Toyota Tacoma Headlight Access Panel Clip

thingiverse

On the 1996-2000 Toyota Tacoma, an access panel below the headlight must be removed to remove the headlight housing, as shown in the picture. The small metal rectangular panel is held in position with a sheet metal screw and a plastic retention clip. It is very common for these to break. To fabricate, I scanned a broken part on a flat bed scanner. I then used The Gimp to create a path from a a selection of the outline. I then exported the path as in SVG using the path dialogue. After importing the path to Blender, I converted it to a mesh, and then used extrude and fill to create the object. I then fabricated the spring leaves and retention pin using Blender, and exported the part as an STL. Using Ultimaker, a Creality printer, and PETG, I printed two of the clips and now my access panels are looking smart again.