I have found during my various partwork builds that the instructions often tell us to install wheel center caps too early. There are going to be times when we likely need access to the screws behind them to either tighten or remove/replace a wheel. I often recommend to my readers to leave these caps off until the build is complete for this exact reason. This is especially true of our 1:8 scale Back to the Future DeLorean as two other sets of wheels (the white walls and railroad wheels) are included along the way.
Unfortunately, with this build, once the original wheel caps are installed, they are not easy to remove without possibly damaging the cap and/or wheel. But, thanks to the miracle mod worker Mike Lane, he has devised a brilliant solution we can all use: Magnetic Wheel Caps!
These are tiny magnetic discs to replace the stock plastic caps. They are black and printed with an accurate ‘DMC’ logo and install just by getting them close to the wheel. They will literally jump off your finger and into the center hole they were destined to be there! Mike also includes a small, soft tool that easily pops them back out without any fuss. And, do they look fantastic or what?
Now, I can throw out the stock wheel caps I have been storing and my build looks correct again. If you want to never worry about removing or losing your original center caps, check out my Mike Lane page for links to his online store. You won’t regret grabbing these!
Hey I’m a bit of a kit basher myself, if I could find the correct size round magnets could I just make my own magnetic caps from the ones that came from the origanal kit?
Maybe, but the thickness of the original wheel caps and Mike’s caps are exactly the same. To use the stock caps over some magnets is probably going to stick out of the wheel and look odd.