Those people who subscribe to our newsletter will have seen a sneak preview last month of what we’ve been up to with the 3D scanner. My old friend Michael and I have been interested in creating our own parts for our cars and so we’ve decided to have a go at building a business from it.

He’s been playing with fibreglass, making parts the old fashioned way which is time consuming, inaccurate and messy, so I suggested that I’d buy a relatively cheap 3D scanner and use it, along with the tools and skills I’ve acquired working as an engineer, to help create the parts. It is then possible to either produce 3D printed molds that maintain accuracy and create parts ourselves or outsource the manufacturing process.

The plan is to get our cars scanned into the computer and use the resultant 3D models as a guide to create our own custom parts. So far we have scanned the Lannix Design BMW E92 and Michael’s Ford Ranger.

The BMW will eventually be used on the racetrack so the plan for it is to produce an air duct for the front guard that vents hot air out of the wheel well. Utilizing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to assess the expected air flow, we can hopefully come up with something that works efficiently and as intended. The outlet duct will be used in conjunction with inlet ducting in the front bumper, both of which will be 3D printed and tested on the track before going into production.

The Ranger parts are more of a cosmetic upgrade which will set it apart from the thousands of other Rangers on the roads. Modifying them is quite a big scene in countries like Thailand and Malaysia.

The BMW and the Ranger have been chosen for their worldwide popularity. The BMW in particular is one of the few rear-drive cars left where the price of them hasn’t gone crazy like a lot of Australian and Japanese cars that have been traditionally modified among enthusiasts.