A.C. Cars Ltd. looking for info

[LMH]

Brian said the paint was ground away to expose the number better.
Larry

[adv-ent]

Hi, To answer 1ntcobra's question. I am not sure why the original post disappeared? I was trying to add pictures and I guess I did something wrong and when I came back to the thread my stuff was gone.
This is the first time I have posted anything so I guess I have lots to learn.
I very much appreciate Larry's (LMH) help on this.
This car appears to have an original style chassis, the body looks like it has been hand formed but I am no expert, my friend had one of the first continuation series hand formed Shelby cars and his body was quite rough, I have never seen a Kirkham up close but by studying pictures the body looks pretty smooth even in rough form. This car I feels stands somewhere in between but it is not bad at all, lots of small detail sanding and filing to make it perfect.
Thanks again to Larry and anybody contributing to this post, if anybody has any questions or needs any specific photo's taken please let me know.
Brian

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by LMH

Brian said the paint was ground away to expose the number better.
Larry

That sort of doesn't look right. First, the area is rusted. Second, if the numbers had been stamped with paint, there would be paint or paint residuals inside the stampings. It looks like the area was ground and then stamped.

[joyridin']

Originally Posted by twobjshelbys

That sort of doesn't look right. First, the area is rusted. Second, if the numbers had been stamped with paint, there would be paint or paint residuals inside the stampings. It looks like the area was ground and then stamped.

It looks to me like the stamped numbers have primer inside of them. The primer looks quite thick compared to the paint. Had they removed the paint, it most likely would have been removed leaving the primer.

[adv-ent]

Hi, to answer some of the questions , the stamp is on the right shock tower and the brown you see is not primer but some surface rust.
This car does have the suite case bump in the aluminum behind the the seats, one of the latest photo's I sent to Larry shows it.
I can tell you when we first found the car 7 years ago we didn't even know where to look for the chassis numbers, then we where told to check the right shock tower, the powder coat was thick and the letters and numbers were hard to see so we scraped off the paint so we could read the numbers.
I know for a fact the numbers were stamped into the car prior to painting but when this was done that is the question. There is no other numbers anywhere on the car other than the ones you see in the pictures.
Not knowing much about COB numbers or any other original chassis numbers to me it seems strange that someone would stamp such an odd number knowing that there is actually no cars starting with o? If a person was trying to fool someone it seems a odd choice of chassis number to use?
Just my two bits.
You may ask why I waited for 7 years to ask questions, its because 7 years ago I couldn't afford to finish such an expensive car. I traded it for an other Cobra and now it has become mine again.
Thanks for all the interest.
Brian

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by LMH

Brian said the paint was ground away to expose the number better.
Larry

Would you use 80 grit (those are what the sanding scratches show) to take paint off, I think not

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by mrmustang

Would you use 80 grit (those are what the sanding scratches show) to take paint off, I think not

I don't think it was sandpaper. It looks like a circular grinder. (Note the curves in the grinding grooves).

There is still something wrong with the stamps. If the number was stamped and then painted before grinding, there would still be paint in the impressions. There is not.

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by twobjshelbys

I don't think it was sandpaper. It looks like a circular grinder. (Note the curves in the grinding grooves).

There is still something wrong with the stamps. If the number was stamped and then painted before grinding, there would still be paint in the impressions. There is not.

Yup, 80 grit sanding disk on a 4" grinder, if you look closely at the picture of the shock tower top, you can see both sides of the disk coming into contact and leaving the tell tail signs.

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by mrmustang

Yup, 80 grit sanding disk on a 4" grinder, if you look closely at the picture of the shock tower top, you can see both sides of the disk coming into contact and leaving the tell tail signs.

Yep, like that.