BUILDING THE BEAST, Part 9 - By Bill Moore Now that we have the engine mounted, it's time to align the front wheels and prepare the body for a test-fitting to the frame. Now that we have the engine mounted, it's time to do a preliminary alignment of the front wheels and prepare the body for a test-fitting to the frame. Now, as we prepare for the moment when the body of our Street Beasts Coupe is mounted to the frame, you have to realize something &endash; the body is probably going to be placed on the frame several times before you get it exactly right. And, equally important, there are several steps that must be taken even before the body is mounted. Our goal here is to give you a rough outline of the mechanical procedures that you'll be using in the assembly of your Street Beast, fully expecting that you'll have the required skills for the job. If you don't, you either must depend on your buddies or get detailed instructions from Haynes, Chilton or MOTOR automotive manuals. And, of course, we've got someone sitting at the end of the tech phone line to help you over any rough spots. What those manuals won't tell you is how to prepare the body for installation and how to prep it for paint, so we'll do it here. First of all, when the body is removed from our multi-part molds there are, quite naturally, mold lines on the body. However, we have a full department devoted to trimming the bodies, removing the mold lines and then sanding the entire body with 400 and 600 grit sandpaper to reduce the time you must spend prepping it for paint. When we ship the body to you, the windshield and rear window in the Coupe have not been cut out & endash; and you'll have to do that. Just follow the photos and read the captions to see how this is done. Incidentally, we leave that fiberglass in place to maintain body rigidity while it's being shipped to you. One other area of note here is that there is an area of fiberglass extending down from bead line around the body and this too must be trimmed once the body has been permanently to your frame. Again, this is left to absorb any unexpected shocks to the body while it's being shipped to you. Look at the photos to see what we mean! Before the body is actually lowered onto the frame, the fiberglass trunk liner must be positioned at the back of the car so the curve of the fiberglass conforms to the curve of the car's body. Some minor adjustment may be required to the liner to allow the body to sit flush, but see the photos for all of the details. At the back of the car &endash; as part of our ongoing efforts to simplify the construction of your Street Beast & endash; we've made a recent change to the Rear Bumper Brackets and how they are attached to the frame. The bumper frame brackets are now two separate units (Part No. 24-0690-10) and are no longer a fixed part of the main frame. This production change allows you to move the rear of the body right or left so the tires can be evenly spaced in the rear wheel wells. Once the body is centered evenly over the rear wheels, install the brackets using two 3/8-16x4-inch long hex bolts, four 3/8-inch flat washers and two 3/8-inch lock washers and nuts. Also, the Bumper Support tubes are now 11/2-inch O.D. So, before mounting the body, drill out two 1 5/8-inch holes in the center of the rear bumper protrusions on the body. This will now give you more edge distance for a better finish.       After completing the frame, the next step is to test-fit the body. In our case, the body was transported by forklift from one side of the 75,000-square foot factory to the other.         Cameron McCrary, our head of R&D, unhooks the body which now sits virtually flush on the frame.         Once the forklift was out of the way, we took several photos of how the body sat on the frame. It was at this point that we noticed that the rear end of the car was sitting a bit too high.         Here, you can see that Cameron has marked areas that he will cut. The goal was to move the trunk liner to the front (right).         Here, with a grinder, he makes several minor cuts in the trunk liner.         In this view you can see how the trimmed trunk liner sits in conjunction with a frame member that helps support the rear of the body.         Here, you can see where Cameron marked and then trimmed a corner of the trunk liner at its rear.         Once this minor obstacle was overcome, we removed the body and did a preliminary alignment to the car. Cameron drilled alignment holes in the front uprights, and then used his alignment tool.         Here the cast and camber are checked as he aligns the front end.         Finally, he bolts everything down. Once the car is completed, you are advised to have a professional alignment technician set your car up for proper handling and to mimize tire wear.         The versatile Cameron created this little tool with a protractor, a pencil, a cotter pin and some electrical tape so he could mark a cut-line half and inch from the edges of the windows.         Yeah, that's right; half an inch.         The tool is placed on the windshield area.         Here we go!         As Cameron nears completion, you can see how effective the little tool was in making a uniform line around the front window.         He got the same kind of precision at the rear window of the Coupe as well.         Once the cut-lines were in place, the windows were cut out by using a cutting wheel. Incidentally, you can drill a hole in the window fiberglass and use a jig-saw as an option.         We also marked cut-lines on the trunk.         And this, too, was trimmed away. For safety's sake, always wear eye and breathing protection while working with fiberglass.         Here, you can see the bead which circles the car, and the extended fiberglass lip which helps protect the body during transit.         This is what it looks like with the lip removed.         As you can see, there's also a lip at the front as well. (We should have an arrow pointing this out!)         And now, we move back to permanently mounting the body. In this photo you can clearly see the trunk liner with the body suspended over it.         Here, the body is guided into place.         No adjustmnet were necessary as we lowered the body into position; it cleared everything including the engine.         The body slowly fits into place.         During the course of our building the '34 Coupe, affectionately named "Little Car", we discovered a series of minor changes that help make the car even easier to build.         Now, the bumper bracket is no longer welded into place. Instead, it can be shifted into a position to assure that the rear wheels are centered in the wheel wells.         Here, you can see the bumper support in the bracket, reversed so it can pass through the body as a guide to proper alignment.         This is a clear view of the separate piece.         And here, you can see how it's mounted on the 10-gauge steel rear crossmember.. You'll have to mark, and then drill the 3/8-inch holes for the bolts after you've centered the body.         Once the body had been dropped onto the frame, we removed the rear wheels and checked under the car.         In this view, we see Cameron on a creeper. Above him is the fuel tank, and above that, the reversed bumper support. You can see where it will pass through the body.         Here's a detail shot showing exactly where that will take place.         Here, the fiberglass mounting point for the bumper support is marked.         Then, using a grinding tool, we gradually opened the hole.         This is the rough cut.         Next, we smoothed out the edges of the opening. Again, we urge you to use eye protection and a facemask to prevent your breathing in the fiberglass particles when you perform this operation.         In this shot, you can see how the reversed bumper bracket exactly matches the hole for the bumper support.         The finished hole awaits the bumper support.         This is the bumper support, about to finally be mounted in the direction intended.         And this is how it looks mounted         Although we will actually mount the bumper later, this is what it looks like when mounted