| Description |
: |
Next we needed a donor car upon which to build the Beetle. I already had a fairly wrecked Metro 6R4 Scalextric car, and decided to use that. I threw away the bodyshell from the Metro, intending to use the chassis from it for the Beetle. Unfortunately I found that the wheelbase of the two cars was slightly different. The Metro's being smaller. However I managed to move the front axle for the car forward enough to allow the Beetle shell to fit. It meant cutting two new slots in the chassis for the axle to sit in. I also changed the front wheels from the Metro ones, to Formula 1 car wheels and tyres.
Next I looked at the drivetrain for the car. I replaced the electric motor in the Metro chassis as it was nearly burnt out, and also the plastic gear on the end of the motor that drives the gear on the rear axle, as they tend to wear out too. The same shop we bought the Beetle shell from, also sold all sorts of goodies for improving the handling of your Scalextric cars. I bought two new rear tyres and wheels which give superb grip, and a stick on magnet which fits underneath the chassis at the rear. The theory being that the magnet is attracted to the metal slots running down the centre of the track, helping to stop the rear end of the car from twitching out on bends. The front end of the car is held in place by the guide runner at the front which steers the car round the track.
Finally we had to join the bodyshell to the chassis, but we didn't want to glue the shell to the chassis, as we still wanted to be able to get at the motor and axles when things went wrong. In the end the simplest method was to use two strips of bluetack underneath the running boards of the shell to fix it to the chassis. Also if you look carefully at the photo's you'll see that the driver of the Metro has had a promotion, and is now the proud driver of a Volkswagen Beetle! |
