KMP625 is on the road
 

I drove KMP625 for the first time yesterday; first up the hill from my house a few times so if it died I could roll home. Everything went fine and eventually drove for about 20 miles. It is really awesome. The slow steering and unboosted brakes took a little getting used to but seemed pretty natural after a few miles.

The build was pretty straightforward and the two problems I had were entirely of my own doing. The oil pressure indicator problem was easily resolved once someone pointed out that pressure is measured on the return side (a bit quirky I maintain) and swapping the lines fixed the problem. I believe I was a pioneer in mounting my header/sidepipes on the wrong side of the engine in test fitting prior to install. It actually looks ok, but the mount tabs on the downtubes are 180 degrees out from the ones on the sidepipes. We chased this for days with detailed pictures exchanged and the Kirkhams made me a whole new set before they discovered what I had done. The kirkhams reputation for incredible customer service is well deserved and they were incredibly responsive and gracious throughout.

I have already had two "people magnet" events in my hour of driving. Second pass up the hill a neighbor stopped me to take a picture. He thought it was the most amazing car he'd ever seen (the canyon I live in is full of Ferraris, Porsches, Maseratis, etc). Then I went to the gas station to fill up and emptied the service bay as they had to look. I have gassed my son's FFR there many times and no one has payed the slightest attention. Funny stuff, polished aluminum.

Thanks to all of you for your help, I really appreciate it. See some of you at BACC meetings.

Mark

Extremely happy for you, Mark.

Neat thing is that the experience just gets better. :)

Congratulations!!!

Congrats Mark, hope to see you at some of our gatherings. Do you live in Rancho San Carlos? I have a few friends in that area. If I'm not mistaken, my oil pressure is measured by the inlet to the block after the filter....I'll have give a look.

Mark,

Way to go, can't wait to see it!

Congratulations!

Very cool mark -- glad to hear you are rolling along !

Congrats. You are not the only one to mount the header pipes on the wrong side. I'm speaking from personal experience. It was my engine builder that had a pretty good laugh at my expense.

Jason

Congratulations Mark - I will put these cars up against any of my Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati, Bugatti, or Aston Martin on the road for attention. These cars cross all socioeconomic, gender, age and racial lines as well; everyone loves them.

What? No pictures? The biggest Cobra fans are on this site, and we just get to READ about a polished aluminum Cobra?

But, seriously, congratulations. My first ride in my ERA was up my hill, just in case I needed to coast home due to some unforeseen self-induced hiccup.

I was just down in Carmel today, thinking how nice it would have been to be tooling around in my Cobra (which is all of four hours labor away from being reassembled after paint) instead of my Tahoe. Looking forward to rumbling through downtown Carmel, and then hooking a left at the bottom of the hill to skirt the shore all the way back toward the Mission. Only Mother's Day could keep me out of the garage...

DD

Nice to hear from all of you. I considered posting a picture, but all polished Kirkhams look alike! Dave, San Carlos is on the San Francisco peninsula, where the car will live. The downside of bare aluminum is that salty fog, a daily presence in Carmel, is highly corrosive and would quickly make it look nasty. Maybe I need a painted FIA for the coast-side. Hmmm.

Mark

Congrats Mark. The Kirkhams build a darn fine car you will enjoy for years. I sold my KMP almost 2 years ago and miss it dearly.

Mark, I'm about 10-15 minutes away from your "Northern" address. Looking forward to meeting you and checking out 625. You're right. All polished Kirkhams look alike. There's at least one more in Redwood Shores too.

Oh and we can't forget there's one in Woodside owned by Mr. Ellison.

I wonder if you could "Clear Powdercoat" a polished AL car .......>?