Kirkham 668 build

[Lexluther]

Hi All

I have got my baby home again after having some exhaust work and ECU reprograming done.
As I mentioned earlier, there are issues with side pipes her in SA.

After a LOT of discussion with engineer, exhaust man (Ashley) & the road traffic board here in SA, I .. (we) decided to proceed in the following way..

Run the exhaust through the header pipes exiting the body and fit CAT as close as possible to the engine.
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Exit the side pipe just before the end and tuck back under the car.

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At this point it starts getting difficult.
Turn the pipe 90 deg toward the rear of the car

we had to cut a small piece of the sill support structure and put a stap under it(Kirkham do this when running under car exhaust) to get the pipe high enough to achieve good ground clearance
you can just see in the photo above.

Then we had to thread the pipe between the drive shaft and lower A arm

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not a lot of clearance but it works
Ashley (Classic performance dyno centrte) had decided to run with 2.5' pipe,
a smaller pipe would have been a lot easier.

Then of course we run in to the back of the fuel tank it runs from wheel arc to wheel arch, no room at all.

I removed the tank and marked it up for modification
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After
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I lost about 30 liters of capacity out of (I think it was) 115 liter tank

Unfortunately the fuel sender unit has now ended up in the boot
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Hope fully I can address this a bit later on

Then the easy bit stick two mufflers in the void created, heat shield on the side of the fuel tank
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(sorry for the sun glare)

To address the heat issues on the exterior, we wrapped the header pipes, and a solid heat shield yet to be painted. (I personally do not like the look of perforated shield)
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A bit big and clumsy looking but not too bad, if it allows me to drive on the road I will put up with it!

Did the Db test and got a 83Db reading (Prius mode) emissions are well below the limits as well.

My sparky has sorted all the dash gremlins and everything works!!
Still a few hold ups with some things from suppliers.

Hope you all enjoyed!
Cheers
Kent

[deano59]

hey kent who did the exahust for you ? i may need to get you sparkys name as well
cheers dean

[Lexluther]

Hi Deano
Exhaust was done by Classic Performance Dyno Centre, Ashley is the man.
Likes to do custom work on special cars, has a great dyno set up.
A bit of a one stop shop I think the only thing he doesn't do is body and paint
A bit exy but all good things are. He is in Hackam so not real handy for you.
Sparky is Active Auto Electrical, Lang is the man.
Clever, nice to work with and he does house calls.
They are in Mt Barker, so again not real handy for you

Cheers
Kent

[albanycobra]

Well done and nice work on the exhaust. I have been thinking of a similar set up for my car with a kind of bi-modal set up.

Love the brushed alloy look...

[deano59]

im not worried about having to travel as long as the workman ship is nice we need a shed run up to your house i reckon lol

[Donunder]

Kent if that isn't the most single-minded piece of sheer determination and obstinacy to force a project through the myriad obstacles put in your way by a bureaucracy hellbent on thwarting your plans and hopes ... well then I haven't seen one.

Congratulations -- my hat's off to you!

When are the various State governments going to realise that our cars make up such an infinitessimal fraction of a percent of vehicles on the road as to be virtually statistically irrelevant? What harm would have been done to allow you to mount simple side pipes with cats and mufflers? Our American cousins will be reading about what you've had to endure and shaking their heads in disbelief.

It's never easy being a pioneer but at least now your hard-won approval has paved the way for others to follow. I can almost see a withered public servant replete in his sleeve protectors and eyeshade sitting at his sloping desk under the light of a paraffin lamp, grudgingly and reluctantly signing off on your exhaust system with his scratchy quill pen, whilst silently mourning the passing of the horse and buggy era.

[deano59]

donunder
when i built my last cobra here in sa i ran a 302 Windsor on straight lpg i was forced to run a air pump on the engine when no other ford v8 in any other car had to i was forced to run cats fat lot of good they do on lpg but the biggest kicker was i had to run a charcoal canister how the hell do you plumb a charcoal canister into a lpg tank?

after 6 months of to and froing from my engineer and myself to the road traffic dept i was given a exemption so i didnt have to run the charcoal canister , sheer public service madness at it's best you have no idea what there like here thats one reason i was so anal when looking for a interstate car .anyway again looks great kent you ought to be proud of ya self
cheers dean

[Lexluther]

Hi All
It has been some time since my last up date,
I have now done my lane change test and brake fade test,( in the rain)
Passed with flying colours, this thing brakes and handles like a dream.

Graeme and I crossed all of the T’s and dotted our I’s on the engineer report and set off to roadworthy inspection
Guys there were really impressed with the car and where very nice, I was nervous and Sh%#*ng bricks.
After checking all the paperwork and a quick look around the car, the paper work was stamped and photos taken.
“I passed”
The Cobra is now on full rego, and I am driving it everywhere, I even took it to the local hardware store… (200ks in a few days)
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I don’t know if this is allowed on here but …
I would like to thank.
My wife for putting up with me and the car (she loves the car now we can drive it)
Graeme, my engineer, Tonkin’s consulting
David Kirkham, Kirkham Motorsports, great to deal with, super helpful and generous
David (Damage) fellow Kirkham owner, for all his help and support.
Ashley, Classic Performance Dyno, Exhaust, ECU programming, tune
Lang, Active Auto Electrical
Locky, Low Tow
And of course everyone here on the forum that has supported and encouraged me.
It has been a long and difficult road, thank f*#@ it’s finally over and I can now enjoy my car.
I’m going for a drive………………………………….
Cheers
Kent

[Tenrocca]

Wish I could like that post more than once. Congratulation Kent - great stuff. Enjoy it - she looks beautiful.

[albanycobra]

Well done...seems you and Damage (Dave ) have paved the way for rego. Kirkham is a great product (worlds best) .....very green lol.....

[deano59]

well done bloke you are a inspiration to us all looks fantastic ..........i did hear on the grapevine about car alarms been set of around your area in the last few days cough cough.
glad mrs kent loves driving around in it as well makes all the money / hassles/ and swear words along the way all worth while again well done and i expect to see it at the next club meeting rain hail os shine ok maybe not hail lol

cheers dean

[Lexluther]

I don't know anything about any car alarms

[xb-60]

Congratulations Kent!
Finally worth the wait. Great to hear that the road test and the inspection went smoothly. Ditto with Deano, we want to see it at the next club meet....in fact you can pick me up on the way
I'm very much looking forward to the day when I can type out a similar post

Cheers,
Glen

[Dimis]

Very well done!
And very well executed Kent.

Best wishes & may she serve you well!

Enjoy and thanks for seeing it through!

[Lexluther]

Glen PM sent

[Donunder]

Well done Kent! Fantastic.
This is one car I'm really looking forward to seeing in the flesh.
The photo is terrific, your car looks superb on the outside, and we've been following your build thread so we know its beauty isn't just skin deep.
Top effort mate. Congratulations!

[xb-60]

Originally Posted by Lexluther

Glen PM sent

Kent - can you resend?

[750hp]

Great result to get it completed and fully registered. It looks unreal!

[Lexluther]

Glen E-mail sent