The day has come!

[big-boss]

Thanks guys for all the information and help with my delema-

So you think: I should sell the sanded Kirkham buy some gold chains and a Ferrari and just get a girlfriend (half my age plus 7 years of course)- and let the chips fall as they may with the wife?

[MaSnaka]

Can you polish fiberglass?

[legenmetals]

But what would everyone think!

[pusherfans]

maybe you should paint it with that Chrome paint everyone assumes my car has. . . .

[jonas1022]

What a question! I'd never paint that car. American Airlines doesn't paint their airplanes. Why? It is the big silver bird. With paint, they just have another airplane. Same with your Cobra Replica. With paint, it's just another replica.

No paint.

[slider701]

I'm sure there are a ton of guys who will gladly trade you their painted FFR, ERA, BD, SPF, or other replica for your "naked" Kirkham..........thus saving you the trouble of having to paint your car.

imo..........if it is aluminum.........it should only be painted if it has a CSX tag on it. Otherwise it should stay naked so everyone knows it is a Kirkham.

[NFLDMNBB]

Just my .02 cents....... A polished kirkham is....... just BAD A$$!

[Lew Ledyard]

Polish the one you have and then buy a 289 car from Kirkham and paint it.

[Ronbo]

Originally Posted by PatBuckley

Thanks for the compliment, David.

I actually went down to 1500 grit paper before polishing.

My only issue with leaving the car au naturel is that as soon as you are done with your polish or sanding job the aluminum starts to oxidize - and you really can't just clean up one area (well I suppose you could but IMO it then looks really bad) you have to do the entire car! About every three or four months. There are other things I would rather do.

I have heard of some products that preserve the shine (Zoopseal?) but I never tried them.

I even purchased a gallon of Alodine 1001 from Wicks Aircraft Supply allegedly they use the stuff on planes to keep them shiny but I never tried it. I heard it was really really nasty stuff and that I should not go near it so it is sitting in a cupboard with a big warning sign on it not to drink it.

The reason I nver tried any of these products is because I could just see them totally ruining my lovely aluminum that I had spent thousands of hours on!

Get a sheet of aluminum to test them on...

Someone posted a clear coated, brushed finished car here a while back, looked awsome!

[Hexnut72]

Bill,

What about a vinyl wrap for the car? Murder it out with flat black all the way around and see how you like it. Tear it off after a couple of years and do something different?

Are you still running with the cover on the passenger side of the cockpit?

Joe

[hot427cobra]

I have owned a brushed finish car for two years and a polished car for three years. The polished car is way easier to maintain than the brushed finish. All I do is wipe down the polished car with warm water and a micro fiber towel to keep it clean. Only now after three years am I considering re-polishing the car with Nuvite and the cyclo polishing buffer. I think it is easier to keep maintaned the polished finished than a painted car.


Don't worry about painting the car in the first place, you can always paint the car later on if you don't like it natural.

[Jamo]

Originally Posted by big-boss

Thanks guys for all the information and help with my delema-

So you think: I should sell the sanded Kirkham buy some gold chains and a Ferrari and just get a girlfriend (half my age plus 7 years of course)- and let the chips fall as they may with the wife?

The Murci didn't come with gold chains? Cheap tractor-making basturds.

[Jamo]

Originally Posted by hot427cobra

I have owned a brushed finish car for two years and a polished car for three years. The polished car is way easier to maintain than the brushed finish. All I do is wipe down the polished car with warm water and a micro fiber towel to keep it clean. Only now after three years am I considering re-polishing the car with Nuvite and the cyclo polishing buffer. I think it is easier to keep maintaned the polished finished than a painted car.


Don't worry about painting the car in the first place, you can always paint the car later on if you don't like it natural.

What are you doing to "maintain" your brushed finish? Just wondering cuz I've done very little to maintain mine for the past seven years and it looks pretty much the way it came from Provo.

[HI Cobra]

I have only had mine 2 1/2 years and have had the same experience as Jamo -
a little windex and a diaper, 5 minutes maybe and that is it plus it doesn't show
the dirt or prints very much. Someone in Hawaii has a polished one and every
little fingerprint etc really showed after a couple of hours at a cruise in.

[hot427cobra]

With the brushed finish most of the time I simply used warm water with a micro fiber towel and another one for drying. Maybe if I had some grime or oil to remove I added a squirt or two of dishwashing soap to the bucket of water to cut through the dirt. It was like washing pots & pans after cooking.

After the first season to get rid of the scuff marks, I lightly wet sanded it using the maroon colored scotch brite. It took a few minutes to get the hang of going in one sweeping motion from front to back of the car staying parallel to the ground. The good thing was if you didn't like how the last stroke looked as far as it being straight enough, you just went back over it again and this time kept a steadier hand. The only prep work was to mask off the chrome ring around the headlights and tail lights because the scotch brite will scratch anything it comes in contact with.

I will say the brushed finish was nice because I didn't feel like I had to clean it all the time because it looked rough & tough. Whereas the polished finish looks beautiful but does need to be wiped down after each day of cruising. Either one is fine with me. What it really comes down to is the rush you get stomping on the gas and feeling that big block come alive. Now you're talking some serious fun!

[tin-man]

Originally Posted by big-boss

Thanks guys for all the information and help with my delema-

So you think: I should sell the sanded Kirkham buy some gold chains and a Ferrari and just get a girlfriend (half my age plus 7 years of course)- and let the chips fall as they may with the wife?

big boss, its really your choice after all. But seein' you have kept the wifey for 30 years and I bet there are several people on this site that will agree wifey's can be big time on the high end maintenance scale, the related merits of dumping high end car maintenance and high end wifey's becomes an age realted dilema. That said, if you have the testosterone levels exploding, go for the young girl friend, but consider buying a Delorean, one that will transport you and your girl friend into the future, because when you wifey finds out you is steppin' out on her she'll smack yo ass silly and all the chips WILL fall into her pocket during the break-up. So you gotta ask yourself is it worth it?

Final answer, suck it up, since a finely polished Kirkham is thing of beauty and a joy forever, and I am guessing your wife is too.

Cheers, tin-man

[Jamo]

Originally Posted by hot427cobra

With the brushed finish most of the time I simply used warm water with a micro fiber towel and another one for drying. Maybe if I had some grime or oil to remove I added a squirt or two of dishwashing soap to the bucket of water to cut through the dirt. It was like washing pots & pans after cooking.

After the first season to get rid of the scuff marks, I lightly wet sanded it using the maroon colored scotch brite. It took a few minutes to get the hang of going in one sweeping motion from front to back of the car staying parallel to the ground. The good thing was if you didn't like how the last stroke looked as far as it being straight enough, you just went back over it again and this time kept a steadier hand. The only prep work was to mask off the chrome ring around the headlights and tail lights because the scotch brite will scratch anything it comes in contact with.

I will say the brushed finish was nice because I didn't feel like I had to clean it all the time because it looked rough & tough. Whereas the polished finish looks beautiful but does need to be wiped down after each day of cruising. Either one is fine with me. What it really comes down to is the rush you get stomping on the gas and feeling that big block come alive. Now you're talking some serious fun!

Well, thanks for assplaining how that's done...I would have never known.

I think HiCobra and I were wondering why you made the statement that a polished finish was 'way easier" to maintain than the brushed finish. From this latest post, you seem to indicate life is a bit easier with the brushed.

In any event, as you note...it's all good.

I use Windex...the original blue stuff. I only use the Scotchbrite when I really have to...just the affected area.

[Lew Ledyard]

Painted cars are pretty friggin' easy to maintain as well. Wax once or twice a year (or once every two years if you get busy). Wash about 3-4 times a year, if that. Just drive it. No matter if its anticeptically clean or it wears a little road grime, it's still a cool car.

[PANAVIA]

I wonder if you could "clear powder coat" the body.

That way you could seal in the good finish.

Just a thought