Weight of Kirkham???

[bmwfahrer]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

Since the Larry Ellison Kirkham Cobra build several years ago, for which Kirkham developed a plethora of billet aluminum parts, including offering billet aluminum brake calipers, the weight reduction has been ongoing. The billet aluminum brake callpers may be one of the upgrades I'll be thinking about if and when my Kirkham goes back home to the factory.

I read about that build, fascinating engineering, and I'm glad that some of the processes trickled down. This must have been the impetus for a lot of that 200 lb weight savings. Do you know how much your car weighs?

Originally Posted by mrmustang

You seem to have missed....
In that way you have quoted the source, while asking for additional information to expand on it without dredging up an ancient thread in the process.

Good points, mea culpa. I'd read that thread a while ago, but that piece slipped my mind. Thanks for pointing that out.

Originally Posted by patrickt

The ERA, with an iron big block, but with all aluminum accoutrements, and the outboard braked rear, is going to be just about 2500 lbs. with a little bit of gas in the tank and the trunk empty. I don't think it's possible to get the weight down to some of the Kirkham numbers but, for most of us, it doesn't really matter.

Ok, so the aluminum parts in the ERA save you about 100, then you could also go with an aluminum engine and some other bits to shave a bit more.

Summing this up, it looks like the Kirkham saves ~150 on the body vs the glass cars, and then the billet alu suspension, brakes, and other accoutrements account for another 100-200, depending on how extensivily those are implemented.