3D Printing Performance Parts
How New York’s Tucci Hot Rods uses updated scanning technology to speed up customizations. By Paul Hanaphy | Photos Courtesy of Tucci Hot Rods
(Above) Tucci Hot Rods is always seeking new ways to utilize its scanning technology. About the author: Paul Hanaphy is head of content and PR at Artec 3D, a global leader in handheld and portable 3D scanners. Founded in San Diego and with headquarters in Luxembourg, the company has been at the forefront of developing innovative 3D technology since 2007.
Hot rods hold a special place in automotive folklore. Their roots can be traced all the way back to the Great Depression, when many young Americans—short on money but with plenty of time on their hands—experimented with modifying cars and helped start the performance aftermarket we’re a part of today.
Not just eye candy, these vehicles were modified to race. Alongside flamboyant mods scrounged and swapped among drivers, many featured performance upgrades. After World War II, formal hot rod racing championships sprung up across the U.S. and Europe.
To this day, hot rodding—a term now used to describe modified vehicles of various eras—remains a popular pastime for automotive enthusiasts. Seeking to recapture some of the magic that made the originals so special, some collectors also continue to modify early- to mid-20th-century vehicles, looking to aftermarket shops for parts, service and advice.
OEM production of most classic car parts ceased long ago, with some of their designs lost to the pages of history. For many low-volume or insignificant pieces, performance shops can be forced to create their own solutions.
While it’s possible to do so via traditional, manual patterning techniques, Tucci Hot Rods in Marcy, New York, found a way to make the process faster and more accurate with the help of Artec Leo 3D wireless scanning technology.
TUNING AT TUCCI HOT RODS
Over the past quarter-century, Tucci Hot Rods has established itself as a major force in the U.S. modding arena, with clients based everywhere from New York to Nevada. Initially founded by Dave Tucci Jr. and his wife, Jill, the firm continues to be family-led, with their son Dominick Tucci now onboard as an industrial designer.
Customers tend to approach the company with plans that are often broad, revolving around a desired style or engine, but with no real idea of what it will take to make the project a reality. This is where Tucci Hot Rods has made its name: as a partner that walks car modification enthusiasts through the entire journey, from initial design to fabrication and assembly.
More recently, the firm began integrating extrusion and resin 3D printers into its workflow, which allows for the creation of custom end-use components like lenses, light covers and vents.
Initially, the company faced considerable challenges around the way it gained the measurements needed to make such modifications fit seamlessly.
Dom Tucci of Tucci Hot Rods uses an Artec Leo wireless AI-driven 3D scanner to take precise measurements for 3D-printed parts.
“Say you have a complex metal shape—you could make a pattern of one side, a pattern of the other, take measurements and then connect the dots to make something that is close to fitting exactly,” explains Dominick Tucci. “Initially, we used a lot of cardboard, and there was also a lot of printing prototype pieces, seeing what fit, making changes and then printing new ones. Lots of back and forth. If I made a really nice template, it could take me two hours. At that point, it may not even be perfect, either.”
MODERNIZING CAR CUSTOMIZATION
In an effort to streamline Tucci Hot Rods’ 3D parts-fitting approach, Tucci began to experiment with upgraded scanning technology a few years ago. At first, he used an Xbox Kinect camera and cheap scanning software, and while it could only “pick up really rudimentary surfaces,” he says, it “gave him an idea of how it would work” if he could get ahold of a higher-end device.
Having seen Artec 3D scanners at a trade show in 2021, Tucci reached out to Digitize Designs, an Artec ambassador company, which helped choose the correct device and software to meet Tucci Hot Rods’ needs. While he considered corded scanners, Tucci says the fully wireless Artec Leo’s all-in-one nature and built-in display were deciding factors.
“I’ve used scanners before where it’s connected to a computer and you’re constantly looking at what you’re getting and making sure you’re getting it,” he adds. “With Artec Leo, you’re looking directly at it the whole time. Plus, the fact that it’s so portable has come in really handy a bunch of times already.”
Adopting Artec 3D scanning has also allowed Tucci Hot Rods (tuccihotrods.com) to reduce its lead times. Before, it could take up to two hours to template part of a customer’s car and then as much as 20 additional hours to 3D-print a prototype—depending on modification complexity.
The Artec Leo’s 0.1mm point accuracy and data capture speed of up to 35 million points per second allows Tucci and his colleagues to model guaranteed-to-fit parts in minutes.
One of the first projects to benefit from 3D scanning saw Tucci design custom taillights for a classic Dodge. Right away, the cost and lead time savings were clear.
“Initially, we spent 3-4 days going back and forth, templating, printing a test piece, changing it, printing another. Prints were a minimum of 8-9 hours, and these were made of cheap material as well—not the stuff I use for end parts,” he says. “At the time, we were talking 3-4 days of back and forth, a process we replaced with just 15 minutes of scanning.”
PRODUCTIVE PARTNERSHIP
Artec Studio has played its part in improving the shop’s productivity. Tucci says he initially worried about “capturing scans with enough detail, but not so much that it couldn’t be moved around Rhino 3D,” a popular CAD design software.
“Our collaboration with Tucci Hot Rods—a connection made through a satisfied customer—has enabled us to deliver superior 3D scanning expertise,” says Kyle Burdine of Digitize Designs. “After an assessment, we recommended Artec 3D as the ideal fit for Dom’s operations. The dividends of this relationship are clear, with high ROI and continued innovation in the automotive modification industry.”
With guidance from Digitize Designs, Tucci has since learned to use Artec Studio mesh simplification to reduce model complexity. The program makes it possible to remove small polygons, set a maximum level of deviation or even target a polygon count to optimize results, making models easier to manage when exported to other platforms.
“In Artec Studio, I started to mess around with the tools for reducing the number of polygons in a mesh,” Tucci says. “I did a few training sessions before we got the scanner on how to use Artec Studio and process scan data for certain things. It works really well for what we do with it.”
A classic 1936 Dodge truck scanned and modified by Tucci Hot Rods
AUTOMOTIVE 3D SCANNING & BEYOND
Since turning to Artec 3D scanning, Tucci Hot Rods has digitized all sorts of automotive parts. One of the first it scanned was the grille of a classic 1936 Dodge truck.
According to Tucci, the component’s complex convex outer shape made it particularly tricky to model with traditional methods, and initial prints using the old method were a quarter-of-an-inch off at the front and back. Given that there was “not much room for error” in that part of the vehicle, it was “really critical that it fit exactly,” making 3D scanning a necessity.
The shop was able to use scan data as a basis for 3D printing headlight covers that fit perfectly around the car’s grille, he continues. Building on the success, Tucci and his colleagues have gone on to customize vintage Fords, including a 1970 Mustang muscle car and a 1931 Model A sedan.
“To customize the Model A, we would previously have mounted its motor on frame rails and cardboard-patterned everything,” Tucci explains. “With 3D scanning, I was able to capture the motor and frame in place, draw all the motor mounts, laser-cut them out and then everything just fit right off the bat.”
The financials worked as well.
“If you consider that we charge $95-$100 per hour as a labor rate, and customizing each car takes 12-18 months, even minor time savings can be hugely beneficial.”
Tucci uses the shop’s Artec Leo to 3D-scan the front of a Chevrolet Chevelle project.
EXPANDING HORIZONS
The shop’s portfolio continues to diversify, with one client recently asking for a modern 2022 Ford Maverick to be digitized, and another wanting to capture data of an offsite cleanroom.
Through several floors at the latter’s silicon wafer chip plant, concrete-casted holes had been made to accommodate the multilevel piping of machines and pumps. To avoid spillage on different floors, tiny curbs needed to be installed.
“We developed these plates that go around each pipe and lock into each other, but we still had to scan 20 holes of different sizes that had tubes running through them,” Tucci says. “We were able to bring in our Artec Leo and capture every hole, label it and process it into a model. Each hole had its own plate that we had to make specifically for it. Without a 3D scanner, the project would’ve been almost impossible.”
In the future, Tucci says his company will stay on the lookout for ways to maximize its improved scanning technology.
Along with building hot rods, he notes if someone needs his company to come out and scan something, it’s a service he’s now happy to offer.
A Tucci Hot Rods custom-fabricated motor mount installed on a vintage Model A.
