The automotive industry is rapidly changing as it always had. Major companies fighting for the global market have moved automotive technologies to unimaginable heights. We can see modern cars boasting efficient electric engines, auto-pilots, and a lot of different perks.
New efficient techniques are rising up. 3D-printing is being widely accepted by a lot of car manufacturers. Composite carbon fiber parts molding is experiencing unprecedented growth. Especially for the sport models.
However, it is not widely known that a lot of progress in the automotive industry is due to car enthusiasts. They perpetually envision how to make custom CNC auto parts for better performance, aesthetics, or new features. They bring their idea out there and if it is good, it gets noticed and they get hired by the automotive companies. You can be like that too. Here is our guide to car customization.
Where to Start From： Best Car Models For Customization
- Mazda MX-5 Miata is an awesome choice because it has a lot of aftermarket parts, it is fun to drive and it has lots of mechanical services worldwide. Those can set up your custom auto parts easily.
- Jeep Wrangler is your Mazda but for the people who like jeep cars who can drive off the road and overcome hard terrain. There is a whole different class of people who like improving off-the-road vehicles.
- Toyota 86, Volkswagen Golf, Subaru WRX, and BRZ, Honda Civic, Toyota Supra. Those are a different class of cars – they are the working horses of the people. They are extremely widespread and there are lots of customers who want to make their Golf or their Subaru different. The custom parts market for those cars is insane.
- Other premium models you may want to take a look at are Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Mustang, Dodge Challenger, Mazda RX-7, Toyota Supra, Dodge Challenger. These cars are absolute legends and are beautiful even in their stock form. True car lovers usually purchase them and stock is never enough for those. Premium high-price aftermarkets always have something for these beauties.
To Pique Your Interest: Awesome Car Tuning Ideas
There are tons of cool ideas that allow you to modify your car. We have listed the most interesting in our minds. The custom auto parts on those are a work of art.
The Reason Why You May Want Custom Auto Parts
Why do people want to purchase or most importantly order custom auto parts? That desire comes from being inspired by other enthusiasts. People usually strive to be better, to have more money, and be more successful. But what we truly desire is individuality. So, car tuning is one of the services that promotes individuality and being unique. People can show themselves through their cars. A lion painted on the hood of a Volkswagen Golf tells a whole story about its owner. Some people want to improve their cars for better performance. That is often the case with people who purchase secondary cars. You can get a good model at a half-price and upgrade the old engine or its exhaust pipes and make it as good as new.
Which Custom Auto Parts You Can Get
- Interior. You can get proper seats for your car (leather or leopard even), a cool steering wheel, a different car panel with beautiful sensors or a whole LED screen TV. Automotive tuning of the interior is all about the looks mostly.
- Exterior. Here we usually talk about spoilers, car roof mounts (perhaps you want to carry a bike or a boat around), back mounts for spare wheels.
- Performance. The most complex and expensive paragraph of car tuning here. Performance tuning usually includes installing better intake manifolds, exhaust pipes and if you want to be a true connoisseur of car design, you can mount a turbocharger to boost your top speed over straight highways. But beware of turns.
- Lighting. Lighting customization is quite rare as it requires reverse-engineering of the old mounts to produce a new design. To make new custom lighting you have to create clear optical lenses, reflectors and choose some light guides.
- Wheels and Tires. Wheels and tires modification is one of the most common custom auto parts choices. There are lots of aftermarket wheels, however, if you have a unique design in mind, you’ll have to order some CNC machining services to mill them from a solid piece.
- Repair. Some unusual or rare or retro car models may not be supported by any services or by their manufacturers. And if some part needs replacing, your repair becomes full-scale customization.
- Body. Car body customization usually includes either changing the body panels to carbon fiber. It makes the car about 20% lighter and thus more maneuverable and swift. Or you can change the springs under your wheels to make the car softer.
- Audio. Audio systems are coveted by melons from over the world. They are not covered by other people who happened to be on the same street as those melomans though. If you want to install a tuned up audio system you may have to change the interior panels on your doors, which makes it a more complex customization job.
Custom Part Manufacturing Technologies
- CNC machining. Custom part machining is often used to procure performance parts or custom CNC machined wheels. This process is a trifle expensive but you can get any type of functional part from it. The process uses hardened metal cutting tools revolving at fast rates to ship off small bits of material until you get from a blank to a final custom part.
- 3D-printing. It is an innovative process used to manufacture freeform complex parts from plastic or metal. If your idea is especially complex, you may want to contact 3D-printing services. Otherwise, you can get unique plastic parts fast, cheap, and efficient. Just bring them the .stl model.
- Sheet Metal Processing. Sheet metal parts are used to cover the body of the car. Sheet metal processes usually involve cutting off the flat contour of the desired part with a laser or plasma and bending it to the desired shape.
- Silicone Casting. Silicone casting is great if you need 2-10 high-quality plastic parts. First, you make a master model made of wood or plastic. Then you pour liquid silicone over the master model and wait for it to solidify. You cut the silicone in two and get half forms to make more copies of your master model. The process quality greatly depends on the quality of the master model.
- Injection Molding. We strongly suggest you use this method to get a small batch of plastic components. If you need only one, you’d better be off with 3D-printing. The process uses molten plastic poured into metal dyes under pressure to produce outstanding quality plastic elements. It is advisable to start making injection molded parts starting from 50 because the dyes are CNC machined from steel or aluminum alloys.
Custom Auto Car Surface Finishing Techniques
- Powder Coating. Custom automotive parts painting is one of the most widespread customization methods. The majority of clients are okay with their car getting another color, a matte surface, some cool patterns, or a specific picture.
- Anodizing. Anodizing is usually used to finish custom aluminum auto parts. If you look at the awesome car customization ideas of this article, you’ll find some colored parts that retain their metallic sheen. Those are probably anodized. Anodizing is a simple process of making the oxide layer of aluminum thicker. The way it’s made is by inserting the part into an electrolyte and making it in the anode of electrical current. That way ions are removed from the surface of the metal and deep microscopic pores are formed on the surfaces. The oxide film becomes thicker around the pores. Now, if you will the pores with paint, you will get that metal sheen effect.
- Polishing. Polishing involves using abrasive paste and soft tools to get the perfect surface finish. We usually think that only metal parts can be polished. However, you can actually polish painted elements of the car body. If you want your car to shine and to reflect your image like a mirror, you can get some polishing services for the extra presentation of your customized car.
Explore more Custom machined parts.
Conclusions
So, we have discussed why people want to customize their cars, which models are the best for customizing, we have looked over the main custom auto parts manufacturing techniques and the ways to make your car look much cooler through painting, anodizing or polishing. Some of the tuning ideas are fairly cheap and easy but others may take a while and would require serious manufacturing procedures. We advise you to always research thoroughly about the design you want to achieve so that you don’t run out of budget when things are half done or that you won’t be left without a vehicle for a month or more. Drive safe!
