Vintage Car Restoration: Data acquisition for the creation of replicas and spare parts

Obtaining suitable parts for the restoration of their vehicles is sometimes a challenge for fans of vintage cars. Since these parts are usually no longer manufactured and there are often no digital blueprints (CAD) available, which must first be created for a faithful reproduction. This is where a 3D scanner usually comes into play, guaranteeing a detailed and size-conform digitization.

The company 3D-EAS based in Bavaria is a service enterprise that supports companies across Europe in the area of quality control and digitization. Customers come from various industries such as automobiles, aviation, agricultural technology, research, medicine, and cultural heritage.

Vehicle Restoration

Recently, the vehicle frame of a Barkas B1000 (built in 1961) as well as several components of the vintage car chassis had to be digitized to be able to recreate them. The frame had a size of 6 meters in length and 2.5 meters in width; the required accuracy of the axle beams was 0.05 mm.

Due to the size of the component, only a flexible 3D Scanner could be used for the measurement. The choice was made to use the HandySCAN 3D from Creaform, which 3D-EAS had purchased just the previous year in order to expand its range of services and respond more flexibly to customer requirements. The 3D scan system has an accuracy of 0.025 mm, is very flexible, and can be easily carried in hand luggage when traveling to customers for on-site scanning. Previously, measurements were carried out using a measuring arm with a laser attachment. Due to the size of the frame to be measured, this project would have been difficult to complete with the measuring arm. Since the measuring arm requires a rigid setup and is limited in its range, the measurement would have been complicated and time-consuming, as the arm would have to be repeatedly repositioned and calibrated around the component.

3D scan

Created 3D data set

Size-independent Measuring

“The HandySCAN 3D as well as the data acquisition software VXelements from Creaform have impressed us. The scanner’s flexibility and scanning speed are tremendous. In addition, the scan data is directly available to us and is ready for use after the scanning process is completed. We can process these directly in DesignX or Polyworks”, says Christian Schmid, General Manager at 3D-EAS. “With our 3D scanner, we are now completely size-independent – from small components of 3×3 cm to an airplane, we can scan them all, whether at our facility, at the customer’s facility, indoors or outdoors.”

Christian Schmid continues: “We can now implement short-term projects more quickly and respond to customer requests in a completely different way. The timescale has changed completely. Without Creaform’s equipment, creating such data would be quite costly and very time-consuming. In this age of digitalization, our equipment from Creaform is to digitalization what Michael Schuhmacher is to racers!”