Kirkham vs Shelby

[nkb]

Originally Posted by Blas

It’s possible the rivet was sitting on top of the differential case or a chassis member and just happen to fall into the case when you removed the cover. The differential was not in the car at the factory where all the riveting was done right? It was Installed in at dealer. Or possibly originated at Kirkham’s who supplied the diff.
Can’t see the factory responsible for that problem. Just reviewing the facts here.

Blas, I agree that the rivet could not have gotten into the diff at the factory in South Africa. The Kirkham diff was never there. The diff would have been shipped directly from Kirkham to the dealer, as I understand it.

I am not pointing a finger at anybody. Just glad it has been removed.

I have not done an extensive "forensic" examination but just note the following.

1. The diff originated at Kirkham. David Kirkham pointed out that their riveting activities are in a completely different area from their diff assembly. So, unlikely. Also, Kirkham is known for being rigorous in everything they do.

2. The diff was shipped to the dealer in Irvine where it was installed. The dealer would have had no reason to open the diff case. Could the rivet have been introduced somehow when the vent fitting and catch can hose were fitted? But, hard to imagine that.

3. The factory, as noted, did not have access to the diff. But, they did do some riveting in the rear area. They modified the trunk with some chamfers to accommodate the Wilwood brakes with integrated hand brake. Thus, perhaps the errant rivet was left somewhere on the chassis members. The rivet would then have to have remained somewhere there as the roller, in the container with 3 other cars, made its way to Los Angeles. There were four ship transfers along the way as well as various truck transports. All without the rivet having been dislodged and harmlessly falling out.

4. The rivet lurking somewhere on the chassis would then have to have fallen onto the diff case either during installation at the dealer or during my removal. I also don't think the dealer did any riveting to introduce a loose rivet.

5. As Blas has said, I could imagine, once the diff was in place, that the rivet dropped into one of the wedges between the diff case and the top mounts and stayed there. I removed the entire diff from the car with the cover in place. I removed the cover thereafter. So, while the rivet could not have fallen into the case from a chassis member, perhaps it fell in, unnoticed, from a top diff mount wedge area when removing the cover.

We will never know how the rivet ended up resting inside the case. I certainly cannot point fingers at anyone. Just glad that I was fortunate to find it. Perhaps it would never been a problem as the rivet never actually resided within the case. I would like to think that is the case.