Commercially-produced rear wheel skirts

[SCNTN]

Believe it or not, we're still trying to get through underwriting. Getting insurance is turning out to be a nightmare. It's one of those catch 22's where the underwriters aren't willing to approve you until you have products being produced, but who wants to invest and produce anything without the guarantee of being approved??? UGH!!! We've been passed over by four companies now, hoping the fifth time is the charm.

No wonder nothing is produced in the 'States anymore...

[freebeard]

The only thing that can save us is the open source Maker movement. Sorry to hear about your problems, of course. You had what, $250, in the vacuum forming tool?

Since I can get 4x4' pieces ~1/8" thick for $5, my plan is to find a form that's 36" in diameter with 2-3" of crown that spins on it's center. Then I can rent a bank of heat lamps and bake it like one of those open air pizza cookers. Apparently you can weld ABS to ABS with a soldering pen, or acetone.

Cut it in half tip to tip and cut 2 of the 3 tips off each triangle and trim to final curve.

Still thinking about the hardware. 1/4 turn cam-locks?

[SCNTN]

Originally Posted by freebeard

The only thing that can save us is the open source Maker movement. Sorry to hear about your problems, of course. You had what, $250, in the vacuum forming tool?

Yep, 3D printing is where it's at. When they get the desktop models under $200, there will be one in every home. Now if they'd just figure out a home model for aluminum...
The former we have was about 10x that. We grabbed it at auction - it's one of those fancy industrial models.

Originally Posted by freebeard

Still thinking about the hardware. 1/4 turn cam-locks?

Pretty close, it is a cam design. Of course, we'll have to tweak it for individual vehicles. On the S10/Sonoma, the fender is metal and pre-drilled for the flares on the 4x4 models, so plastic trim pins suffice for now.

We've decided to basically ignore the underwriters at this point and push forward with our original plan. If we let legal hold us back, we'll never get off the ground. It's a risk, but what isn't nowadays?

So the plan is to get back to work on the production mould for the S-10/Sonoma next week. My partner has actually had several interested parties just from roaming around town with the prototype skirts installed. Unfortunately, they were lowrider kids and not eco-nuts. But the styling looks good on the truck.

[freebeard]

I'd been wondering how it's going, but hadn't found the thread again.

The Bug-Run is the First of June. I guess you won't have a Beetle part by then.

We grabbed it at auction - it's one of those fancy industrial models.

I got a paper shredder through our local recycler; West German manufacture that cost $3K new. 16" throat and 16 sheets at a time. It wasn't selling and I got it for $25. Now they have another one and the price is somewhere in the hundreds.

[SCNTN]

Doubtful... although my sister-in-law has a "new" beetle 'vert. She could be the guinea pig.

[freebeard]

That would be a better choice. I believe they're still in production.

[Xist]

I plan on purchasing a Civic soon and I would be happy to throw my money at you.

[mikeyjd]

Think Ford Festiva O.o

[Xist]

Originally Posted by mikeyjd

Think Ford Festiva O.o

I try to not think about the Festiva, just because I confuse it with the Fiesta. I tried to disambiguate yesterday, only to learn that Ford sold both at the same time.

The main difference is that Kia built the Festiva?

[christofoo]

Any news?

I'd happily pay $80 for ABS skirts on a 97 Civic...