How to Mount a Body on a Slot Car
While the performance of a slot car is about what's contained within the chassis, it's the body of your slot car that racers will see. Lexan bodies come in a variety of choices and can be quickly installed with the use of a slot car body block and a post and pin mounting system. The lighter bodies provide a boost in speed, while the low production cost gives you the ability to collect multiple bodies. Having multiple bodies allows you to switch car bodies to differentiate your slot car from the rest of the racing pack for easy identification while running the vehicle.
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Things You'll Need
- Slot car chassis
- Slot car body
- Measuring tape
- Brass tubing
- Drill
- Slot car body pins
- Epoxy glue
- Slot car body block
- Power saw
- Woodworking router
- Pencil
- Curved scissors
- Sandpaper
Instructions
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1
Place the chassis onto a flat surface and then place the Lexan body of the car over the chassis, with the chassis centered within. Measure the space from the sides of the chassis to the side of the car body.
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2
Cut four pieces of brass tubing to the measurements taken, for use as pin posts for attaching the car body.
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3
Mount the pin posts on the sides of your chassis where the Lexan body will be connected. Mount four pin posts in total, two to each side along the chassis railings between the wheels, gluing them in place with epoxy glue. Allow the glue to dry completely.
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4
Place your slot car chassis onto a car body block. Use a pre-made body block or make a body block of your own by cutting a wooden block with a groove cut down the center of the block for placing the chassis guide flag. The guide flag is the small metal pin in the front of the car that runs in the slots of the track and keeps the car centered over the track rails.
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5
Mark locations on the block for the four car wheels, and then cut holes with a router in the block deep enough for the wheels to sit in with the chassis flat against the surface of the block. The chassis should be completely unmodified and undamaged for mounting.
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6
Place the car body onto the chassis, with the bottom of the body even with the chassis bottom. Mark the locations of the mounting pins.
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7
Drill holes in the Lexan car body at the pin markings points just large enough for the slot car body pins.
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8
Stick the body pins through the car body into the pin mounts, securing the body into place.
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9
Mark the location of the wheels on the Lexan car body, and use the curved scissors to cut out the marked locations to create wheel wells for your car.
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10
Sand the edges of the wheel wells to complete the mount.
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Tips & Warnings
Use alloy tubes for pin posts rather than brass to reduce weight for a slight boost in car speed.
