the saturn sky is a 2 seater roadster, now a discontinued relic of the saturn brand. its a fun little car, but parts are difficult to find.
the soft top has 2 buttresses that fold up to allow the reverse folding trunk to open, and as there are 2 retention pins that pass through the trunk, there are these chrome plates that protect the paint.
as you can see there is also in my case, some VERY sad & tired clearbra, which I removed, and in the process needed to remove the plates. I had planned to remove these and powdercoat them black, but figured while i removed it, i could go about creating a reproduction to sell on Etsy if other people were interested. (someone who purchased something mentioned wanting some as theirs were very pitted, due to weather)
I started off with some 3D printed mockups (and a magnetic cover that could be used when the top is down)
originally I used square stock since thats what I had on hand.
side 2 with a lovely little hat.
using the amazon touch probe to set the origin in the center of this hole
my first prototype with a razor sharp edge.
my second prototype with a sketchy 3d printed fixture
the second half of said sketchy fixture
a better view of where this part lives on the car.
my 2nd prototype in place
(video of how the buttress works)
a test soft jaw out of HDPE just to see if the fitment would work with a finished part
soft jaw side 1 attempt out of aluminum
both soft jaws prior to finalizing the fitment on a finished part. (also peep the mini air nozzle for clearing off parts. Im working on 3d printing a bracket to hold the air-blast nozzle)
and the car these parts go on. hopefully i should be able to fire up and get the other part made later on this week.
