Scalextric 1/32 Pontiac Grand Prix

Some of you may recall a while back when I did a repaint of a very similar car I'd bought at the local slot car show. Well, this time, I not only paid a bit more for the car ($25.00), but the body was in worse shape. This one had obviously seen a lot of hard use. The motor and running gear was still strong, but the body had the rear spoiler completely gone and the paint was badly rubbed away or scratched. Fortunately, the clear parts and interior were still in good shape.  The body screws had been used so much that the heads were stripped out and after some struggle, these were removed and tossed. I then was able to get to the running gear.

These cars have magnets in them to help hold them to the track and I don't like them so first thing was to remove the old one. The old magnet not only had been glued in place, but had started to deteriorate. The chrome covering was gone and the magnetic particles were flaking away. This is not good as these bits can get into the motor and cause all sorts of electrical problems. After removing the motor and rear axle assembly, I flexed the chassis a bit and dug at the magnet until I was able to pry it out. I then scraped out all the residue that was stuck to the magnet cavity until it was completely gone.

The rear tires were removed and thrown away. These were replaced by new Max Trak silicones as these work very well on my plastic track. Then the chassis and interior parts were set aside while most of my work went towards the body.

With it now free from the chassis, I inspected it for damage. Aside from the broken rear spoiler (actually it was gone completely), the rest of the body was mechanically sound. Time to remove the old paint. For this, I soaked it in a bath of 91% rubbing alcohol. I've tried 99%, but it is so 'dry' that it doesn't work well until diluted a bit with water.

I then cut a groove in the rear deck where the old spoiler was and replaced that with plastic car. The body was sanded down to remove mold seams and then painted white. Once dry, a coat of fluorescent red was painted over that.

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