I'm about to fit my headlamps to my car and need to renew the seal and 2 half rings on each outer bowls. These seals and rings affix to the inner front panel helping to seal the back of the bowl. On most cars these are usually either missing or terminally rusty, neither are available new. Reproducing the rubber/felt seal is not difficult but a solution to the rings might be trickier.
Here's an example of the felt seal and two half rings in position on MikeyB's car.
Here's what my only decent half ring looks like. Sadly instead of plastic rivets someone screwed them into spire nuts where it all rusted together. I was lucky to salvage this one.
Clearly with no suitable NOS replacements and even good used available it might be tricky. I'm therefore going to look at having some made up.
Originally the parts would have been pressed. Setting up a new press tool can be fiendeshly expensive and certainly more than I might want to spend. I've started to explore and have already made some progress and looked at two options
Option 1) 3D printing - This would involve reverse engineering the part using CAD software and then printing them out in resin. This is good for small runs. Being plastic too they won't rust! Potential supplier has got very keen and already mocked me up a CAD drawing from a rough picture I sent him.
Option 2) Laser cutting - given there's no realy need for the part to be very strong laser cutting could produce an acceptable part quite easily though it would not have the raised edges which would have been formed originally. The cost of laser cutting is quite low but it may then be necessary to look at passivation using either a zinc passivate or my favourite Trivalent passivation which offers up to 1000 hours hot salt spray protection!
I should know more on costs very soon. I've had a few expressions of interest already. Once the price is confirmed I'll discuss with Club spares and look to order a small run and make sure the club gets something out of it.
The parts catalogue (520502/B) shows these headlamp fittings in the wrong sequence...
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