Door Mirror Pivot Pins?

[superbad]

Anyone have a source for these (A100U6056S)? I presume they were used in a million Vectras or something similar. They are now NLA from elise-shop, B&C, SJS, and Dave Bean. I need two ideally, and I'd rather not buy a complete mirror assembly to get a 50p piece of plastic.

[chipp]

specky was able to source some previously but i don't know if there were any left

chipp

[Specky]

He's quite correct you know...

I couldn't find them anywhere in Europe, but I did manage to track down the last known source in the USA and bought them all (Group buy for the LEC)

Can I tell you what other cars use the same stalks and motor system.......in a word nope.

I've done some extensive research and the closest motor I could find was a couple by Mercedes, but I didn't see the stalks

the electrical plugs on the motor could be Ford

In all honesty, a new stalk from Lotus is about a fiver (If they weren't obsolete), so try and get a secondhand mirror assembly for about £25

When you do the maths, 2 stalks, a motor, a mirror, a mirror housing

I will take up the challenge again of trying to find some more when I have some more free time.

TTFN

[superbad]

I couldn't find them anywhere in Europe, but I did manage to track down the last known source in the USA and bought them all (Group buy for the LEC)

Those were supposed to be for us! Actually, this would be a perfect part to recreate on an FDM rapid prototyping machine, and it would be relatively cheap too. When I get some time I'll model one of mine up and see what I can do about making them.

[GeoffSmith]

I couldn't find them anywhere in Europe, but I did manage to track down the last known source in the USA and bought them all (Group buy for the LEC)

Those were supposed to be for us! Actually, this would be a perfect part to recreate on an FDM rapid prototyping machine, and it would be relatively cheap too. When I get some time I'll model one of mine up and see what I can do about making them.

There's not a lot to them and they're all going to snap sometime, so it would be good to have a plan.

[Specky]

Those were supposed to be for us!

You've had 21 years of opportunity...

Sounds a good project, don't forget the copper pieces, I have no idea what there purpose in life is thou.

I think you'll have no worries in shifting them, especially if they were to be offered to SJ's, SWLC, PM's, DB and Dico (I mean a group buy)

Let us know how you get on, I'll post a bit more information on the mirrors when I have chance.

TTFN

[superbad]

I modeled the pin today and uploaded it to Shapeways. $2 in nylon, $.83 in ABS, and $3.30 in stainless. I'm going to get a couple of each and report back. They have a $25 minimum order.

I left the copper piece out, so the file may need some tweaking to compensate for that. No idea why they chose copper, but it appears to just act as a spring.

[superbad]

Finally got the stainless pins in today (they have been tied up in customs for a couple months). I ended up making them in four different materials, and I have been driving around with the objet pin for several weeks. It works and I can adjust my mirror!







The FDM material was obviously unsuitable, but the others all work, with some reservations. The part I had made was pretty much an exact copy of the original, however, I don't have the copper spring that is supposed to go in there and provide resistance on the threaded tabs. On the plastic part, I was able to stuff it full of paper, which provided enough resistance that the pin worked as intended. This is not a good long term solution. An easy fix would be to increase the wall thickness on the tabs so that the plastic provides all the stiffness. I think the spring is unnecessary.

I've got the stainless pin on my car now. The tabs had to be bent out a little bit with a tiny screwdriver so that they engaged the threaded adjuster. Be careful doing this, as this material is fairly brittle and I broke one.

This is probably an archive post that most people won't have much need for until a few years from now. I do have a few spares if anyone wants some though. And I'm attaching the Solidworks model and the STL model for future use.

The Shapeways stainless material is pretty cool, and has a lot of potential uses on the car, although at $10/cm^3, it would probably only be cost effective for small parts. It polishes up very nicely too.

[tigerdog]

Very cool! You send them the model, they send you the part? I'm impressed. If the pins hold up, you have just become a hero!

[tomac1975]

Hi Superbad,

Are you able to send those as an 'stl' file?

Cheers,

Tom.

[superbad]

Hi Tom-

The STL file should be in that zip file I attached.

[tomac1975]

Hey Superbad,

I only get the solidworks file which I cant open, but ill try and get a copy so i can get it to work.

Hope you have a great Xmas.

Tom

[superbad]

That's odd. Try this one.

[dans]

Hi Superbad,

I'm getting desperate for some of these pins at the moment so may look at getting some made in the UK, if that was ok with you?

Might as well look at getting a batch of them done, anyone else interested?

Dan

[superbad]

Fine with me, that's why I posted the file. Before you make a batch, I would definitely order a single and check that it works with a different process or material. The stainless Shapeways one is still working well on my car.

[rip]

Might as well look at getting a batch of them done, anyone else interested?

Yep.
Sounds like another group buy coming on...

[John_W]

Dans,
If you're willing to sort them out, I'm in need of a couple for my spare mirror.
John

[saska]

I'm in for 2 mirrors if you want to do this

[dans]

Sorry, already done and ordered!!!

I got 8, used 4, broke one, so have 3 left if anyone needs the odd one.

Otherwise the Shapeways ordering process works really well at $2.38 a piece in steel it's not a bad price! ($25 min. spend).

They've worked really well. Got my mirrors back Hooray!Thanks Superbad.

Cheers,
Dan

[theelanman]

Sorry, already done and ordered!!!

I got 8, used 4, broke one, so have 3 left if anyone needs the odd one.

Otherwise the Shapeways ordering process works really well at $2.38 a piece in steel it's not a bad price! ($25 min. spend).

They've worked really well. Got my mirrors back Hooray!Thanks Superbad.

Cheers,
Dan

blimey.....broke one made of steel......
doesnt bode well for trying to fit the plastic ones...