Quote Originally Posted by Sounder
Well, I have a street beast that I'm building. Seems that all the negative comments are from people who don't have one, and most haven't seen one either. I've been doing the build for two years, including hot and cold weather, and the fiberglass is holding up just fine. In my eyes, the quality has been good, and they have done everything they promised.

I just had a painter come to do an estimate, and he was impressed with the quality of the glass and the fit of the doors and hood. That's just with my alignment, not with any professional adjustment or body filler. He said he expects 100 hours of body work, including blocking, smoothing, and resolving any issues to make it perfect. Compared to others I've seen, this sounds like a very reasonable amount of time. Seems most figure at least 50 hours just to block and prep for paint, so I think I'm doing good. He also said he just finished doing a Heritage Willys that took over 500 hours of body work to get the door and hood lines straight, and has been back to him several times for issues that came up due to the poor quality of the glass. So, SB may not be the best, but it's surely not the worst!

What I see with SB is that many of the people who build them think they are saving money. They plan from the start to have a "bargain". What they end up with is a not-so-good job. I'm doing the best I can, using the best parts, and getting a good finish, and I have a car that I'm confident I can be proud of for a long time coming. I've seen a lot of them over the years, and the difference is all about what level of effort the builder put into doing good work.

Buy what you like. Look it over, and if it's done well, enjoy the car!

Good comment about folks thinking they're gonna save a few bucks.
Not true in almost all cases Street Beasts or not.

I am curious though, and no insult intended, is this your first hot rod build?
Have you worked with any other aftermarket body manufacturers offerings?

My experiences have been with Wescott and Brookville.
Both were quite satisfactory.
The Brookville roadster is to the looks like you could drive it stage for just over $14,000.
A chunk of change for sure, but not as bad as it could have been.
About $2500. to get it plumbed, wired and drive train rebuilt should have it up and running in primer.

All work to date done by me and I'll be the guy doing the engine, trans and paint.

That said, a friend of mine was building hot rods for others in his street rod shop and had some interesting things to say about the poor fit of the Street Beast's doors to body among other things.

More than a few bad words were interspersed into the conversation....