printing NLA parts

[DeWitt Harrison]

On my car's sunroof, there are two (L&R) bits of plastic trim, little black
fin-like pieces roughly 8 1/2" long, which visually hide some of the
unattractive lifting mechanism bits which would otherwise be seen when the
rear edge of the sunroof is tipped up. The original parts are "rotten" and
disintegrating due to heat exposure and age. Although these parts still
show up on Audi Tradition with pricing, they are, in fact, NLA, as you
would expect based on Audi's "get lost" philosophy on old cars.

So I'm casting about for options. One would be that good used ones exist
somewhere in the world. If anyone has knowledge of such, I would obviously
love to know. Unfortunately, this parts issue is probably too small
potatoes to attract the attention of our main go-to guy at Force 5.

Another might be having the parts 3d printed. The downside there is the
cost of either having someone generate a CAD drawing or doing a 3d scan and
then doing the work of correcting the scan file for age-induced
distortions, cracks and imperfections. This cost could be amortized by
printing a number of parts if there are other Audi owners with the same
need. The parts are found on all type 44 sunroofs after a certain date,
which I do not recall at the moment, and, the Audi Tradition catalog
suggests, other Audi models of the late 80s and early 90s. The part numbers
are 321 877 781 and 321 877 782.

It would be great to hear from any qlisters who have an interest in this
problem.

DeWitt Harrison
'88 5ktq