Million Dollar Skunksworks Kirkham

[David Kirkham]

I took a picture of the footboxes to represent my "dream" of making the car of our dreams. The picture is actually of the polished stainless steel heat shields on the driver's footbox. If you look closely, you can see the reflection of the motor mount in the far right of the photo in the footbox.

[David Kirkham]

That is the end of the "Introduction." I'll post the chapter on "Billet Chassis Design Team" tomorrow. If anyone has any questions or comments, I'll be happy to answer them! I'll try to post the pdf of the "Introduction" tomorrow as well so you can see the pictures and writing more clearly.

David

[LoBelly]

Hello David

Have you considered the services like:

www.lulu.com

or

www.blurb.com

that would enable you to 'create' your book and for those who want it to get it published on demand (perhaps on CD/DVD)

ta
LoBelly

[cdnus]

Originally Posted by David Kirkham

This is the 2nd page. It is a shot of the underside of the tunnel top.

David,

From what I can see in the photo, it appears that the machining pattern has a variation in tool path. If my observation is correct, Is there a mechanical reason for that or is it purely for aesthetics?

I have often heard creators of masterpieces like this state "When I built this I built two---The First & The Last" will there be others & who gets the prototype ??

Craig

[carmine]

Is it just me or do i see the CS logo in that tool path.

Truly a masterpiece.

[kobrabytes]

Originally Posted by carmine

Is it just me or do i see the CS logo in that tool path.

Truly a masterpiece.

I thought to reveal that you had to look at it in a mirror and spin it backwards?

David?

[1ntCobra]

Originally Posted by David Kirkham

The book will cost much less than the aluminum hard top option

I am waiting on a quote for a standard binding, but I am afraid it will still be quite expensive because they will want to print 500 or a 1000 books. At a $100 printing price (just guessing here) that would be $5,000-$10,000 in books sitting until a lot of people bought the books. Maybe I should give Trevor a call and see what he thinks.

David

I'm sure there is a market for these books in your traditional market for Kirkham owners and for Cobra fans who would love one of your cars, but may not be able to afford one.

Perhaps you could think of non-traditional markets to sell your books to.

Maybe advertising the book in some engineering magazines?

Or how about getting the prototype car on a tour for display in art or science museums around the country where they would sell copies of the book in the museum gift shops? Maybe that is thinking too far outside of the box...

[computerworks]

Originally Posted by LoBelly

Hello David

Have you considered the services like:

www.lulu.com

or

www.blurb.com

I looked into those for David. Lulu doesn't do 12x12 format...
...and Blurb wholesale cost would be about $200 per book.

[David Kirkham]

Originally Posted by LoBelly

Hello David

Have you considered the services like:

www.lulu.com

or

www.blurb.com

that would enable you to 'create' your book and for those who want it to get it published on demand (perhaps on CD/DVD)

ta
LoBelly

We made the book in a 12" x 12" format. Lulu doesn't have any way to take a book in that format. We made the book that way because it is unique and our literature over the years has been in a square format.

If you know of anyone else who can publish that size, please let me know!

David

[David Kirkham]

I can see Ron beat me to it! (I had to run to the back to check on some machine work.)

[David Kirkham]

Originally Posted by cdnus

David,

From what I can see in the photo, it appears that the machining pattern has a variation in tool path. If my observation is correct, Is there a mechanical reason for that or is it purely for aesthetics?

I have often heard creators of masterpieces like this state "When I built this I built two---The First & The Last" will there be others & who gets the prototype ??

Craig

The size of the squares change as you move up the picture (they are getting bigger). Surfcam changes the tool paths depending upon the size of the pocket and the size of the end mill cutting the aluminum. Many tool paths were chosen for aesthetic reasons, others for mechanical reasons, and others simply came out that way. On the tunnel, they just came out that way.

The car is extremely expensive to build. If someone wanted another one, we could build it. The prototype is here in the shop. I will put a motor back in it soon and drive the wheels off it.

David

[David Kirkham]

Originally Posted by carmine

Is it just me or do i see the CS logo in that tool path.

Truly a masterpiece.

No, those are just tool paths.

David

[David Kirkham]

Originally Posted by 1ntCobra

I'm sure there is a market for these books in your traditional market for Kirkham owners and for Cobra fans who would love one of your cars, but may not be able to afford one.

Perhaps you could think of non-traditional markets to sell your books to.

Maybe advertising the book in some engineering magazines?

Or how about getting the prototype car on a tour for display in art or science museums around the country where they would sell copies of the book in the museum gift shops? Maybe that is thinking too far outside of the box...

I am looking for a less expensive way to publish the book. Of course, there isn't anything less expensive than publishing it on the web. I do realize, however, many people (me included) like to have the actual book in their hands.

As for thinking out of the box, keep the ideas coming!

David

[David Kirkham]

Next Chapter:

[David Kirkham]

The "Billet Design Team" chapter starts with a Michelangelo quote: "The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark."

We set the goal very high on this car. All the members of the design team set their own personal goals for the project very high.

David

[David Kirkham]

Chris Cindrich posts here on CC as acindrich. He is my brother-in-law and is also David "Sandwich" Cindrich's brother. They come from an extraordinarily talented family. Chris did the CAD work on the car. Chris went with me on my first trip to Poland almost 15 years ago now. He has a custom made Kirkham 289 car.

[David Kirkham]

David Cindrich literally made tons of chips during this project.

[David Kirkham]

Thomas learned to read by picking up our father's copies of "Hot Rod Magazine."

[David Kirkham]

Here is a very rare picture of the inside of the factory in Poland when we first arrived. Notice the lights were out.

All the guards had machine guns at the doors. They assigned a special security guard to follow us around the factory. I will never forget seeing row upon row upon row of silent machines with their operators standing behind them--waiting for someone, anyone, to give them work. That was the end of the road of socialism.

[David Kirkham]

Finally, a picture of me. I will post another chapter tomorrow.