Rear wheel well plugs

Rodger

Rodger

True Classic
I should probably have my head examined for offering this, but Dr. Jeff seemed to indicate that there may be some interest in the oval replacement plugs that I made to replace my missing ones that go in the rear wheel wells. I mentioned them in my recent thread. https://xwebforums.com/forum/index.php?threads/brake-and-suspension-overhaul.33474/
Small wheel well plugs 01.JPG Small wheel well plugs 02.JPG Small wheel well plugs 03.JPG

I checked into the cost of the material that I used to make them. It is a Bis-acryl composite resin used to make dental temporary crowns, but it comes in an automixing gun that I inject into a mold that I made of the one plug that I still had. It looks like I could probably sell them for $8-10 a piece, maybe as low as $5 but I am not sure how many I can make from one cartridge. They come out an off white color (like teeth), so they need to be painted black, but that is easy. Postage would only be a few dollars as they could be mailed in a small bubble envelope.

If there is interest, I will make as many as I can get out of one cartridge and then determine the final price plus postage.
 
Hi Roger, thanks for considering this.
It might help in determining the availability and/or need for these if you specify which size of the oval plugs these are. There is at least two sizes used on the X, one of which seems to be almost non-existent. The size is determined by the maximum length and with of the hole it fills. Please let us know the size of yours and if you happen to know what locations on the body they are used (again, that depends on which size plug). Also, I have no idea if there is any difference between years of X (early, late models) as to what plugs were used. Does anyone have more info about that?
Thanks again Roger, Jeff
 
The plug that I duplicated is unique (as far as I can tell) to the oval opening in the rear wheel wells. See the photo above in my opening post. The ones in the front wheel wells are larger and are rubber whereas the rear plugs are made of a very slightly flexible plastic and are smaller. The front ones are the same as the two that are located under the car in the floor pan just behind the opening for the steering rack. I think they are also the same size as the two that are in the frunk floor as well. I can measure them tonight when I get home.
 
Count me in. I know I am missing a few between the two cars. I will have to go out and look.

Thank you for the offer.

That whole teeth color thing is a bit off putting :D
 
Actually there are three sizes of oval plugs used on the X: 30 X 50, 32 X 60, and 40 X 60. The largest (40 X 60) seems to be plentiful. But I can't recall which of the other two is the obscure size. And they all can get hard with age, depending on environmental conditions, so its difficult to say which are rubber vs plastic (honestly I thought they were all rubber, just some had hardened due to heat, etc. but I could be wrong). I'll try to find the info I had on which size is least available. Please let us know what dimensions you find. Thanks
 
Rodger is correct; the rear wheel well plugs are indeed the "odd" sized/shaped ones not used anywhere else on the car. They're also (originally) a soft plastic rather than rubber like all the other plugs on the car. I've salvaged many of these rear plugs from junkyard cars over the years for friends with X1/9's & for various Xweb members in need.

Great job by Rodger in re-creating these, btw! ;)
 
I was able to confirm from my previous search, indeed these "30 X 50" plugs that you have made are the scarce ones to get. And in fact both of mine were already missing from the rear wheel wells, therefore I did not realize they are of a different material. This might be why they are in short supply; the harder material tends to shrink and fall out more than the rubber ones? So you might find a growing demand as the word spreads (sure you want to do this?) o_O
 
I was able to get 6 made out of one cartridge of material. To cover the cost of the material and make a few cents for my time, I will offer the plugs at $10 each. I have no interest in getting into the X parts business, but, I am offering to make these as a token of my appreciation for all of the wisdom, knowledge, advice, and support that I have gotten over years from so many great people on this forum.

The material is a tooth colored off-white so they will need to be painted black, but I will leave it up to the buyer to use their paint of choice. They are made of a stiff resin that is a bit brittle. I cracked a small piece off of the rim of one of my original ones when I pushed it into the hole too hard without the edges of the hole being straight. so be careful not to push too hard on it when placing it. I superglued the piece back on and repainted it with no problem, then made sure that the edges of the hole where it fits were as straight and flat as I could get it. I found that mine did pop into place, but not real tight, so I elected to use some silicone adhesive caulk to make sure they do not fall out while driving.

If you would like a pair, I figure $5 for postage, so $25 for two including shipping. I will have to figure out the postage for six to Canada and will PM Smaugz with that number. You can Paypal the funds to me, rlawtondmd@comcast.net, and I will send them out as I have them made. Thanks.
 
Roger, I'm just thinking out loud here...hope this helps and not hinders:

I wonder if a different "filler" material could be used with the molds you already have? I'm thinking of a couple previous posts where other members have molded parts using an actual rubber material that was readily available. It would be more flexible, allowing the plug to be installed more easily, and it might seal better without the need for additional silicone. Plus as I mentioned earlier, I suspect the firmer "plastic" material used for the original pieces (as opposed to rubber) might be the reason why so many of these plugs are missing on our cars; the harder material might have a tendency to be less forgiving and not remain in place as well...i.e. falls out over time? I think a softer material would stay better (only guessing, I'm not that familiar with your dental material...we have very different specialties).

And I assume the rubber filler material is less expensive than a "ADA approved" medical grade filler. So perhaps they could be done at a reduced cost. Although I'm sure you are much more accustomed to using the dental product so that might be a big factor for you.

Again, its just a thought to consider. If you are interested I will see if I can find references to the rubber filler used by others previously.

Thanks again for your willingness to support our community with this project.
 
Dr.Jeff said:
Roger, I'm just thinking out loud here...hope this helps and not hinders:

I wonder if a different "filler" material could be used with the molds you already have? I'm thinking of a couple previous posts where other members have molded parts using an actual rubber material that was readily available. It would be more flexible, allowing the plug to be installed more easily, and it might seal better without the need for additional silicone. Plus as I mentioned earlier, I suspect the firmer "plastic" material used for the original pieces (as opposed to rubber) might be the reason why so many of these plugs are missing on our cars; the harder material might have a tendency to be less forgiving and not remain in place as well...i.e. falls out over time? I think a softer material would stay better (only guessing, I'm not that familiar with your dental material...we have very different specialties).

And I assume the rubber filler material is less expensive than a "ADA approved" medical grade filler. So perhaps they could be done at a reduced cost. Although I'm sure you are much more accustomed to using the dental product so that might be a big factor for you.

Again, its just a thought to consider. If you are interested I will see if I can find references to the rubber filler used by others previously.

Thanks again for your willingness to support our community with this project.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your thoughts. I'm sure that it is possible to injection mold these plugs with a different, perhaps flexible material. The mold that I made is from a silicone material that is flexible on the inside to allow me to remove the rigid plug, but the outside is a stiffer consistency to hold the shape. The material that I make the plugs from comes in a two-part automixing cartridge that fits in a dispensing gun, similar to the automixing tips for epoxy resins. It is very easy to inject the material into a small hole in the mold to form the part as it flows readily and into very thin areas. It chemically sets in just a few minutes. I have no idea what it out there in the way of flexible materials that are as easy to use, but maybe somewhere. You can send me any links you find on materials. I would think that you would need a rigid mold to inject flexible plastics or rubber, but I really don't know much about it.

The thing is, I have two X1/9s, one of which is a major restomod project that I haven't touched in months. It's not that I don't want to be helpful, but I would prefer to spend my limited spare time working on the cars as opposed to figuring out how to make parts. One thing that did occur to me, is that these may be better off made with a 3D printer. I know there are some forum members who had been making knobs for the heater controls, so maybe they would be able to print the plugs out of a flexible resin. I have a friend who owns a dental laboratory down the street and he has a digital scanner and a 3D printer. I will see what materials he is aware of.

I also found online that you can print 3D molds to use with a hobby table top injection molding machine. Not something I plan to get into, but it's out there.
 
Two of the members that have utilized rubber to mold custom made products are Recardo B. and more recently Jovani. Take a look at their threads for the particulars. There have been others but these two come to mind off hand. Otherwise I fully understand your position.
 
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