Announcing New Kirkham Billet Aluminum 427 Block

[Byots]

By the way, what is the weight of a '65 Shelby American rac Cobra spec 289 engine with webers? I've seen some generic small block Ford numbers on the internet in the 460-470 lb area, but unsure of exactly what configuration that is and which accessories may be included in the number.

[Lew Ledyard]

David:

That is really cool. Upgrading to this block would probably cost less (cost of new motor minus sale price of my now obsolete Shelby aluminum motor) than my wife spends on shoes in a year, so it seems like a reasonable purchase. It might be a little soon to ask for more, but are billet heads in the near future? That might bring the weight of a BB head down to that of an SB head. Times 2, that could save a good amount of weight high up on the motor.

[Rick Parker]

I'd just like to have the wooden plug for a killer Coffee Table Base.

Now there is a marketing idea!

[Power Surge]

Originally Posted by Rick Parker

I'd just like to have the wooden plug for a killer Coffee Table Base.

Now there is a marketing idea!

You might onto something there. Those cheezy plastic mock up blocks are $450. I bet you anything that people would EAT UP nice finished wood replicas. Are you listening David?

[sidewaysinthird]

Great idea building a block out of billet.

I'm going to assume that when the final price is worked out it will include sleeves? The problem with some of the other blocks on the market is they require some machine work before assembly. Will your billet approach be ready to wash and assemble?

About those "moon ray" pieces you left out of the design, wouldn't anything made from billet be more stable than most anything made out from a casting giving it greater strength and not be required?

Thanks for another option...

Mike

[djseed]

David:

It is great to hear that a reliable company is planning and executing this project. It will be a great addition to an aluminum cobra.

One quick question. I see you are using Nikisil lined bores. I guess this means there are no steel liners? Would this be similar to the Chevy ZL1 aluminum block of old?

[David Kirkham]

momarkmach1,

Nikasil is commonly used on almost all motorcycle engines. ALL race engines use it now. It is a coating that is deposited on the cylinder walls so they can take the friction of the piston moving up an down in the bore.

The coating is completely renewable. We are hoping to be able to get 1/2 a point of compression out of the motor (11:1) and still be able to run on pump gas. But, that has yet to be seen on the dyno tests. The cooling of the aluminum block should let us get away with it. But, all BS goes out the window once we have it on the dyno.

As I talked to Mike Lefevers and Dave Dralle, everyone seems to think with turbos the engine could easily stand 1500 hp, but who cares at that point? If it stands up to 700 I would be thrilled. That is way more than I ever care to use.

MKIV,

Send me along one of those cranks...or better yet, send me the CNC code to make it!

Rsimoes,

Currently max bore is 4.25. Max stroke is 4.25, but we hope to be able to stretch that to 4.375.

Byots,

Yes, the 79 pounds includes the girdle (main caps). I am very sure the Shelby block is heavier than 130 pounds...but, admitedly, I have to check. It has been quite some time since I have weighed one and my memory may not be correct. I do seem to remember, however, I posted the weight of an aluminum block some time back. Maybe I'll do a search and see if I can find it.

I will post the weights of various motors tomorrow. I do have them listed on a spread sheet. We weigh motors and cars all the time.

Lew,

I'll trade a block for a few shoes any day. But I am not sure my wife (or your's) would! I look forward to getting your car back for a diet.

Rick, Sal,

The wood makes a MESS in the CNC mill. I look more like a cabinet maker than a machinist now! Wood chips everywhere! But who knows what we will do.

Mike,

No sleeves. You run the pistons right on the Nikasil. That is one of the reasons it is so light.

Billet certainly is far stronger than castings on most things. Of course, with a casting you can make cores and do all sorts of strange things that for a given project may make a casting better...turbine blades come to mind. BUT, when it comes to aluminum, a billet is almost always better. (I can't think of anywhere it a casting would be better.) The properties of cast aluminum (regardless of the alloy) are quite low. Far lower than you would suspect. At any temperature castings loose their strength and rigidity very, very quickly. At engine and brake caliper temperatures, less than 1/2 of the original strength remains while 6061 remains largely unaffected.

Porosity is the monster that you have to deal with in castings. Where there is a hole...there is no strength. So, you have to make it very, very thick to compensate for fatigue, etc.

David

[David Kirkham]

David,

Thank you for your kind words.

You are right, no liners. I am not sure what the old ZL1 ran. Perhaps some of the other motor heads could chime in on this one?

David

[Rick Parker]

DAVID: Wood shavings aren't any worse than aluminum shards AND it cleans up easier too. Diversify!

[Jamo]

Good stuff, DaveyBoy.

Hurry up with the heads.

[Dwight]

I hope I hit the Power Ball soon!!!!!!!!

Dwight


Aluminum everything

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by David Kirkham

I am VERY, VERY happy to announce the new Kirkham Billet Aluminum 427 engine block. I have wanted to do this for years and we finally had the opportunity to make one of my dreams come true.

We had special FORGED billets of aluminum made for the starting blanks.

What is the weight of the billet blank before machining?

Any plans on making cylinder heads?

[Excaliber]

Running 11 to 1 C.R. will also be a function of the heads, 'quench' in particular I'm talking about. Good quench with alloy heads combined with the alloy block just may let you get away with some serious compression on pump gas.

Will the block accept a typical 428 1U crank? Rods? Hydraulic OR solid lifters?

Whew, looking good David!

[David Kirkham]

Rick,

I can deal with aluminum chips...aluminum chips=money!

Jamo,

Heads ARE on the list. But I have to get the block working first!

Dwight,

Maybe one day I will just carve the entire car out of a billet with the engine inside! NOW that would be cool! But, I don't think I could lift the billet!

Anthony,

I don't remember but 400 pounds is sticking in my head for some reason. I will check the forgings tomorrow.

Heads are certainly on the list...just not quite yet. An intake manifold will actually be next on the list. Can you believe those suckers weight 25 pounds! Way too much. Up high weight too.

David

[David Kirkham]

Ernie,

Thanks for the kind words.

Yes, the motor will accept the standard FE cranks. The block is drilled for hydraulic lifters so it will take either solids or hydraulics.

David

[Guinness]

Very cool David! I sure wish I could have made it to the open house Saturday to see the wood prototype. Heads & Intake next, even cooler.

Jeff

[BossCER]

Dead Sexy! Please bring one to the Bash.

[Woodz428]

Originally Posted by David Kirkham

WDZ,

As I said above, the anticipated price is $4,995. (I know it is easy to miss little things). David

Yeah, I missed that..I followed over from the other thread so didn't fully read the posting.

[Aussie Mike]

This is awesome David. I wonder how long before someone orders a solid no water jacket block for a max effort FE based blown alcohol drag motor.

Just a thought David, Honda have been running bare aluminium bores in their CBR900 motors with good success. I can't remember what sort of ring pack they were running to do it but they seem to be reliable. Using billet you should be able to get a perfect surface finish on the aluminium bore with no porosity as you would with a cast block.

Nikasil has been arround for years and the technology is awesome. I used to mess arround with 2 stroke race bikes back in the 80's and a lot of the bikes back then used "chrome" bores or Nikasil. The bare aluminium of the cylinder bore is efectively electroplated with chromium or Nikasil. It's a very thin layer so the heat from combustion is conducted through it much faster than an iron liner. It's also very very hard. If a bike ran lean and nipped up or siezed very often the bore would be un marked and you would be racing again with just a new piston dropped in. A cylinder with an iron liner needed a re bore or a re sleeve.

The aircraft industry has beeen running chrome bores for even longer. many of your air cooled aero engines use them as they reduce weight, last longer and improve cooling. I tried to get some dammaged motorcycle cylinders replated at one of the aero engine plating companies but unfortunately the smallest bore they did was 4". We had to send them to Nikasil in Germany for plating.



Cheers

[David Kirkham]

U2,

Missed you this year. We had lots of cool things I would have shown you in that are hiding in the Skunksownia.

BossCER, We will bring one to the Bash...good idea!

WDZ, I miss things too. Usually too many things because I am working on billet blocks!

Mike,

I see you have been reading the same things I have been reading. People are probably wondering why everyone doesn't use Nikasil...cost. If Detroit can save a buck they will sell their mother. Nikasil is incredible stuff.

David