OEM Reproduction Cupholder 3D Printed Aluminum (92-95 Honda Civic)

This is a pre-order for a reproduction 92-95 Honda Civic cupholder.

These cupholders break in so many different ways, so we thought it was appropriate to reproduce all the possible plastic components. We will also include as many pins, springs and screws as appropriate or that we're able to track down.

Our plans

We will use state-of-the-art 3D printed aluminum to reproduce the cupholder and the pivot joint. There are several reasons why this technology is appropriate for this application. First of all, the original cupholder is injection molded from ABS, which gives it heat resistance until about 200 degrees celcius, which is way above what any car interior would see. We looked into re-3D printing it out of ABS plastic, but we want to opt for a cleaner look. Simply put, we don't want the FDM 3D printed layers showing. Next, we explored resin 3D printing, and the model looks amazing in prototype stage. It does not have prevalent lines seen with FDM 3D printing, it looks very smooth, we can select a black material color, it is highly accurate, and we can make the complex shapes needed. BUT it shows very poor heat resistance. The resin material softens greatly at about 110 degrees farenheit, which is more or less what a car interior will see on a very typical basis. So despite having everything else going for it, 3D printed resin will not do. So the next material we are left with is metal. We explored CNC, but it would set retail costs in the HUNDREDS, and we're not sure we want to sell a $300 CNC aluminum cupholder, although it might be really cool. Let us know. 3D printed aluminum is a new thing that is slowly become VERY cost effective. Although it's not as accurate as 3D printed resin, it's pretty close to within 0.3 mm tolerances, its obviously very durable. So this is the stage we're at.

ETA 

Late May to early June.

Cost

Assuming prototyping goes well, we will be able to move into the production stage. We will contract this job out, as there's no way we can afford to buy our own aluminum 3D printer. This is state-of-the-art stuff. Production should take 2-3 weeks. Assuming everything goes well, we will be able to put these for retail sale at around $74 for a 3D printed aluminum cupholder!

Pre-Order

Pre-ordering this piece now will lock you into the pre-order price. Because we know in advance the quantities that are sold already, we can order in larger quantities from our contractor and receive an overall lower price. Therefore, we want to thank all the pre-orders by offering a much lower price than retail, as they are essentially discounting our project by raising order quantities and providing captial prior to manufacturing. 

If you pre-order, you will be locked into pre-order price, and you will receive delivery of the part at the pre-order price, regardless if retail price changes (goes up). 

Please review our pictures. We are determined to see this project through to a high degree of execution.