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Street Beast builds......Tips, problems and solutions.

291K views 804 replies 73 participants last post by  shortsteven618 
#1 ·
Street Beasts is out of business, so is their tech support.
A couple of us thought it might be a good idea to have a thread where
tips, questions and solutions regarding these car kits can be discussed and hopefully solved. We seem to have a number of newer members with these kits and a number of members that have built these cars and have solved many of the problems. This thread would give these members to get together with their common problems and solutions.

We did have some employees of the company on our board a while back. Their input would be welcome I am sure too.

BTW, this thread is about the build, not the company that produced these kits. The mods will be monitoring the thread and talk of the company and policies of the company will be edited out or deleted, whatever it takes to keep it just about the build......so, lets keep it that way.

Since this thread will discuss a number of different subjects, from body to framework to suspensions etc, I thought it might be best to have this thread in the lounge.
 
#177 ·
brickyardboy said:
Well I hit it lucky, and found a new pair of Gabriel 81461 shocks on ebay. I was the only bidder, and got them for 99 cents, plus $11.95 shipping. All things considered, that was a good price. They should be in today, and I'll get them on the car.
I would say you stepped in $h*t talk about luck. Good for you. I never begrudge any of my friends of having some good luck. Let me know how they work for you on your car. Also check the number that is actually on the shock. Just curious to see if the number changed there also.
 
#179 ·
brickyardboy said:
Like yours, the box read 81461, and the shocks read 733604. The ebay seller stated that they're the same shock, just with different control numbers. After I install them, I'll let you know how I made out. Again, thanks loads for all your valuable info.
So in other words you got the same exact shock (733604 Gabriel) that I used on my build in 1992. These manufacturers make me laugh. I know I have been dealing with them in my business since '78. They come out with what is considered a new shock yet they sell the old stock of numbers reboxed with the new part number. Kind of like a store thats been around for awhile having a Grand Re-Opening. lol
 
#180 ·
street beast builds

ffas23 said:
So in other words you got the same exact shock (733604 Gabriel) that I used on my build in 1992. These manufacturers make me laugh. I know I have been dealing with them in my business since '78. They come out with what is considered a new shock yet they sell the old stock of numbers reboxed with the new part number. Kind of like a store thats been around for awhile having a Grand Re-Opening. lol
Looking at the list of shocks, everyone is for a car that weigh's a hell of a lot more than your 34 glass car, must be like riding on a board. Don't say it rides soft because it can't, when you put a shock that goes on a Lincoln, or even a Cougar. Two of us lifted mine with fenders, so the back of the 34 is pretty lite.

Brickyardboy, I have the manual if you need one, I won't be home for 4 weeks, I'm in a care center with a fracture of the tibia, can't get to the book. IMO you can build it better without the book.JMO

Bob
 
#181 ·
When building this car you need the manual to see where all of the frame parts go. Without it one would be lost. Need it to see what the many loose fiberglass pieces are for otherwise one would be lost once again without the manual. Sure you can do many things differently when building your particular car if you want but most people have a hard enough time building the car even having the manual on hand yet many still can not build this car. I can't imagine what a novice would do not having a manual at all to go by. Classic Motor Carriages recommended the shock part number that was listed for the rear of their version of the '34 Ford. Actually not a bad ride at all using these shocks on a stock 1989 Ford Mustang LX Rear End using the stock Mustang LX Rear Springs in the process of building my car years ago. Riding on a board. I don't think so. :nono:
 
#182 · (Edited)
ffas23 said:
When building this car you need the manual to see where all of the frame parts go. Without it one would be lost. Need it to see what the many loose fiberglass pieces are for otherwise one would be lost once again without the manual. Sure you can do many things differently when building your particular car if you want but most people have a hard enough time building the car even having the manual on hand yet many still can not build this car. I can't imagine what a novice would do not having a manual at all to go by. Classic Motor Carriages recommended the shock part number that was listed for the rear of their version of the '34 Ford. Actually not a bad ride at all using these shocks on a stock 1989 Ford Mustang LX Rear End using the stock Mustang LX Rear Springs in the process of building my car years ago. Riding on a board. I don't think so. :nono:
I will give you a first time builder, but after that, if you have built a car before you sure don't need the book and CMC sure didn't have the best way to do things, and car people would know that and change it. I re-welded every weld in the car, put gussets where they should have put them, as the frame as is, is not the safest thing as far as frames go. Yes I know you have had yours a bunch of years, and nothing has happened, but that doesn't make it right. Just like guys have used brass compression fittings on brake lines, and nothing has happened but it doesn't make it right, plus it is against the law.

As far as the shocks go, it doesn't make any difference what rear end you use, it's how much travel you have and the weight of the car, that's why I said you would get a better ride and the right shock if you weigh the back end, which is what any good dealer would tell you.

Bob
 
#183 ·
35terraplane said:
Looking at the list of shocks, everyone is for a car that weigh's a hell of a lot more than your 34 glass car, must be like riding on a board. Don't say it rides soft because it can't, when you put a shock that goes on a Lincoln, or even a Cougar. Two of us lifted mine with fenders, so the back of the 34 is pretty lite.

Brickyardboy, I have the manual if you need one, I won't be home for 4 weeks, I'm in a care center with a fracture of the tibia, can't get to the book. IMO you can build it better without the book.JMO

Bob
Bob, I've sent a PM.
 
#184 ·
street beast builds

brickyardboy said:
Bob, I've sent a PM.
Ok like I said it will be at least 4 more weeks before I get out of here, And it might be more. The book is yours, while you are waiting look over the frame real good make sure the welds are good and not full of bubbles. Weld gussets in, around the front where the engine is. I don't know if you have started on it yet or if you have built a car before, if you have worked on cars before, you will have no trouble with this, the big thing is think real car, the streetbeast is not built like one, but if you build it like one all is good, not easy, but good.

Bob
 
#185 ·
ffas23 said:
I would say you stepped in $h*t talk about luck. Good for you. I never begrudge any of my friends of having some good luck. Let me know how they work for you on your car. Also check the number that is actually on the shock. Just curious to see if the number changed there also.
I installed the new shocks last weekend, ans had a chance to take it for a ride yesterday. They provide a smoother ride than the air shocks did, mainly because I had to keep the air shocks pretty stiff so the tires wouldn't hit the fender edge when I hit a big bump in the road. Not much clearance between the fender edge and the tire (1") so I have to be careful. I may have to change the rear wheels to allow more room. If and when I can afford to do it, I will then convert to 5 lugs. The guy that built this car put on the 14" American Racing wheels (4" backspacing) with 225x70 tires, and the air shocks to keep the body well above the tire edge. There's loads of clearance between the shock and inside tire edge, so he could have easily used a wheel with 5" backspace and there wouldn't have been a clearance problem. There's many things that I would like to change on this car, but question the feasibility to do so.
 
#186 · (Edited)
I had the same problem with that little bit of rub on the fender being the fender doesn't extend out far enough. Me being 250 lbs probably didn't help the situation either and with someone else in the car with me instead of air shocks what I did was install air bags inside of the rear springs for that occasion when you need a little bit stiffer of a ride. You might want to consider that instead. At least you can put as much air inside of them as you want or just enough so that you won't rub your tires when hitting one of those big bumps in the road as you mentioned about. I think you will notice a better ride with air bags rather then air shocks and they are not that all expensive or hard to install.

One other thing I installed 225/60-15 Tires on the back of my Coupe and 205/60-14 on the front, all BFGoodrich when building my car. Actually I needed wheels to sit my frame on from the beginning and bought the set of American wheels the car is still sitting on today 14x6 in front and 15x7 in the rear. Backside setting 3-3/4", Bolt Circle 5-4-1/2".
 
#188 ·
NEW INTERIORS said:
Most people won't tell you, But when we are on here talking about a problem with these cars, We will point it out.. So please don't take this the wrong way.. Your car is very nice, And I'm not trying to knock it.. But anytime you can see day light on top of the tire.. On these cars. It is to high.. Sorry for being the one to point it out.. And some people do like it that way.. But on a car with them fenders, They look much better when the top of the tire is inside the fender..I have a few pics to better show you what I'm getting at..

If that girl on the PS of the car wasn't standing there, I could show you that if you lower your car the tires would hit the lip of your fenders.. When you can see the inside of you fender well (top side)from the outside of your car.. IT TO HIGH... That's the point we are trying to make here..We do not want to turn this thread into a fight. It is to better help people understand what's wrong, And what to look for to fix it.. Randy


I personally like the look of the higher rears than the lowered ones... that said, maybe somewhere in between would be the better choice.
Bart in FL
 
#189 ·
btsave said:
Can you share with us the wheel and tire size recommended? I have Cragar SS 15's and they do stick out an inch.
Bart in FL
Bart, Check your manual as it covers this subject as what to do. They do recommend 14" for the front and 15" for the rear in the manual but you will have to determine everything else. Started building my car back in '92 so I can't remember everything that was written in the manual exactly from way back.. I suggest you read up on it. I showed what wheels and tires I ended up using in my build in the post just before this one.
 
#190 ·
street beast builds

btsave said:
Can you share with us the wheel and tire size recommended? I have Cragar SS 15's and they do stick out an inch.
Bart in FL
Bart. If you are talking about the front tires sticking out, it is because the front crossmember is too wide. I had to widen my Fenders 2" each and I still had to get a wheel that was off set in, so I could turn the wheel far enough.

You can see in the two pictures how the fender goes over the front tires, those are 14" wheel and those are the tires I'm using on the front, for the back I have bigger ones.

Bob
 

Attachments

#191 ·
35terraplane said:
Bart. If you are talking about the front tires sticking out, it is because the front crossmember is too wide. I had to widen my Fenders 2" each and I still had to get a wheel that was off set in, so I could turn the wheel far enough.

You can see in the two pictures how the fender goes over the front tires, those are 14" wheel and those are the tires I'm using on the front, for the back I have bigger ones.

Bob
Front's are fine, what I have is the rear's sticking out too far. No manual, picked up a "completed" project and am sorting it out now. My guess is PO simply used rims with wrong backspace. Has air shocks, but I haven't lowered them yet.
Oh, picture is a little misleading as the driveway is lower on the rear of the car and on the passenger side...



on flat surface...
 
#192 · (Edited)
street beast builds

btsave said:
Front's are fine, what I have is the rear's sticking out too far. No manual, picked up a "completed" project and am sorting it out now. My guess is PO simply used rims with wrong backspace. Has air shocks, but I haven't lowered them yet.
Oh, picture is a little misleading as the driveway is lower on the rear of the car and on the passenger side...



on flat surface...
If you have the stock Mustang rear end, I don't know how much room you have between the edge of fender and the face of the brake drum, and the face of the brake drum and frame, you will have to check that to see what off set you need, you will have to go in at least a inch and a half. My backs are good as I used a Jag. rear end, they are not as wide.

Looking at the picture again you might be SOL your offset on your wheel looks pretty flat now, I don't know if you can get a wheel that would put the tire inside the fender. You might have to either change rear ends or narrow yours, but it's hard to tell from a picture. Bye the way nice car :thumbup:

Bob

Not to worry about the car sitting on a slope, I just held my laptop up on one side.LOL :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :mwink:
 
#193 ·
Bart,
Your wheels and tires stick out pretty far in the back of your car. Mine is close that it has rubbed at times but not sticking out very much. Have no problem with my fronts and I cut a coil out of the front springs that came off of a Mustang II that I used in my build. No rubbing at all and can turn the wheel left to right all the way, no problem.

 
#195 ·
My American Racing wheels on rear of the car have a 4" backspace, which pushes the wheel under the fender edge. There's plenty of space between the inside tire edge and shock, so a 5" backspace wheel would have tucked the tire inside the wheel well, allowing me to not have to use the air shocks to keep the fender edge from rubbing on the tire top when you hit a bump.
 

Attachments

#196 ·
street beast builds

brickyardboy said:
My American Racing wheels on rear of the car have a 4" backspace, which pushes the wheel under the fender edge. There's plenty of space between the inside tire edge and shock, so a 5" backspace wheel would have tucked the tire inside the wheel well, allowing me to not have to use the air shocks to keep the fender edge from rubbing on the tire top when you hit a bump.
If you are right at the edge of the fender with the tire, that will work if you can get a 5" backspace wheel, . Don't forget your tire starts rounding out from the tread so if you don't allow enough you could hit the side of the tire. I thought you said the tire stuck out a inch, but if not all the better.
If you can't get your wheel with a 5" backspace you might have to do as Dave suggested and either look into a different rearend or have yours cut. If you live in a big town you should have someone that can do the work, axles are a different story. There you need someone with a hobbing machine to cut the big spline on the axle.

Bob
 
#197 ·
35terraplane said:
If you are right at the edge of the fender with the tire, that will work if you can get a 5" backspace wheel, . Don't forget your tire starts rounding out from the tread so if you don't allow enough you could hit the side of the tire. I thought you said the tire stuck out a inch, but if not all the better.
If you can't get your wheel with a 5" backspace you might have to do as Dave suggested and either look into a different rearend or have yours cut. If you live in a big town you should have someone that can do the work, axles are a different story. There you need someone with a hobbing machine to cut the big spline on the axle.

Bob
No, the tire doesn't stick out one inch. What I meant was that I have 1" clearance from the top right edge of my tire to the fender rim without anyone sitting in the car.
Even with the new gas shocks on, when you get two people in the car it will bottom and rub when hitting a bump. Seeing that this is a 4 lug, it's difficult to find a pair of American Racing 'Baja' wheels with 5" backspacing. I've looked just about everywhere, but no luck. They have the wheel in a 15 x8 five lug with 5 1/2" backspace, but does me no good right now. I have to now consider changing to 5 lug, which means I'll need to now buy four new wheels, or like you said, seek another rear end, or have this one cut down. All expensive propositions. I'm thinking of pulling the shocks off, and putting new air shocks on for the time being, so that I can use the car, and than take some time to make the next choice. I agree with most opinions here that these cars would look so much nicer if you could tuck both front and back tires into the wheel wells. Anyone using dropped spindles on the front?
 
#198 · (Edited)
street beast builds

brickyardboy said:
No, the tire doesn't stick out one inch. What I meant was that I have 1" clearance from the top right edge of my tire to the fender rim without anyone sitting in the car.
Even with the new gas shocks on, when you get two people in the car it will bottom and rub when hitting a bump. Seeing that this is a 4 lug, it's difficult to find a pair of American Racing 'Baja' wheels with 5" backspacing. I've looked just about everywhere, but no luck. They have the wheel in a 15 x8 five lug with 5 1/2" backspace, but does me no good right now. I have to now consider changing to 5 lug, which means I'll need to now buy four new wheels, or like you said, seek another rear end, or have this one cut down. All expensive propositions. I'm thinking of pulling the shocks off, and putting new air shocks on for the time being, so that I can use the car, and than take some time to make the next choice. I agree with most opinions here that these cars would look so much nicer if you could tuck both front and back tires into the wheel wells. Anyone using dropped spindles on the front?
I have dropped spindles, which lower the car 2", I also have mustang racing springs which lower the car 1 1/2" but have the same compression rate as stock springs.

Bob
 
#199 ·
brickyardboy said:
No, the tire doesn't stick out one inch. What I meant was that I have 1" clearance from the top right edge of my tire to the fender rim without anyone sitting in the car.
Even with the new gas shocks on, when you get two people in the car it will bottom and rub when hitting a bump. Seeing that this is a 4 lug, it's difficult to find a pair of American Racing 'Baja' wheels with 5" backspacing. I've looked just about everywhere, but no luck. They have the wheel in a 15 x8 five lug with 5 1/2" backspace, but does me no good right now. I have to now consider changing to 5 lug, which means I'll need to now buy four new wheels, or like you said, seek another rear end, or have this one cut down. All expensive propositions. I'm thinking of pulling the shocks off, and putting new air shocks on for the time being, so that I can use the car, and than take some time to make the next choice. I agree with most opinions here that these cars would look so much nicer if you could tuck both front and back tires into the wheel wells. Anyone using dropped spindles on the front?
Leave the gas shocks on. Just go to Summit or Jegs and purchase a set of air bags to put in the 2 rear springs as I did and you will not have any more problems with rubbing of the tires. If you have a Mustang rear in the car as I have you just order it for whatever year Mustang it came out of. In my case I ordered them for a '89 Mustang LX. I am sure I still have the part number in my build folder. I have my air valve set up right behind the rear Drivers side tire in the frame. If I carry another person in the car I put about 25-30 psi in the air bags. I think it is the better way to go then to go with air shocks.
 
#200 ·
ffas23 said:
Leave the gas shocks on. Just go to Summit or Jegs and purchase a set of air bags to put in the 2 rear springs as I did and you will not have any more problems with rubbing of the tires. If you have a Mustang rear in the car as I have you just order it for whatever year Mustang it came out of. In my case I ordered them for a '89 Mustang LX. I am sure I still have the part number in my build folder. I have my air valve set up right behind the rear Drivers side tire in the frame. If I carry another person in the car I put about 25-30 psi in the air bags. I think it is the better way to go then to go with air shocks.
I did look up the air lift drag bags on Summit last week when we talked about alternatives, but because I would have to drop the rear end and remove the springs to install the bags, i started looking for a less time consuming fix. LOL Just kidding here. I know sometimes there's no easy way out of a problem, and I appreciate all suggestions. This way I can digest the info and choose what's going to work on my car.
 
#201 ·
brickyardboy said:
I did look up the air lift drag bags on Summit last week when we talked about alternatives, but because I would have to drop the rear end and remove the springs to install the bags, i started looking for a less time consuming fix. LOL Just kidding here. I know sometimes there's no easy way out of a problem, and I appreciate all suggestions. This way I can digest the info and choose what's going to work on my car.
It sounds like a Big Job but it isn't. All you need is one jack stand and a floor jack and it is no harder then changing out your rear shocks on your car. What you do is put your floor jack under the side you want to start with. Say you are doing the passenger side first as I would do. Put the floor jack under the right side of the rear end and lift the car so that you can put a jack stand under the frame on the Passenger side before the rear wheel. Then pump the floor jack up enough to take pressure off of the rear shock on the side you are working on to disconnect it. Once the shock is removed let it down some and you will be able to take the spring out on that side. The bag goes in the spring and then you put the spring back in the area where it sits on top of the rear. The only other thing you will need to do is to drill a hole in the housing above where the spring sits to put the air hose through that connects to the air bag before you put the spring back in. You then route your lines to the other side and do the same there. In my case as I mentioned in another post I mounted my valve on the frame right behind the Drivers side rear wheel area so I have easy access to put air inside of the air bags from there. Its basically almost the same job as putting air shocks in your car but I feel the air bags are a better choice.
 
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