Body Jigs

[Nutsy]

Are there any do-it-yourself body jig instructions anywhere? I would like to make a body jig for my Camaro for the chassis fab phase (suspension, tubs, roll cage, FC's, etc.) simular to the one that they use for the Challenger on Muscle Car TV show or ones that Rad Rides use for their restorations.

When you put a car on the jig, what part of the car should be level?
Do you take level measurement on the rockers or where?
Does the jig itself have to be perfectly level? is there a way to make it adjustable so that depending on how level the floor is, the jig can be made to be level?

Also how high typically do you situate the car on the jig (ie. ground clearance of the car)? Where is this measurement taken from on the car? Lower rockers, or lowest point on the car (oil pan i guess?)?

Does anyone have pics of any body jigs?

[Jim Nilsen]

Body jigs are very expensive to buy and depending on what you are planning to do you may not need one. I have seen frames and suspension parts installed with a simple string mounted in the center of the car and everything referenced to it and it worked for them very well.

When building my frame for my car I decided to build a 2"x 3" frame that was able to be leveled and was braced to remain square. I made uprights at locating points I got from a computerized frame dimension sheet. Once everything was square ,plumb and level the rest was easy. I also made a bar that I could use to move around and measure from.

You do need to have it all level and keep it consistently level from a reference point and only one reference point that coincides with the car or frame or both. I spent around $200 in steel to mine many years ago. Check steel prices these days and it will probably be higher.

Goodluck on not having your floor move on you if you take very long to do your project. Floors do not stay like you think they will. I also recommend getting a laser level to set up at reference points to keep things in the same plane when working on them. Remember that you can build things on an angle and have no problems as long as you use reference points and make sure everything is all in the same plane on the axis it is at.

Hope this helps and if you have more question just ask.

You can see the frame I built at my web site if you look in a couple of the pics real close.

Jim Nilsen

[69keith]

I bought my jig from Mike's Custom Cars in Rock Hill, SC.
Check them out at www.mikescustomcars.com

[67bird]

Did you buy the basic cart (the $400 job) or the ones they sell that start out at $1500.00 any pics???