Kirkham side exhaust

[fordracing65]

What is the benefit of upgrading to the Kirkham fully satainless steel exhaust over the mild steel exhaust that comes standard at no extra charged with the roller, is there a flow difference, sound difference, etc, any info would help, thanks. (I know stainless is a better metal but is the price increase worth it on the performance end)

[Rick Parker]

It will vastly reduce the weight of your wallet

[Dimis]

Power wise you won't know or feel any difference.
The flow rates I'd guess would be almost identical.

Theoretically the stainless steel may last longer as it deals with corrosion & heat cycles better, but in my experience the steel last plenty long enough, particularly if you paint or ceramic coat them.

If you want best performance improvement for $3k I recommend spending it on 18-inch wheels & some decent rubber

[Avmaviator]

I sent you a pm Pete

[fordracing65]

Originally Posted by Dimis

Power wise you won't know or feel any difference.
The flow rates I'd guess would be almost identical.

Theoretically the stainless steel may last longer as it deals with corrosion & heat cycles better, but in my experience the steel last plenty long enough, particularly if you paint or ceramic coat them.

If you want best performance improvement for $3k I recommend spending it on 18-inch wheels & some decent rubber

3K is for a polished set, its $1500 for the ss upgrade as I would polish myself.

[fordracing65]

Originally Posted by Avmaviator

I sent you a pm Pete

Ill be calling you today, thanks.

[ng8264723]

I have the SS and love them. I would recommend polishing them yourself. It's pretty easy and you save a lot of money. You DA the scrathes and marks out and ten polish them. Don't use a small bench grinder though. You need a massive bench grinder or a polishing setup. I have a 1.25 old bench grinder that I used. It worked great. then polished the ss steering shaft and a bunch of other tid bits

[Lew Ledyard]

Is there any reason to opt for the stainless upgrade if you are going to ceramic coat them black?

[NFLDMNBB]

I think the black coated look great on the bare alum. cars.

[fordracing65]

Originally Posted by Lew Ledyard

Is there any reason to opt for the stainless upgrade if you are going to ceramic coat them black?

Stainless is the best material to use, the other option is mild steel which will rust over time, yes you can caot the stainless black.

[mickmate]

Stainless does have a different acoustic quality. It sounds MG like to me but magnified by about 3 times.....on each side.

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by NFLDMNBB

I think the black coated look great on the bare alum. cars.

I agree. Also, IIRC the SS pipes have a "different" look to them whereas the stock black coated pipes have a factory appearance. Of course, Kirkham may have changed the appearance, but here's a link to a pic of the modern SS pipes:

427 Stainless Side Pipes, Polished

[Cobra #3170]

I have gone through two sets of mild steel exhausts because of corrosion and have switched to stainless with good results. I don't know what collector Kirkham is using but if it is like the original you are leaving HP on the table, a modern collector helps a lot.

[fordracing65]

Originally Posted by Cobra #3170

I have gone through two sets of mild steel exhausts because of corrosion and have switched to stainless with good results. I don't know what collector Kirkham is using but if it is like the original you are leaving HP on the table, a modern collector helps a lot.

There new system is a 4-1 collector which exits outside the car, so its a modern design for performance and unrestrictive flow, but does not look original, and the mufflers are made by Coast Fab exhaust, they only make the mufflers for them with a 3 inch core, very unrestrictive, the headers are made my Kirkham with there new manderal bending tool, Coast fab is a company that makes exhaust for formula one cars out of California, from what the Kirkhams say this new SS set up is the least restrictive thay have seen and used. Perfect for a 600hp plus engine.

[Cobra #3170]

Coast Fab makes very good mufflers they are right about that. Originals exited outside the car too, the problem with the collector was that the individual pipes curved into the collector unlike a modern merge collector.

[fordracing65]

Originally Posted by Cobra #3170

Coast Fab makes very good mufflers they are right about that. Originals exited outside the car too, the problem with the collector was that the individual pipes curved into the collector unlike a modern merge collector.

You know ive said it before, I value your opinion on cobras most on this site, thanks for all the info and help.

[Mark Thompson]

In addition to corrosion resistance there is one additional benefit to stainless relative to mild steel. It is much harder, which makes it significantly more abrasion resistant in the throw area of the front tire. If you look at cars that have some miles on them this area is quite beat up, minus paint, coating, etc. My polished stainless headers have almost imperceptible pits in this area at 2k miles.

Mark