Million Dollar Skunksworks Kirkham

[David Kirkham]

David Bull called today. What a nice guy! We talked for a long time. He is a true motor head. We spoke at length on his Ferrari F1 book. He said he had extraordinary access to Ferrari. Thanks so much for the contact. We are looking into publishing the book in standard, hardcover version.

Len,

Oh yes, you certainly have the best driving fuel injected car we have ever been around. Of course, you have been tinkering with the map for over 8000 miles now

David

[David Kirkham]

Originally Posted by Bluedog

I really enjoyed reading about this work of art! I didn't see the final weight of the cobra in the specifications. Where you able to get it below 2000lbs with all the shaving you did?

Final weight was 2034 pounds. With our new flywheel and clutch, we would be knocking on the door of 2000 pounds with a BIG BLOCK!

David

[David Kirkham]

I will post another chapter tomorrow. Today got hectic!

David

[brettco]

Originally Posted by David Kirkham

Final weight was 2034 pounds. With our new flywheel and clutch, we would be knocking on the door of 2000 pounds with a BIG BLOCK!

David

How does that compair to a regular framed Kirkham?

[David Kirkham]

Our regular cars weigh about 2050. I may have remembered the 2034 pound billet aluminum chassis number wrong. I do remember we saved 30-35 pounds with the billet aluminum chassis car. The billet aluminum chassis car may have been around 2015-2020 pounds. I did write it down (good thing!). I'll have to find it. The important thing is the billet aluminum chassis is more than twice as stiff as our car.

David

[acindrich]

Originally Posted by David Kirkham

The important thing is the billet aluminum chassis is more than twice as stiff as our car.

David

Nope. The important thing is that the billet car is 10 times cooler than a regular car.

[David Kirkham]

Originally Posted by acindrich

Nope. The important thing is that the billet car is 10 times cooler than a regular car.

Indeed! Thanks for your help!

David

[slider701]

David,

I’m a new poster to this site but I have actively viewed the site for several years. I have dreamed of owning a Cobra since I was 10 years old and my dad took me to a late night car show where someone showed up in a 427 Cobra……..and 30+ years later I’m still as much in love with these cars as the first night I saw one. Hopefully in the next 3-5 years I can make it a reality.

As for my background I worked for Ford’s SVT engineering group for 6+ years and was part of several full engineering programs including spending some time on the Ford GT program. The engineering design and subsequent build that you have done on this car is phenomenal, and rivals the work we did on a $100M++ budget with unlimited resources from Ford and Roush engineering. This just reinforces the fact that a Kirkham is not just a kit car but an engineered vehicle that comes from talented engineers and craftsmen. I’m beyond amazed at the level of detail and engineering that was spent on every single aspect of the car by a relatively small group of individuals.

I did have a few questions regarding the transfer of knowledge from this endeavor to your regular production cars. Are you planning on taking some of the technology you developed, like the steering gear, the front and rear suspension, the tunnel shielding using the Aerogel, and other innovations and incorporating them into street cars?

My other question is the treatment/protection of the aluminum on both this car and also pieces like the billet overflow tank you sell. Do you apply any type of anodizing or coating to the parts to protect them long term from corrosion?

Please count me in on a book when you decide to go to press. I may not be able to afford a Kirkham at this point in my life but I’ll certainly find the $$ for a book on this car.

Sincerely,

Mike

[big-boss]

I just read the book, damn that is nice. Alot more fun than "Rules for Radicals" that I just finished.
What an artful tribute to probably one of most beautiful art pieces in the automotive world, the car! Keep up the good work- Now can we get back to the block and the coupe?
Thanks again Kirkhams and Team.

[Tony Ripepi]

David,

Spent several hours reviewing all the chapters of the book, now my task is to work my network and get an invite to "Larry's Garage" and see it in person.

Tony R.

[David Kirkham]

Originally Posted by slider701

David,

I’m a new poster to this site but I have actively viewed the site for several years. I have dreamed of owning a Cobra since I was 10 years old and my dad took me to a late night car show where someone showed up in a 427 Cobra……..and 30+ years later I’m still as much in love with these cars as the first night I saw one. Hopefully in the next 3-5 years I can make it a reality.

As for my background I worked for Ford’s SVT engineering group for 6+ years and was part of several full engineering programs including spending some time on the Ford GT program. The engineering design and subsequent build that you have done on this car is phenomenal, and rivals the work we did on a $100M++ budget with unlimited resources from Ford and Roush engineering. This just reinforces the fact that a Kirkham is not just a kit car but an engineered vehicle that comes from talented engineers and craftsmen. I’m beyond amazed at the level of detail and engineering that was spent on every single aspect of the car by a relatively small group of individuals.

I did have a few questions regarding the transfer of knowledge from this endeavor to your regular production cars. Are you planning on taking some of the technology you developed, like the steering gear, the front and rear suspension, the tunnel shielding using the Aerogel, and other innovations and incorporating them into street cars?

My other question is the treatment/protection of the aluminum on both this car and also pieces like the billet overflow tank you sell. Do you apply any type of anodizing or coating to the parts to protect them long term from corrosion?

Please count me in on a book when you decide to go to press. I may not be able to afford a Kirkham at this point in my life but I’ll certainly find the $$ for a book on this car.

Sincerely,

Mike

Welcome to the boards!

Thank you very much for your kind words. I think any bunch of dedicated guys can pull of any thing they want to. I told Larry the car would have "no excuses" and that is how we built it.

We have already transferred much of the technology to our cars. Our cars are now coming delivered with CV 1/2 shafts. Our hubs have the drive pins milled right into them. I imagine we will be driving our rotor hats from the OD of the hub shortly, all in an effort to make our cars as best as we can.

The steering is so expensive to make, we haven't taken the leap to go into production on that part yet, maybe one day. The front and rear suspension are specific to the billet chassis. There is really nothing we can do to move that to our car. We have always stuck with the original chassis and that means compromises. The Aerogel is pretty nasty, dusty, and expensive to work with. I doubt we will be using much more of that. One thing we are seriously considering now is to make the footboxes out of aluminum so we can make them wider and deeper than the original car. We wouldn't change the chassis, however.

We did not protect the aluminum on this project with anodizing or anything else. Almost all of our parts are made from 6061 which is a spectacular alloy. It is rather strong and it is very corrosion resistant. We didn't anodize the parts on the car because anodizing etches the part and removes many of the machining marks. It also leaves the part rather dull.

Our tanks are not anodized either. Many people polish the tank when they get them and anodizing them would make polishing them quite difficult.

I will post on this site if we can find a reasonably priced place to print the book. Anyone with any suggestions, please let me know!

David

[Cobra #3170]

Originally Posted by David Kirkham

Welcome to the boards!

Thank you very much for your kind words. I think any bunch of dedicated guys can pull of any thing they want to. I told Larry the car would have "no excuses" and that is how we built it.

We have already transferred much of the technology to our cars. Our cars are now coming delivered with CV 1/2 shafts. Our hubs have the drive pins milled right into them. I imagine we will be driving our rotor hats from the OD of the hub shortly, all in an effort to make our cars as best as we can.

The steering is so expensive to make, we haven't taken the leap to go into production on that part yet, maybe one day. The front and rear suspension are specific to the billet chassis. There is really nothing we can do to move that to our car. We have always stuck with the original chassis and that means compromises. The Aerogel is pretty nasty, dusty, and expensive to work with. I doubt we will be using much more of that. One thing we are seriously considering now is to make the footboxes out of aluminum so we can make them wider and deeper than the original car. We wouldn't change the chassis, however.

We did not protect the aluminum on this project with anodizing or anything else. Almost all of our parts are made from 6061 which is a spectacular alloy. It is rather strong and it is very corrosion resistant. We didn't anodize the parts on the car because anodizing etches the part and removes many of the machining marks. It also leaves the part rather dull.

Our tanks are not anodized either. Many people polish the tank when they get them and anodizing them would make polishing them quite difficult.

I will post on this site if we can find a reasonably priced place to print the book. Anyone with any suggestions, please let me know!

David

David,

Will your new CV half shafts fit an original car with 4 bolt flanges inboard and out board? Whose joints are you using and how much for a pair of complete half shafts?

[David Kirkham]

Originally Posted by Cobra #3170

David,

Will your new CV half shafts fit an original car with 4 bolt flanges inboard and out board? Whose joints are you using and how much for a pair of complete half shafts?

It is no problem to make the 1/2 shafts fit an original car. You will need to change the flanges to a 6 bolt pattern, but that is not a big deal. There is really no way to convert the 4 bolt flange of the original car to the 6 bolt flange of the CV joint.

We are using the Porsche 930 108 mm joints.

The 1/2 shafts are $1500 for the set, including bolts.

David

[David Kirkham]

Originally Posted by big-boss

I just read the book, damn that is nice. Alot more fun than "Rules for Radicals" that I just finished.
What an artful tribute to probably one of most beautiful art pieces in the automotive world, the car! Keep up the good work- Now can we get back to the block and the coupe?
Thanks again Kirkhams and Team.

Rules for Radicals! LOL

Seems you aren't the only one who has been reading that book lately. LOL

Thanks for the kind words. We do try to make nice parts and to always make them nicer as time goes on. There are several projects in the Skunk Works right now. Some are quite surprising...

David

[David Kirkham]

Tony,

I'm glad you liked it!

David

[David Kirkham]

After the chassis was built, we had to build all the structure to connect the chassis to the body.

[David Kirkham]

[David Kirkham]

Notice all the stainless steel bolts we used in the final, delivered car. Some people will already know that stainless bolts are relatively weak--so, why did we use them? The bolts were over sized to compensate for the lower tensile strength. Also, the female threads are relatively weak in the aluminum chassis (compared to steel) so there is not much advantage using extremely high strength bolts in those applications.

[David Kirkham]

Notice the Ford GT in the background. We put a Ferrari 430, Corvette Z06, Viper, and the Ford GT on the lift for inspiration.

The area under the door connects the rear wheel well all the way to the front of the footbox! It was a beast to make, but we didn't want any joints in the weak area under the door. (Weak because there is no roof to stiffen the structure.)

[Cobra #3170]

Originally Posted by David Kirkham

It is no problem to make the 1/2 shafts fit an original car. You will need to change the flanges to a 6 bolt pattern, but that is not a big deal. There is really no way to convert the 4 bolt flange of the original car to the 6 bolt flange of the CV joint.

We are using the Porsche 930 108 mm joints.

The 1/2 shafts are $1500 for the set, including bolts.

David

David Thank you,
The price is reasonable and those joints are the best. I was going to convert my stub shafts to 30 spline anyway, are the 30 spline shafts made with a 6 bolt flange? I am assuming that you also have a splined outer flange that will fit my hub carrier drive hub that is also 6 bolt? Will the Porsche CV clear the original circular hole in the frame and is there an issue with driving and torquing the CV mounting bolts on car? It is very difficult to get torque on the standard 4 bolt flange because of minimal clearance.