Million Dollar Skunksworks Kirkham - Page 17

lovehamr · #**321** (**permalink**) 06-06-2008, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Kirkham

(But, just to be sure, you need to make it out of aluminum first

)

Just make sure no one installs the aluminum one instead!

Beautifull work guys; keep it up!

Steve

David Kirkham · #**322** (**permalink**) 06-06-2008, 09:50 PM

Thanks Steve! Things are going well now. I hope to close in the foot boxes tomorrow. The interior side is really complicated to get around the bell housing. I'll post more pics tomorrow.

David

csx wnab · #**323** (**permalink**) 06-06-2008, 11:44 PM

i think a mill. is too much. i think i could build the ultimate KMS427S/C for less than a 1/4 of that. full comp.dry sump and all aluminum engine 4130 chassis or stainless. i'll stop now. i dont want to let out all my plans for my KMS in the future

ac andy · #**324** (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 04:46 AM

Hi David, some of those photos are hard to make out, what with all that scrap aluminium in the background(coupe and roadster shells). Only joking!!!

That is an unbelievable project that really needs to be seen to be believed!!

Congratulations on a remarkable effort. Well done!!

Andy.

Don · #**325** (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 07:55 AM

David.........I may have missed, who are the personnel that are involved in the design, machining , fabrication, assembly etc. ?

To everyone's credit, if Detroit or the foreign manufacturers were to take on the task......would be years of committee meetings and a cast of ?

Hopefully, an auto /sports car magazine(s) will have a lengthy article on the major accomplishment. The " WOW " factor needs no further explanation.

David Kirkham · #**326** (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 09:55 AM

csx wnab,

The object of this car was to make the coolest car on earth...not necessarily the fastest car on earth. Our customer didn't really care about "fast" as he already owns every super car imaginable. You can only drive so fast anyway--as such, speed has never really been at the top of my list of "cool."

He wanted the coolest car imaginable and gave us free license. Obviously, "coolest" is in the eye of the beholder. This is what we came up with. No doubt, others on this site, you included, could come up with your own version of "cool," equally as valid as what we came up with.

David

David Kirkham · #**327** (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 09:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ac andy

Hi David, some of those photos are hard to make out, what with all that scrap aluminium in the background(coupe and roadster shells). Only joking!!!

That is an unbelievable project that really needs to be seen to be believed!!

Congratulations on a remarkable effort. Well done!!

Andy.

Andy,

It does need to be seen in real life to be appreciated. The car is really growing on me. It is one of 2 cars we have ever done that I like more and more the longer we work on it. The only other car I can say that for is the Copper 40 Ford GT we made for Ford for SEMA.

David

David Kirkham · #**328** (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don

David.........I may have missed, who are the personnel that are involved in the design, machining , fabrication, assembly etc. ?

To everyone's credit, if Detroit or the foreign manufacturers were to take on the task......would be years of committee meetings and a cast of ?

Hopefully, an auto /sports car magazine(s) will have a lengthy article on the major accomplishment. The " WOW " factor needs no further explanation.

Thank you for your kind words. I too agree Detroit could have never come up with something like this. Too much bureaucracy and no freedom of expression or artistic license. It is really a shame.

The people involved are just us guys here at Kirkham. The concept was mine. The engineering was done by my brother Thomas (with lots of modifications to the original concept, of course, as time went on). The design/machining was done by me and our guys here. All design, assembly, and manufacturing was done in-house and within the family. We didn't sub anything out.

The WOW factor was really the ultimate goal of the project. There really is no other billet chassis car on earth, (at least that I have found). It is really a unique, one-of-a-kind (and once-in-a-lifetime) project.

David

David Kirkham · #**329** (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 10:11 AM

Here are the 1/2 shaft parts getting ready to be hardened. Notice we are polishing to a mirror finish the 1/2 shaft axles. We don't want any stress raisers in those babies! The parts on the bottom are the hub end of the 1/2 shaft. The parts on the top are the differential end of the 1/2 shafts. We made a few extra parts as you can see here.

David Kirkham · #**330** (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 10:14 AM

The little parts in the above picture are parts of the control arms. Notice the 2 extra 1/2 shaft axles on the right side of the picture. They will be polished too.

David

David Kirkham · #**331** (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 10:16 AM

Remember the chassis was COMPLETELY taken apart on Wednesday? Well, here it is this morning. We hope to have the foot boxes enclosed today. Not sure if we will have time, however, as we have to deliver 2 cars today.

David Kirkham · #**332** (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 10:17 AM

Here is another view. Notice the firewall has been installed in this pic.

David Kirkham · #**333** (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 10:20 AM

Here you can see some parts that are about to go into the car.

On the far left, you can see the gas tank. It is made from stainless steel...like all of our gas tanks. We hate corrosion and boogers in our gas tanks.

Right in front of the gas tank are the insides of the foot boxes and an extra fire wall. On the very right of the picture, you can see the belly pan. The belly pan is the true secret to the incredible stiffness of the chassis. It closes the box. It is made from 1/8 plate aluminum. All of these parts were cut out on the water jet.

David Kirkham · #**334** (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 03:35 PM

will post more pics shortly

David Kirkham · #**335** (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 07:34 PM

Here are the 1/2 shafts out of heat treat and assembled. The bolts they sent us were too long, so I just had Sandwich put together one of them (until Monday when we can get the right length bolts) so I could get pic posted. Notice the polished ones are not assembled yet. I didn't want to scratch them in the test drive.

lineslinger · #**336** (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 08:23 PM

David,
You guys should be proud. That chassis looks like it should be crawling around taking soil samples and pictures on Mars.
Well done sir.

David Kirkham · #**337** (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lineslinger

David,
You guys should be proud. That chassis looks like it should be crawling around taking soil samples and pictures on Mars.
Well done sir.

You are most kind. I am still very nervous my customer won't be happy. He is very particular and knows great craftsmanship. He sees it every day. Maybe the artist is never happy with his work. I do think this car is pretty cool, however.

David

David Kirkham · #**338** (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 09:16 PM

Here is a better shot of the 1/2 shafts and associated parts. The differential side snaps into the Dana 44 differential, just like a modern car. The outboard side of the 1/2 shaft bolts through the hub with a 3/4-16 thread. The clamp on that big bolt keeps the hub bearings together.

lineslinger · #**339** (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 09:17 PM

My comments were not meant as a suck up, craftsmanship is always to be noted, if your customer starts to pick it apart I would like to discuss the project with you..no BS.

David Kirkham · #**340** (**permalink**) 06-07-2008, 09:18 PM

Here is a shot of the motor mounts. They were made so you can attach the motor mounts to the motor and lower the motor into the car--unlike the original car. In the original 427 Cobra, you have to lower the motor in first, then slip the mounts in. There is barely enough room to slip them in.