(it's a hearse)

>You wouldn't download a car?

Watch me.

Heya! Been a while not posting here since my NA been drown by the storm ahah.

Sooooo, one year ago I posted here about my 3D printed Targa prototype: https://www.reddit.com/r/Miata/comments/1kgryjc/final_prototype_on_my_3d_printed_targa/

And since then I sold my hardtop files to quite a few customers around the world and only got very good feedback from my work (aside some bits and bobs to fix).

Also one of my customers made a post recently there which got quite some attention: https://www.reddit.com/r/Miata/comments/1szdj8t/custom_roof/

After all those talking, comments, and time passing I wanted to be back here to share some more details and what's coming next.

FIRST OF ALL

My Hardtop and fenders are still daily used on my car without a problem. As I live in the south of France and LOVE the top-down, I don't really use the hardtop much. But for the trackdays for instance or when it's raining for days, it's perfect.

The fenders also still there without a crack (I'm genuinely surprised !) those are raw printed with PETG and just painted using a 2K paint (the OEM NA RED).

On my cars I have quite a lot of others 3D printed stuff, from popups covers/top, tombstone, dashhood (not on the first pic because I broke it poorly bahahah), short center console front and rear, ducktail, rear panel, front shock bumper and many tiny things.
I'm happy with all of those on the daily basis.

What I don't use daily and why:

Over my creations I don't use daily the Trunk because it can be broken easily compared to a steel trunk (I wouldn't use a fiberglass or carbon to for the same reasons), I can have my bagpack inside the trunk or stuff and I'm using my car daily from back-country to center of big cities... So yeah that's the only thing I'm not at ease with.

I also don't use daily the targa for the same reasons but not only, it was not finished (last summer I had a LOT of life issues and could'nt complete it), but also the roof once remove take all the space in the boot :/
I'm thinking for maybe a 3 split section, but also "meh" ahah.

Quick Q&A:

Which filaments/materials:
- I 3D prints my parts with PETG or ASA it really depends on what you want to have as a "final-render" ASA is easy to sand/glue and hold more temps, PETG is naturally resistant to UV and chemicals which is perfect if you want to use the part "as is" out of the 3D printer.

However I do not recommend using PETG for the hardtop anymore, or the trunk, or any "big part/flat/with a lot of constraints.
I lost one hardtop and one targa during the summer last year, and also lost a trunk.
PETG wasn't strong enough to resist 96°c (that was the temperature measured on my targa-top), it melt poorly. So yeap, ASA is now recommended for those parts or any heat-resistant material.

Is it legal?:
- Legally talking it HIGHLY depend on the part and your country. In EU it changes a lot from a country to another and the OEM Hardtop for instance have no record of testing/validation process (there is no plate or anything to that regard). Rear panel and inside parts are just "plastic parts not part of the security" so this is also good, and the fender I'd say depend on the country, in France the "security parts" are the hood, trunk and doors, so from what the law say it's ok.

How strong is it / how far did you tested it?:
As explained here and there, my hardtop was tested at 205km/h peak and no problems, still here, all tiles are good, no crack.

Of course it will always depends on how you print it right?

I also drifted and crash some cars to see how it goes, you can see a fender crashed in my pictures. When it is "raw printed" it's quite easy, cheap and fast to repair.
Perfect for a drift car (this is also the reason I use the raw parts on my daily car).

What are the pros and cons of the 3D printing parts:

I try to be as pragmatic as possible when creating something like that, but I do believe we have more pros than cons.
Ofc a lot of pros won't be interesting for "showcars and daily"

Pros:

• You don't have to scrap other Miatas in order to save/fix yours
• sometimes it's just easier to print it rather than finding it
• print at home your parts (no deliveries/broken stuff)
• a lot of time it's cheaper than OEM parts, and also quite fast to make your own complex parts (specifically if raw), even with just 1 printer
• don't need a mold or any resin (you can add a thin layer of fiberglass before painting if you prefer than sanding)
• improved design for a lot of things (aero and seals on the hardtop for instance)
• very easy to assemble thanks to my design
• it's way lighter than OEM parts (about 50%, the OEM hardtop is 21kg, mine is 7kg. OEM Fenders are 3.3kg mine are 1.7. OEM trunk is about 6kg, mine is 3).
• it's easy and cheap to repair. Locate the broken tile, print it again, pop the rivet and go again (specifically aimed for drifting)
• because it's tiled, you can bring with you a lot of spares parts in tiny boxes
• highly customizable
• fun DIY project
• you can brag about downloading a car 😎 (finally!)
• you can ask a friend or a shop to print it for you if you don't have a 3D printer (this doesn't give them the right to print it for themself tho)

Cons:

• breaks instead of bending, for instance a fender with a tiny bump is easy to pop-back
• not always legal
• result depends only on your work
• it's a lot of work to have something visually "OEM"
• it can be overwelming because of all the materials and tests you must do before getting it right
• the thickness change, for the fenders for instance, it change some stuff about mounting the inside rain cover

Maybe there are some others cons but genuinely I can't think of any other than those.

What's coming next:

Since a year I was not really able to just breathe, I finally made it back and bit by bit I can work again on my cars and take pleasure doing weird stuff and being creative again.

With all the requests I got and the excitement toward my project, I decided to try to run a crowdfunding campaign with a simple reward: a complete bundle with all my STL parts for 250€ (hardtop fender etc).

If I can fund this, I will be able to make some V2 versions (the V2 of the hardtop is already on the way) and more fancy parts or bodykit, but also start doing all of those parts for the NB!

I have home a NA, NB and NC so you see me coming right? ahah.

Right now my "everything bundle" include all NA and NB parts I did and will make, so it's quite a banging deal for everyone and I believe we are enough to reach it.

I'm genuinely and happy to read your comments! Either you are in or not ^-^

In case you want to see more you can check my insta: "[at] inateno"

And if you are interested in the coming crowdfunding to enjoy this banging deal, here is the preview link (you can follow): https://www.indiegogo.com/en/projects/hina/miata-stl-pack

Thanks for the time reading me 😄 I'm heading to bed and will read/answer tomorrow!

This thing is a beast!

Five Nintendo Switches (one is a Nintendo Switch 2) and a projector

I promise it’s not AI generated my phone camera just sucks

I think it’s awesome!

Saw this at Costco this afternoon. I like C7’s but on the fence over this one.

Unfortunately the guy won't share how he did it.

That´s something we don´t see very often on the market for sale.

This replica is hand made in metal, 1 year service.

€26,500.00

• Location : Brazil
• Condition : good
• Stock : #7754
• YEAR : 1980
• Body Style : Kubelwagen replica
• Ext Color : beige
• Additional Info : Kubelwagen replica with VW aircooled engine
• https://www.brazilianclassiccars.com/store/p/kubelwagen-replica-with-vw-aircooled-engine

I've envisioned this build since Thanksgiving '24 when somebody sideswiped and totaled my C8 Stingray and it's finally come to fruition. I parked in front of a local pizza place with those star spoke gold wheels as a small nod to the Prancing Horse that inspired this car (some call it blasphemy). Mods:

• Xpel Stealth PPF
• Xpel Prime XR Plus Window Tint
• ATA Forged Vintage Ferrari-Style Satin Gold Wheels
• GM Wicker Bill Spoiler Extension Bridge
• Purple Diamond Stitch Kustom Interior Seat Covers
• Purple Lightning Steering Wheel Cover
• Purple Dasai Futures Mochi
• Gold Han Solo Rearview Mirror Lucky Dice
• Purple and Gold Wings of Fortune Labubu