Hot Rod Forum banner

Street Beasts '34 build starts

95K views 401 replies 54 participants last post by  JGK95 
#1 ·
So we finally hacked down the majority of Sherwood Forest to get at the fiberglass shell of the '34 Ford-like body that was delivered to our garage and begun with the lug nuts that I scored off of a Ford Taurus. I thought I scored big time when i was at the local junkyard and scored four rollers (wheels/tires) with a fist full of lug nuts for $50 bux. When I finally tried to use the lug nuts, they were both metric and too small. It didn't make sense, how was this possible? This was after all, from a FORD Taurus?

It wasn't until we tried to mount the wheels to the IFS that we were about a 1/4th of an inch off of the wheel pattern and that the center hole was larger than the center of the wheels from a '97 Ford Taurus. These rotors have ball bearing caps at the end of them and I was caught off guard.

However, to have both the incorrect rollers and lug nuts was very frustrating and almost inconceivable.

So the current plan is to call the yard and see if we can work out a swap with them for some Ford Mustang rollers. I'm very doubtfull we'll make any headway with them, but I'll try.

Jay K.
 
See less See more
#127 ·
Update: Closure.

I have some very good news to report. We DID receive the windows Tuesday.

Regardless of what the general consensus of them is on this website, it must be recognized that they fufilled their obligation to us as owners and for that, my father and I are very appreciative of the Streetbeasts team.

Consider us very pleased and that we can now go forward with all of the parts of our build.

Additionally, for those that have been following my learning curve on the planned use of aluminum fuel line...I'll be shifting over to steel instead and using the curved Summit Racing aluminum fuel line stock for the mock-up process.

Cheers,

Jay K.

ps. I'll be starting the fuel line work on Sat.
 
#129 ·
I too am glad you finally received your glass.

However, instead of praising Streetbeast for finally sending the parts you paid for and had not received, (and I might add almost a month after they promised they were going out the next day), you should promote this episode as a lesson to anyone remotely contemplating the purchase of one of their kits.

Beware, you may have to contact Streetbeast numerous times before you finally receive the parts you paid for that weren't delivered with your kit. Also, be advised that Streetbeast will tell you exactly what they know you want to here even though they know what they are saying is an out and out lie.

THERE IS A VERY GOOD REASON THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU HAS GIVEN THEM THEIR LOWEST RATING!!!!!

You are fortunate that you now have everything you paid for, many of their customers aren't so lucky.
 
#130 ·
Centerline said:
I too am glad you finally received your glass.

However, instead of praising Streetbeast for finally sending the parts you paid for and had not received, (and I might add almost a month after they promised they were going out the next day), you should promote this episode as a lesson to anyone remotely contemplating the purchase of one of their kits.

Beware, you may have to contact Streetbeast numerous times before you finally receive the parts you paid for that weren't delivered with your kit. Also, be advised that Streetbeast will tell you exactly what they know you want to here even though they know what they are saying is an out and out lie.

THERE IS A VERY GOOD REASON THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU HAS GIVEN THEM THEIR LOWEST RATING!!!!!

You are fortunate that you now have everything you paid for, many of their customers aren't so lucky.
I was thinking the same thing, restaurant review...

"After waiting for an hour to get our food we were told it would be there in ten minutes. We waited another hour and we finally got our average food, they treated us great, THANKS Jacks Steak house". :rolleyes:

Brian
 
#131 ·
Brian and Centerline,

I'd be lying if I didn't say I was disappointed in the way the matter was handled, but I DO have all of my components and I'm happy. At this point, I'm under no obligation to say anything nice, but I will. Guys, I'm more of the glass is half full kind of guy, so I always try to see the positive in every situation.

Thank you Streetbeasts for finally delivering my windows.

With that said I'd like to get this thread back on track and look forward to this weekend where I'll be attemping to configure the fuel line in steel.

Respectfully, please let me focus on the build here and pm me if there is still something that you'd like to talk about.

Thanks,

Jay K.
 
#133 ·
JGK95 said:
.......Thank you Streetbeasts for finally delivering my windows.

With that said I'd like to get this thread back on track and look forward to this weekend where I'll be attemping to configure the fuel line in steel.

Respectfully, please let me focus on the build here and pm me if there is still something that you'd like to talk about.

Thanks,

Jay K.
I agree. Now that you finally have everything the important thing is a successful build. However, I do find it interesting that it took Streetbeast over a year and a half to get you all your parts AND if you hadn't pressed them about it you still wouldn't have everything. End of rant.

So..... show us some pictures, Pictures, PICTURES !!!!
 
#134 ·
Arrowhead said:
I found the hood of my wife's Taraus had just the right amount of reverse curve to unroll the tubing on.
I guess I'll have to buy the wife a Tarus...her Rav4 doesn't have a well shaped hood.

This might be too late for you JGK95, but here is what I use...the channel on one of the supports of my garage door. This pic shows me unrolling a length of aluminum tubing...but works well for just about anything. Second pic is a close up shot and the last pic shows what I end up with. Not perfectly straight but close enough that I can use my fasteners on the frame to keep it in line.





 
#135 ·
To straighten tubing coming off a roll I do much the same thing that CBoy illustrates but I leave it a few inches long so I can pinch the ends and put one end in the vise and the other in a vise grip.

Then you pull and twist a quarter turn, depending on how heavy the tubing is you might need a second body to help pull and tension the tubing. You end up with arrow straight tubing after it's been stretched and twisted slightly.

Trim off the pinched ends...voila perfectly straight annealed tube, old machinist trick. ;)
 
#138 ·
Apologies for the delay gents.

Work has beckoned and in this present economy, I had to listen! :D

In the first picture is the mock up of the fuel pump going forward with aluminum fuel line fed towards the motor and rubber hose headed towards the fuel tank. The aluminum fuel line will ultimately be replaced by steel.

In a realization of embarrassment today, I realized that I had previously mounted the fuel pump upside down and couldn't figure out why I required so many shims to get the fuel pump to line up with the fuel filter behind it. The first picture still has the incorrect length of rubber hose between the two components, but it's a start. The eventual replacement of incorrect rubber fuel hose length will happen shortly as it's my responsibility to complete the fuel line from tank to carburetor.

We have also started the passenger side door post. This doorpost and the one on the driver's side are the most difficult task when it comes to working on the frame. We wound up trimming two inches off of the top of the doorpost and further worked the hinge openings on the fiberglass body to 2 & 3/8'' so that we could open the door more than the recommended 1 & 1/2". At the latter measurement, we would only be able to get in the car if we were an envelope. :D

I'm presently receiving great help from Matt Dick of Dick's Autobody in Maine. I found him on the Streetbeasts website a month ago and he took time out of his day today to give us free help. I'm grateful to the man for his eagerness to assist my father and I, so I wanted to thank him and his wife here for letting me have a piece of their weekend to ask some questions.

Without any further delay, here are the pictures.




ps. View the last picture, does anybody doubt who owns the car? :mwink:
 
#140 ·
Since those photos, I've reversed the fuel pump as I had it incorrectly mounted in those pics above and have learned to bend steel fuel line. Additionally, we've done the driver's side door post with hinges placed and completed the steering column.

Pictures coming this weekend.

Cheers,

Jay K.
 
#142 ·
There's nothing that can ruin a thread quite like some stupid bozo from Communist China (named William... yea right!) trying to sell cheap Chinese crap to people who wouldn't be caught dead buying it. Please do us all a favor and take your junk back to China where it belongs. You may be able to sell this crap to some naive companies, but here in the hot rod industry we have standards. Standards that cheap Chinese knockoff junk can't match. So long, Mao!
 
#143 ·
Centerline said:
There's nothing that can ruin a thread quite like some stupid bozo from Communist China (named William... yea right!) trying to sell cheap Chinese crap to people who wouldn't be caught dead buying it. Please do us all a favor and take your junk back to China where it belongs. You may be able to sell this crap to some naive companies, but here in the hot rod industry we have standards. Standards that cheap Chinese knockoff junk can't match. So long, Mao!
?

What'd I miss?
--------------------------------------
Latest update...

Tomorrow's a big day for my father and I as we have a very talented welder coming to our one car garage to weld in all four door posts that we have presently held in place by self tapping screws. He'll reinforce them with support plates and solid welds. Overall, it's starting to look like a real car now! Fuel line is half way done as I didn't finish it last weekend. Perhaps I can get it done this weekend after the welder is gone.
 
#145 ·
matt167 said:
most likely just a spammer who's post has been removed..
That is it, but the reply to the spammer should have been deleted also. More than likely it was a spam bot and not a real person so replying to it is pointless.

Vince
 
#146 ·
302 Z28 said:
More than likely it was a spam bot and not a real person so replying to it is pointless.
I don't think it was a bot. This guy had selectively gone through threads to find the ones that had something to do with radiators or cooling issues then responded with his ad. Maybe a bot can do that, but I've never seen it before.

I responded to this guy in another thread just like Centerline did and my point was that we SHOULD keep his company name included so that people know to never deal with the guy or anyone he represents.

I agree that spam like cell phones etc. should just be tossed off completely, but this guy represented a company involved in hot rodding and aftermarket goods so I seems to me the case is a little different than your typical everyday spammer.
 
#147 ·
JGK95 said:
?

What'd I miss?
cboy nailed it. Some guy named William from China trying to sell crappy Chinese radiators. I was in hopes that the mods would just have removed the links in his posts instead of removing the entire post because it was a little funny. Someone, obviously clueless, trying to sell cheap junk to people who would never even remotely consider buying it...... and whoever heard of a skinny little Chicom named William anyway? :pain:
 
#148 ·
Some promised progress from this past weekend.

What the pics don't also explain is that the structural improvement on the suicide door post was done by our welder who did a fantastic job by adding weld plates at the bottom of each door post. At the top of the post, each post is reinforced with a horizontal bar for door structural support. Streetbeasts planned out a decent build, but could've used an improved design at the bottom of the door post.

Pics below.








The other photos are of the dash framing with the self tapping screws used initially for mock up purposes.




Lastly, here's another shot of the transmission ;)



The entire job was done via stick welding with a Miller. The power level was set at 21 and this thing was gas powered. It was a Very cool experience where I had the opportunity to even try my hand at stick welding. I was very impressed with the welder's patience, level of concentration and overall work. He enjoyed what he did and appreciated his work.

We even ground out the poor workmanship on the frame mounts from the original engine assembler and stick welded them to make the welds stronger. They were pitting and we hadn't even rolled this car out into the street!

Please enjoy,

Jay K.

ps. Check out the STEEL :D fuel line in the pic. I owe a debt of gratitude to the website for the recommendation.
 
#149 ·
Look's very good Jay.. But I think they should make the post bolt into the car like I did mine.. Have the whole floor glassed into the car.. Then make a plate that weld's to the frame and the car's floor sit's on the plate. Then the weld a plate to the bottom of the door post. then bolt it to the floor and through the frame plate.. Then you don't have a post welded to the frame and can't remove the car later if you need too. Not trying to put down your work Jay.. Just trying to give some help.. ;) I still think your doing a great Job Jay.. :thumbup:


The front frame under the dash,Can also be done the same way.. ;)
 
#150 ·
Hey Randy,

No harm, no foul, and your point is very valid. It's just my preference to see the car welded together rather than bolted together whether it's a Streetbeasts or a future build like a Factory Five ;) . Structural integrity is what I'm after and I don't want to have to revisit the car to tighten the screws that I already tightened the first time.

All good over here!
 
#151 ·
Finally got the steel fuel line to the regulator on the firewall. Pic below.



Now comes teh pain. Threading steel braided fuel line into 6AN fittings that will go from the regulator to the carburetor is going to be a nightmare. We spent money on Speedway Motors Koul Tool as it's in the July 2010 issue of R&C (pages 86-87) thinking we finally got a bead on this procedure.

Alas, we do not, so it's back to the drawing board for us.

If you guys got any tips on how I can thread steel braided fuel line into the 6AN fittings please let me know.

However, as I'm not the best at this, please add pics on how to do it.

Much Thanks,

Jay K.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top