Matrix Garage

05/01/2024

I was just sharing this info with a customer so I figured I would share it here too.
I got my shims for the SC12/14 pulley from McMaster Carr.
I prefer staying metric as much as possible but I remember the ones I had were inch. Maybe they didn't used to have M8 shims but it seems they do now. A 5/16 ID shim should work as well.

So anyway if anyone is servicing their SC clutch and needs shims there are a ton of options here.

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

04/20/2024

Might be 6 months behind schedule but finally getting motor mount sleeves knocked out. Will have motor mount kits available again soon.
Then I need to get the website back up or something I guess lol.

01/05/2024

Okay so I have kind of let the new website fall completely off the priority list for now and as I think about it I probably haven't checked emails since before Christmas lol but I am still here.

If anyone needs anything you can email me.
With that said I also don't have motor mount kits right now. I need to machine new sleeves and my buddies CNC lathe is down so I am helping try to get that fixed.

I can still drop ship coilovers.
Still have motor mount reinforcement plates.
Probably a couple other things that are slipping my mind right now.

I will say this has become a paradox of inconvienence. MG never made enough to really stay afloat, grow, or pay me a decent wage. I started cutting back to have more time but the more I cut back the worse the ratio of dollars in to effort out gets. So that has made it hard to stay inspired. I want to keep offering coilovers, motor mounts, and a couple other things that aren't available elsewhere.
I also have my poly 3D printing setup dialed in well enough now I could grow that side of things if I wanted but that would take time as well.

Hopefully once I get this run of motor mount sleeves done and a website back up everything will seem more manageable again.

11/30/2023

Well getting the new website back online has been hard to keep on the priority list. Also I am completely uninspired by it at the moment lol.

I will get around to getting the store back up before too long though.

On that note I ran out of the machined aluminum motor mount insert sleeves in our motor mount kits. The couple quotes I got back from machine shops would have required me doubling the price of the kits. My friend has a CNC lathe so I will be making more as soon as I can make it happen. Hopefully before the beginning of the year.

If anyone needs anything else urgently feel free to email me. Otherwise I'll update here once I get the web store set back up.

10/25/2023

Our website is down and might be for a day or two depending on how things go.
Something screwy happened with our website over the last week and needed to be fixed. The site is so outdated I decided it was reason to do a full fresh install.
So no need to worry. We are still here and hopefully this will mean a little more updated and better website. I admit I won't be putting a ton of time into it at least it will be new and updated.
I will be processing the couple remaining orders from the old store, and will email verification to customers.

For new orders hold tight for a few days and we should have the new store and system up and running.

03/16/2023

I have been thinking for a while about doing more 3D printed poly automotive parts. Maybe at some point doing motor mounts for another vehicle with a tutorial on design and printing of them.

With that said I keep thinking about the AW11 steering rack and the fact that the Prothane kit has a bad tendency to slip back and forth. This could likely be fixed with using something like The Right Stuff adhesive we recommend for bonding in our motor mounts. On the other hand presumably the slipping is coming from the prothane insert fitting too loosely in the channel on the AW11 steering rack and or the bracket that mounts it to the body. If that is the case we could likely come up with a 3D printable design that fit tightly and prevented any movement.

Would there be enough interest in this idea to make it worth my pursuing?
Since I am moving away from the trying to make money from selling stuff model and more towards helping come up with DIY solutions this could either be a collaborative effort with community members working on the design elements and I could if needed do test prints on my machine that is well dialed in for making motor mounts or additional support like that.
Or maybe doing something like a small crowd funding campaign for the effort, I design and start producing parts for testing while making designs and printing instructions available to the community.

02/08/2023

Are you running our new 3D printed AW11 motor mounts?
Have you inspected them?
How do they seem to be holding up?
Do you have any thoughts or comments on them?

Hey all, while I have been mostly moving away from car stuff I am set up to do the 3D printed motor mounts we have been making and I have been pondering the idea of seeing if there are other makes and models that desperately need a replacement motor mount option and the possibility of offering them for other models.

I also can't really find anyone else making motor mounts this way and I was also thinking of doing a tutorial on how to reverse engineer, design, and make your own motor mounts for any make and model with a mount design at all similar to those we have worked with.

I guess before we do that though it would be good to check and see if anyone has had any issues, complaints, or other input on our current design. I haven't heard one complaint, failure, or return but I also understand that sometimes someone might not reach out to me if they had. I also expect that most people probably never inspect their motor mounts unless they start having an obvious issue.

I would love any feedback anyone might have, especially on the latest one piece designs.
I have found the current design can be a bit harder to install. I have a 1mm lip on both sides that needs to press through the metal mount. For this design I think a smaller lip might be acceptable and make installation easier. But a smaller lip increases the likelihood of the mount slipping out.
Has anyone experienced the new one piece mounts slipping or moving once installed?

Our newest one piece design is a shell with a low infill with big air pockets inside. This should work great for reducing NVH (noise, vibration, harmonics) but too little material could result in sagging or deformation over time.

Another question is if there are any environments or situations where the TPU we use can't hold up to the heat. If you live in a very hot climate, have a turbo or otherwise hot engine bay, etc, I would love to hear how they have held up. I have found higher temp materials but the best I have found is much more expensive and eliminates color options.

I would also love to hear if anyone has any comparison notes on NVH. Especially with our newest 3D printed one piece design. How do they compare to OEM, or other poly mounts you have experienced?
Are there people who still feel like they are too loud or harsh? I have played with some more OEM style designs but haven't seen enough interest to pursue them. Especially as it would take a good bit more design time, the printing time and material is almost double, and it would take time to see how those designs held up over time, if revisions or improvements were necessary, etc.

So anyway if anyone has any feedback on their motor mounts, especially the newest 3D printed one piece design I would love to hear it. If you haven't looked at them since installing them and feel like taking a look to see how they are holding up I would love to hear back.

Thanks

02/07/2023

Another little Toyota Pickup 3D scan and CAD model.
1984-1989 Toyota Pickup automatic shift lever end cap

This is a 3D scan and CAD model of the little end cap that goes on the end of the auto trans column shift lever.
One day mine went flying off and must have fallen into the portal to another dimension never to be seen again.
A little detail but it kept driving me crazy so I ordered a shift lever and scanned the part so I could 3D print a replacement.

01/25/2023

This is a project I am working on for my truck and I figured I would share the files.
It includes scans of the OEM dash metal and center console. These could be used if someone wants to do their own custom designs based off their geometry.

I decided to use a modern radio with GPS and decided to mount it on the dash for easier visibility. I still haven't gotten around to designing a shroud for it. I also haven't figured out what I want to do with the metal dash I stripped but for now made the stereo mount around the metal dash. The stereo mount might need to be modified for a covered dash and probably will not fit a full depth stereo with a covered dash without making big changes.

The center console is far more hashed out and likely more interesting to more people.
I designed it around the switch panel in the pics. If someone wanted to convert it to mount a stereo or anything else that would be pretty easy.
Below the switch panel is a pocket with an integrated phone charger. It also has a pocket for the OEM overdrive light below that.

I also added a second console below that where I will mount my 110v inverter. This could also be modified easily to fit a stereo or anything else.

This is a project I am working on for my truck and I figured I would share the files. It includes scans of the OEM dash metal and center co...

01/25/2023

When I bought my 87 Toyota Pickup the hot/cold heater level was broken. When I took it apart the frame that the levers mount to was cracked and started to break more when I was taking it apart. After I saw how expensive and hard to find they are I decided to 3D scan the original part and model a 3D printable version.

This model is a bit of a mess and there are still improvements and tweaks that could be made but I just haven’t gotten around to coming back to it. I would rather it be out there for people to use even if messy and imperfect rather than it just sitting unfinished on my hard drive.

I am not in any Toyota Pickup forums or groups so feel free to share the link to those communities.

11/17/2022

Finally getting around to uploading some more Matrix Garage designs to GrabCad.
Will try to get more up soon.
Let me know if anyone has any requests.

3D CAD models designed by GrabCAD Community member Matrix Garage