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This car is based on the white Esso car provided in the Mighty Metro set. It has been down graded to a standard MG Metro. At the time I didn't know that Scalextric had made a basic Metro. Other than having the chassis lowered as detailed below the main modification to this car is the removal of the red clip-on wheel arches which were cut up to provide front and rear bumpers. The bumpers were glued on with super glue and where possible careful use was made of a soldering iron to make a heat join. The locating holes for the wheel arches were filled with "Green putty" and when dry a suitable transfer placed over. "Green Putty" was also used to make the MG badge on the front grill. |
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Esso logo was removed from the roof with fine sandpaper
and Cif and then the bumpers, grill, door handles,
rear spoiler, window frames and wipers were all painted
black. I also touched up the lights. The only error
I made was the position of the rear MG badge which
should have been on the other side. As this badge
is oversized anyway and I haven't attempted to put
the original factory fitted MG side stripes I just
say that they were never fitted and this is a non-standard
addition. The paintwork and transfers were given a
coat of varnish to protect them. After numerous crashes
there is no sign of damage yet.
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I had planned to do the wheels with the multihole alloys that were once used but the photo reference, which I found after painting the body, showed wheel trims that had very little detail on and looked like moon discs from one angle. I took the easy option and fitted card inserts into the wheels. The photo showed a completely white car, bumpers, spoiler, door handles the lot. I could have saved myself a lot of painting. For the interior I cut off the raised engine cover area behind the driver and covered the whole of this rear part with a piece of stiff paper to look as if the rear seats have been lowered. The rest of the interior is painted in two shades of grey with a red stripe separating them which is similar to the factory finish. The driver has the MG red seat belt straps. The car is meant to represent a first time racer who has borrowed mum's shopping car. It has the novice sticker on the rear and mum's shopping still in the back. |
| Forward to the MG Metro Turbo |
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All of our Metros have been converted in the following fashion to lower the chassis at the front end to a more realistic stance. It also lowers the center of gravity and so improves performance. The method was not very scientific. NOTE:- I found that if you don't add the piece back the body is too loose and likely to come off, and if you stick the piece on without shaping it bends the chassis a little causing the front tyres to rub on the wheel arches and slows performance. Heating plastic, as well as the obvious heat dangers, can give off dangerous fumes so do it out in the open and wear a face mask if you have one. |
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The lip that slots into the gap in the front of the bodywork at bumper level was cut off with a standard hacksaw. This cut out a little over 1/16" of material. The cut piece was glued to the front of the remaining upright with super glue. When dry I used an electric soldering iron to melt the plastic together and to shape it back to its original profile so that it would fit into the body's gap again. |
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I cut off the bottom of the tube that holds the slot guide and power pickup so that it was level with the bottom of the axle guide. A small ring of plastic was left which I glued on the inside of the chassis which keeps the length of the tube about right to hold the slot guide securely. As you can see it lowers the car quite a bit. |
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Short History of the Scalextric Metro and 6R4 as I understand it Scalextric introduced the model in 1982 C146 6R4 Navico, black with red skirt No 27.
None of these cars are that rare and can be picked up for a few £ss althought MIB prices are nearing the £20 mark. The only exception is the Ternco model which I have never seen. |