Those who turn their passion into a job know that they have to invest extra miles to raise their customers’ interest and make their passion profitable. That’s what we learned from Lightning Cosplay, Lil People Fctry and today Jari-Matti Latvala.
Cars are the passion of Latvala, a Finnish rally driver. To master everything about them and help others navigate within this ecosystem, Latvala has founded his company, JML-Sports, which manufactures the “cult” cars of 80’ and 90’ as well as historic rally cars.
For such cars, spare parts are often obsolete and no longer available on the market. Latvala and his team therefore need to redesign and produce the parts themselves. To achieve this, what else than 3D printing to make such production a reality? As a reminder, the technology enables to manufacture on-demand and to save lead times from weeks to a couple of days for a single manufacture. Sometimes, the team can even outperform an existing part with a 3D printed version.
There are so many 3D printing technologies available on the market but JML-Sports has decided to rely on miniFactory Ultra 3D printer. Developed by Finnish 3D printer manufacturer miniFactory, the Ultra 3D printer can process a wide range of high performance polymers including ULTEM™, PEEK, PEKK or PPSU. In an Opinion of the Week, Olli Pihlajamäki, Sales Manager, told 3D ADEPT Media the reason why they focus on ultra polymers: “these polymers integrate high-performance properties, which means higher heat deflection, mechanical strength and chemical resistance properties compared to engineering polymers.”
Rebuilding the missing parts of the Toyota Celica ST165
As they were working on the Toyota Celica ST165, the JML-Sports team realized that a few parts including a turbo intake pipe and an air intake duct with complex geometry were missing in the car. The company explained that for the turbo intake pipe, big masses of air flow through the pipe, hence the need for high mechanical strength and good heat resistance.
Using 3D printing, not only did they have their desired spare part, but they were able to optimize the airflow to gain best possible performance. This part was less expensive than the original one and it only took a few hours to the team to redesign and produce; not to mention that the part has been pressure and stress tested to ensure the functionality in demanding rally environments.
“With miniFactory Ultra 3D printer, we are able to create end use parts with integrated features. Those parts used to be difficult to get or even manufacture. Excellent example of such part is the new turbo intake pipe that we 3D printed. The complex geometry combined with optimized airflow keeps me amazed”, states Jari-Matti Latvala, JML-Sports.
The Toyota Celica is only one example that was shared today. In a few months with the 3D printer, JML Sports has now multiple stories to share about the 3D printer.
JML-Sports’ story is very similar to the one of GRYP, a French start-up that manufactures spare parts for vintage cars. Such companies share the perfect integration of 3D printing in their business model.
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