I am deleting the bumpers on my 77 Midget and needed the tail light extensions to make it look somewhat passable. I'm pleased with the result so I thought I'd share the process.
I first made a cardboard template of the flat base on the car. I added some measurements in mm to transfer in to autocad fusion.
I also took some measurements under the tail light to approximate the curve.
After transfering in to fusion360 I printed out to scale and cut it out to verify back on the car.
With the measurements verified I used fusion360's loft function to create a 3D model.
When I put it in place it looked pretty good and I thought that I would use fiberglass to put it in place and printed a second one. As I was playing around with it I realised I could use the 3D model to make a flat model by rolling it on paper and tracing it as it rolls.
When I cut it out it perfectly wrapped the 3D model so I did the same thing with 18 gauge steel and used a slip roll to bend it. I'm sure one could manage to bend it over a steel pipe as well.
I still have to make the second one and weld them in place
I have included a scan of the unrolled surface as an PDF file with this article. It may come in handy for someone else to use.
Good luck,
Reinder
I first made a cardboard template of the flat base on the car. I added some measurements in mm to transfer in to autocad fusion.
I also took some measurements under the tail light to approximate the curve.
After transfering in to fusion360 I printed out to scale and cut it out to verify back on the car.
With the measurements verified I used fusion360's loft function to create a 3D model.
When I put it in place it looked pretty good and I thought that I would use fiberglass to put it in place and printed a second one. As I was playing around with it I realised I could use the 3D model to make a flat model by rolling it on paper and tracing it as it rolls.
When I cut it out it perfectly wrapped the 3D model so I did the same thing with 18 gauge steel and used a slip roll to bend it. I'm sure one could manage to bend it over a steel pipe as well.
I still have to make the second one and weld them in place
I have included a scan of the unrolled surface as an PDF file with this article. It may come in handy for someone else to use.
Good luck,
Reinder