a bit of a pain in the ass to make them, but I'm willing to supply them to those who are interested.

 

[HMP]

Klick - I am interested in a pair or at least the file to print my own set in petg
This is awesome, they look great!

 

[Rmusgrove]

Still making the covers?