I am planning on building my 1st street rod. The StreetBeast kit's look interesting. Anyone have any experience/references with these? Thanks. Don
It is a good looking car, but its missing the stripesgrouch said:Not to be overly critical, but the image you posted earlier wouldn't stand up to scrutiny by some of the pickier 'rodders you might meet on here. It's your ride, so most would never point out flaws without being invited to do so -- your post quoted above appears to be such an invitation. Even I can see what appear to be uneven gaps around the hood and doors, and I'm not qualified to judge any rod.
That image also brings to view one of the flaws in the design which Centerline has pointed out several times. Those fenders stick out just right to act as shopping cart targets and generally as weak bumpers. If they're molded as part of the body, what happens when some soccer mom in a Suburban loses track of where her corners are and takes yours off? You can repair small cracks and crushes, but what about when there is a major parking lot mishap that requires a replacement fender?
That Picture is from inside the Streetbeast factory , and what he is saying verbatim, is what we told customers in our sales pitch, I smell a streetbeast employee or a shillffas23 said:Actually that little dinky photo of the CMC frame above doesn't tell the true story of it as it is one heavy duty frame. I happened to like the top area of the CMC frame front and back as it adds support to the firewall and back of the car in front of the trunk. Don't forget the Master Cylinder and Steering column is supported in front of the CMC frame this way. Not knocking the TCI frame but the only support I see you will get with this type of frame once the body is mounted is the support in whatever is used in the body you choose to use on the frame. Most of the other '34 Coupe body makers such as Outlaw use wood in their bodies.
Here is a quote by one of the body manufacturers recommended on this forum by some. Quote: Hand-laminated, one-piece constructed body. Complete with wood reinforcement. Wood consists of kiln-dried Poplar, D-select. Poplar is used because the expansion rate is the most compatible to fiberglass than any other wood.
Once the CMC/SB Body is placed on the frame it is surrounded by a metal cage mounted inside from roof to floor that you bolt in and then weld in as you build your '34 Coupe. Where the other manufacturers mount their doors to wood, CMC/SB doors are mounted to the CMC steel frame. More work for the builder but stronger in my opinion. To me I have to say I like this idea better for support all around the car. If I remember correctly the original '34 Ford used (OAK) wood many years ago. Below is a CMC/SB frame that shows a little more detail as the picture is larger then said previous photo above. What you don't see in both pictures as mentioned above is the Steel Cage that gets built inside once the body is set on the frame and aligned. Notice the steel supports for the running boards. You can actually stand on the CMC/SB running boards if one had to. The boxed support behind the front passenger side front tire is where the battery sits.
Makes me want to take a diptrees said:I have been gone for 5 weeks and have had a lot of catching up to do at home and the shop. In the evenings, I have been plowing through every page of this thread and must say it has been like a Louis L'Amour book:covers a wide range of plots that entwine to an ending when you get there. My common sense says keep your mouth shut, but...
Don't know a thing about any kit cars cause they have never interested me in the least. I have been around long enough to recognize all kinds of marketing schemes and seen many changes in laws to protect the customers over the years. Years ago, I was involved with a South Fla company, Master Pools, that used the same tactics and practices. Their saving grace was they produced an outstanding pool. Their down fall was they were selling their pools with contracts that required up front money (like 20% upon signing, 20% when hole was dug, 30% when the gunnite was applied and balance when completed). I signed, I paid and every thing was fine until the chlorine generator was not installed "because it was on back order". Since they had produced as specified, I was not too concerned when I was able to use the pool with the old standard application of chlorine to keep it chemically balanced. Then the trouble started when time passed and they would not return my calls or respond to letters, including registered letters. The last letter I sent included verbage that the next time they would be talking to my lawyer. The word was out they were defaulting because people were not buying and they had been operating on up front money. My lawyer filed charges and we were ready to go to court, but the day before, they settled with returning my money and paying my lawyer. As far as I know, Master Pools are no longer in business, but they did build a high quality pool. No where did I think they were intentionally dishonest, but they were victims of their own bad management. All of us have been exposed to questionable practices at some time or another and if we learn, we develop a sense that raises our eyebrows when we encounter these situations.
The single thing that I am passionate about is our right to free speech and expressing our opinions. I also am very much against slander and libel so am very careful when I exercise my freedom to speak my mind. I have learned to avoid repeating rumor and hearsay and just stick with the facts. For my years on this board, I have found Jon tends to do just that and has been right every time when it comes to free speech issues. That is why I am supporting the defense fund in this issue. Hopefully, all the other board members are doing the same, especially all that have posted on this thread.
Trees
Although your quote is from the Outlaw Performance web site it doesn't tell the whole story. Outlaw's 33 bodies use a sandwich door jam with the wood sandwiched between a layer of reinforced fiberglass and 1/8" steel plate to mount the hinges. Even my Dave Koorey deuce body uses steel reinforcement to mount the doors and its one of the less expensive bodies.ffas23 said:Here is a quote by one of the body manufacturers recommended on this forum by some. Quote: Hand-laminated, one-piece constructed body. Complete with wood reinforcement. Wood consists of kiln-dried Poplar, D-select. Poplar is used because the expansion rate is the most compatible to fiberglass than any other wood.
You should talk!StreetBeast Insider said:That Picture is from inside the Streetbeast factory , and what he is saying verbatim, is what we told customers in our sales pitch, I smell a streetbeast employee or a shill
Agreed. Southwest Rod and Custom is out near Dallas, Tx. and is a supporter of SB, obvious by the information at the end stating to contact a SB rep. by name.NEW INTERIORS said:Sorry but I have seen them all,And All I have to say is that's some ''FUNNY VIDEO'S'' ......LOL...
----------------------------------------------------------------bluesman2333 said:I watched two of those videos and had to stop. I was horrified when I saw the recommended procedure for securing the floor pan to the frame and the body to the floor pan.
The person in the video used pop rivets to secure the floor pan to the frame then used screws to secure other parts to the frame. A single layer of fiberglass secured the body to the floor pan.
It is actually worse than that. Polyester resin is not adhesive. After grinding, he should have used a 5:1 epoxy resin which is adhesive , built up in multiple layers cleaning between layers to remove the amine blush.Bad Rat said:When fiberglassing, its a good idea to grind off the gel coat,before doing the glassing,,,, other wise it dosn't stick very well,, and will soon come apart, :nono:
something this PROFESSIONAL expert did not do,
I do not believe this is correct. New applications of polyester resin will melt into older applications, effectivly becoming one.bluesman2333 said:It is actually worse than that. Polyester resin is not adhesive. After grinding, he should have used a 5:1 epoxy resin which is adhesive , built up in multiple layers cleaning between layers to remove the amine blush.
bluesman2333 said:It is actually worse than that. Polyester resin is not adhesive. After grinding, he should have used a 5:1 epoxy resin which is adhesive , built up in multiple layers cleaning between layers to remove the amine blush.
To be fair I watched all of his videos on this build. What this did was reinforce the shabby, Mickey Mouse engineering that goes into these cars. It's kind of like an exercise in how hard can you make it to build a "kit car". And the owner is a real piece of work as well. Just another rod shop owner who owes his existence to the fact that Streetbeast produces the worst kit possible. It's pretty plain to see that if it wasn't for Streetbeast owners he wouldn't have a business.NEW INTERIORS said:......I hope Centerline can Watch the video without falling out of his chair...LOL
Yea, but he didn't grind the gel coat at all. I can't believe the floor is held to the body with one layer of chopped mat and resin.... And on this car it wasn't even glassed in properly. Unbelievable!NEW INTERIORS said:I don't agree with this,If you grind the gel coat off then wipe the old glass with acetone the new glass will bind,I use this procedure all the time,with good results,,If the old glass has wax in it,It need's to be grind first then wiped with acetone,Then start glassing.. :thumbup: