Slot Car Gallery - Adjustable Chassis Jig

by Chris Briggs
Please visit his website: Chris Briggs Slot Car Page

An indispensable piece of equipment when building your own chassis from brass sheet and tubing is a chassis jig. Chris Briggs is offering the following jig at a very reasonable price...

The Jig was designed by Dave England and is based on the old (hard to find) Russkit Adjust-O-Jig. The Jig will be selling for 49.95.. The jig wheels will be 3/4" for the front at $5.00 a set, and 13/16 for the rear, also at $5.00 a set. The jig Is fully adjustable from 1" to a full 5 3/4" and is designed to take either 1/8 or 3/32 axles. For using the 3/32 axles you will need to sleeve them with some 3/32 ID brass tubing..

To get the most out of the chassis jig I use a "jig plate" to give yourself a nice flat surface to lay the chassis parts on, and the jig plate also sets the ground clearance for the chassis.

The one you see here is make of 1/16" thick aluminum. For my 1/32 scale cars I have the plate cut to fit between the axle holder uprights, and it is 2 1/2" wide at the widest point. The slot you see in the rear is for clearance of the spur gear needed with anglewinder and sidewinder chassis set ups. The jig plate is not for sale. That is something that you will have to make up yourself.

For you new builders here are some tips for using the jig. To set your motor bracket and keep it in place you will need some brass tubing.

What I do is put the motor bracket with oilite (bushings) in the jig and slid it to one side and then measure the gap between the outside oilite and the side of the axle holder. Then divide that in half and them make up some spacer like you see in the above picture..
The spacers will keep you motor bracket centered while you work on the chassis. The jig wheels are also made of aluminum and are used in place of your regular tires and wheels to keep them from melting them during construction :-)