Reviving and old thread, but with a common theme.

I spent some time playing with a 3D design for a replacement door clip. Not elegant, but maybe a little more robust than the originals.

I did try the fit of the christmas trees and it holds them well. There is a little collapsing of the free span around the tree when it's printed but not so bad as to be a problem.

Yellow is new OEM and black is my design printed in ABS.



The originals have a little curvature to the base, which can't printed easily but they bend and could be formed with a hair dryer or heat gun easily enough.

I have NOT tried these in the car yet, I was just hedging for the future and thought I would share. If someone does try printing a set and using them, would appreciate if they report back (good or bad).




I have attached both the CAD (AutoCAD 123D) and also the .STL printer files.
doorclip.zip

 

I will pass that to my mechanical engineering friends and ask if they can cnc it out of aluminium.

 

It should be manufacturable out of aluminum, although it will take a multi axis machine or multiple setups to do it the way I have drawn the part. It would also waste a lot of material to cut this from a single block.

If you are going to machine one, it might be better to do it in 2 pieces, Plate for the bottom, which could then be formed into the curvature I mentioned. And a stand off, which will need a matching radius cut on one end. Then weld or screw the 2 pieces together.

 

I had already planned to do it this way (welding bits together) and had dropped into discuss it in our (Edinburgh Uni Physics and Astronomy school) mechanical workshop a couple of weeks ago but I haven't had time to follow it up. I left a sample with them but will also show them the CAD model and see what they suggest.


They have a pretty new 3d printer in there too, but I would be worried about its strength, do you think it will be stronger than the original?

 

They original is made of ABS plastic, so using the same material, I expect the design would stronger because of the increased thickness of the top plate and having more material supporting it. 3 sides vs two in the original, and thicker walls.

The failure mode of the original is usually to split at the top of the circular opening, so I've increased the amount of material in this area in particular.

I would not advise printing it out of PLA, that material tends to be more brittle than ABS.

 

Here is what I finally got round to printing out, I will try them out next time I take the door card off and break a clip.

 

This is a fascinating thread. I had two broken clips on the Driver's door panel, towards the rear, and have been frustrated with the lose panel for over a year. Just last week, when I took my XKR in for a paint correction and interior detail, they fixed the panel by fabricating a couple of these clips. They used sheet metal, specifically from a license plate, into an inverted "U" with tabs on each side, then drilled out the hole and cut the "V" with some tin snips. I wish now I had taken pictures, as it has so far held.

 

Clearifcation, there are no yellow xk8 door clips to be found?

 

I have quite a few of the door panel clips that secure to the door if you are interested.

 

I need to replace 4 broken ones. Let me know how much and I will take them if you have any left.

 

Ditto here, as the one they fabricated failed recently. In search of clips. . .

 

Part numbers for your Googling pleasure. I think dealers still carry them too.

 

Does anyone know if it is still posible to get the triangular clips in the UK ? (or anywhere else really).I have one broken and now the door trim looks very untidy.

Thanks

 

Me too. I had not given this priority, but I would like to get it done sooner or later.

 

Maybe someone with a 3D printer is interested in making some extra cash???

 

Would like to know anyone who can/will supply these. In the heat of the Arabian Gulf plastic embrittlement is chronic. My fixes/Heath Robinson/hack(s) are very unbecoming to what I want from such a lovely car ... even if you can’t see it.

 

I did end up using these 3D printed ones on my own car and they have been in service for a couple of years now and would be willing to print some for time and material if there is interest. Just loaded up the model and it looks like it will take 2.5hrs to print a pair (driver and passenger side) at the highest density setting on my LulzBot printer.

Was about to say that my 3D printer won't be the cheapest source, but I just looked up the part and they want $25 bucks for each one! Crazy.

How about $15 for a L/R pair + buyer pays shipping to wherever in the world they want them sent.

PM me if interested. And please don't be a cheapskate and ask if you can get 1 part for $7.50, it basically takes the same amount of time to print 1 or 2 so I'd rather just do them in pairs.

 

Hello!
Searched a long time now. Could not belive when I read this thread (Door Panel Clips) - awesome!
I have a jaguar xk8 1997. If your clips fits my car, I'm interested of a pair (driver and passenger side). But like daro31 in this thread my smaller clip is also broken. I guess you don't have this or? I ask anyway.
Please, let me know if the pair of triangular clips fit my car.

Kind regards
/JagJake

 

If the part numbers in #32 above is appropriate for your car then it should fit. As I mentioned you will need to heat it up a little to get the right curvature but it is not difficult.

Unfortunately, I do not have any of the other clips modeled, only the one in the upper corner that breaks most frequently.

I would say to PM me, but seems like you might not have made enough posts to activate that function yet.

 

I wish I'd seen your offer before I ordered a new OE one from Ebay. According to the tracking, it should arrive tomorrow.