Just as in England, Australians drive on the left side of the road. This has become in issue when importing American cars into the country as it is a difficult process to convert a car from left to right. Because of this, a new market opportunity has been developed thanks to Creaform’s industry-leading portable 3D scanners.
Stangfever International, a company specializing in “assist[ing] Australians in importing, clearing and transforming their American dream car,” recently utilized an Australian company, Simply 3D – who specializes in providing end–to–end 3D scanning and 3D printing solutions – to address this complex task. According to Creaform, “there are a lot of parts involved: for this specific project, Simply 3D’s Brad Jack worked on 15 different parts, including the dashboard, AC system, glovebox and center console. While some can be “mirrored” then fitted in a relatively straightforward manner, others need further adaptation.”
Using Creaform’s 3D scanners, Jack was able to “create an entire new market” for the tuning industry by providing him with the ability to convert a U.S. standardized Dodge Challenger Hellcat into an Australian-ready vehicle. Using these technologies allowed Jack to:
- Reduce lead-time for production
- Lower production costs
- Improve overall part quality
3D Scan Data from the Challenger Hellcat
Simply 3D took 3D scans of the aforementioned parts, reverse engineered them using 3D software and 3D printed them in order to successfully convert the car to an Aussie-style ride. The ease-of-use and speed of Creaform’s portable 3D scanners allowed him to acquire very detailed scans of the components. This project was not possible without the scanner, mainly because I couldn’t have processed the plethora of parts that I received in either a timely or cost-effective manner,” according to Jack. Creaform’s 3D scanners provided 3 major benefits during the process:
- TRUsimplicity: allowed for users to easily access the 3D scanner and perform necessary actions
- TRUaccuracy: allowed for the preservation of the original parts’ integrity
- TRUportability: allowed the 3D scanning process to take place right inside the body shop – from all angles necessary
Final, converted product following 3D scanning, reverse engineering and 3D printing
According to Jack, the greatest benefit of using an end-to-end 3D scanning and printing solutions provider was “be[ing] able to maintain all of the feature curves on the parts. That is exceptionally difficult and time consuming to do with fiberglass (the traditional method used).”