Kirkham Cobra's

[Mike Viney]

David,

Thanks for the response and I'll be sending you some e mailed pictures of the problem areas.

The assembly of the suspension with one exception is not difficult at all and all the components are made of very high quality materials. Colleagues with specialist knowledge of materials such as those used in gas turbine engines were quite impressed!!

The exception was the pin that connects the bottom of the rear hub to the lower wish bone. Shaft was very tight going through hub and bearings. The bearings could have been eased with a reamer had the shaft been a satisfactory fit in the hub. Anyway problem solved.

The real problem came to light when fitting the brake callipers. The brake rotors ended tight against the calliper and skewed. Now I'm well used to adding shims between calliper and hub to centralise a calliper but not having to remove material. No big deal to correct but unexpected. A check with my digit mike showed the inaccuracies and inconsistancies between the hubs, and indeed the callipers.

I'm aware of the mods to the front supension ball joints and I was surprised that the joint was so slack and uneaven in friction when rotated in an almost dry state. Usually ball joints are on the stiff side, at least all the ones I've replaced on Jags have been.

There is powder coating and powder coating. It doesn't look like a primer coating was applied first and the l mat coat that was applied is wafer thin and missing here and there. My XK120 chassis which a small local company blasted and coated is sat in the bay next to the Kirkham and there is no comparison with the two jobs...

As a Professional Engineer who has been playing with engines and restoring Jag XKs for years I feel I am probably towards the upper range in terms of expertise in assembling cars to a high level of quality. Goodness knows the Jag parts are not available to fine tolerances so my expectations were not those of a Ferrari Formula 1 engineer!. My workshop is well equipped with lathe, press, and a fine range of hand tools.

Anyway I'm very very pleased with everything else and the quality of the body is superb. Apart from the powder coating the other problems are not at all with quality of materials,only a drop off in machining accuracy and perhaps mine is a one off.

You should always judge a business by how it reacts when things go wrong and I can say I am impressed and hope to visit you in June.

All the best,

Mike Viney