New Kirkham Garage Art

[xlr8or]

Originally posted by Specialk


Thats pretty neat. How do you keep it from turning green?

You put a big block in it so it doesn't get envy.

[BlueRooster]

I saw the Tuttles build a copper Chopper on Discovery. I thought it was beautiful, and I wondered what a Cobra would look like in copper....now I know...perfect. Amazing ideas come out of that shop of yours. Keep'em coming.


Dane

[Lowell W]

David,

Stunning car! Thanks for sharing it with us.

Why copper? Just because...?

Just kinda thinking out loud, but isn't copper a lot softer than aluminum? Less springy? Does that make it easier to form? Or do you have to use heavier gauge copper to get the same strength? How do you weld it? Were the guys in the body shop eager to do this or were they begging you not to make any more?

Hey, I know: You could make the bodies out of gold and ship the cars back and forth from the US to Europe as the price of gold fluctuates... Oh wait...never mind...somebody made a move like that in the 60's...

Thanks,

Lowell

[avanti-176]

OH!


MY!!


GOD!!!

David,
The Thought of commiting a bank robbery had never even crossed my mind until you started posting pictures of your special little projects. First the stainless frame, then the aluminum willys
body, and now this!!!

I will not be held responsible for anything I may do in trying to aquire one of these.

Dan


p.s. for any Law enforcement types out there reading this the robbery thing is only a joke! I am on my way to buy a Lotto ticket right now.

[FlakMan]

How about one in titanium alloy plate with Silicon Nitride accents next Hard to get Ti alloy shiny but the gold SiN gold accents would be *****'n

[ALLEN ENGLISH]

Awesome work..... Just stunning!!

[RaceDeck]

It's amazing what you can do by rubbing two pennies together!

You continue to amaze me with the 'old-world' craftsmanship you produce....

[relaxinrob]

David,
You could acid-wash some stripes onto it that will start to turn that light brownish-green.....might look really nice. Use soldering flux. Leave on for a few hours, then wipe off......was a plumber in a past life!!!

Rob

[petek]

Gosh, what sort of metal will you be using for your 25th anniversary?

Looks great, how much heavier is the car than the aluminum one?

[DonC]

Glass next?
DonC

[David Kirkham]

Excaliber,

Thanks for the kind words!

55312,

Thanks for you kind words. No Brillo pads here, just lots of elbow grease and polish.

HI Cobra,

Thank you for your kind words. The guys in the panel beating shop tell me copper and aluminum form about the same. Copper is easier to begin with, but work hardens rapidly and gets harder to work than aluminum—equaling things out in the end.

We may have to sell the car with lots of polishing cloths and polish!

I am not sure if you could clear coat it or not—I imagine you could.

“What will you guys come up with next?” You never know…we have things cooking right now.

Steve,

Thank you for your kind words.

J Wheaton, Sgianino, Kris, xlr8or,

Xlr8tor,

Copper is about 4 times heavier (denser) than aluminum. It is definitely not the material to make a light weight car out of! But, it sure looks nice! (Just build a bigger engine!) So, I would imagine the car is about 300 pounds heavier than our normal car—or interestingly, the same weight as an original!)

Blue Rooster,

Thank you for your kind words.

Lowell,

Thank you for your kind words.

Why copper? Just because Thomas had a really killer idea and so we tried it.

The guys in Poland say the two materials are roughly similar. We made the body out of the same thickness copper as we do the aluminum cars. The Poles were quite excited to see the car finished and are proud of their work.

While doing this I thought about making a car out of gold…until I saw the price. I think the material alone is around 1 million dollars and it only comes in quite small sheets—like 10 x 10 so there would be an extraordinary amount of welding involved. I am sure we could do it, but I have no idea who could afford to buy it!

avanti-176,

You may not have to rob a bank to purchase one of our cars shortly. We are working on a much less expensive version of our car. Our goal of an inexpensive car started with the fiberglass car. The fiberglass project failed…but you didn’t expect me to give up—did you? Stand by…

FlackMan,

If I told the guys in Poland to make a body out of titanium, they would probably shoot me! Interestingly, titanium is heavier than aluminum so, there is really no advantage, (weight wise) to use titanium for a car body—it would look cool though!

Allen, Jorgen,

Thank you for your kind words.

Rob,

That could look really, really cool. Never thought about it!

Petek,

For the 25th Anniversary? Who knows? Any suggestions?

Don,

As for fiberglass, well, we couldn’t make that work to our satisfaction…so we had to come up with something else…

David

[BMK]

David

Sensational.

You will have no problem selling the ten if the Posts above are any indicator. That is unless you keep one for yourself..

Bernie

Bernie

[David Kirkham]

Bernie,

Thank you for your kind words. Yes, I will be keeping one of these copper cars for myself.

David

[BMK]

David

Will you guys head across to the SAAC in July at Fontana.



I'm in the States again in June for the London Ohio event and then back across for the SAAC.



Will you have cars at either event. Would love to see them first hand. I have tried to get to Utah but been led astray and not made it.

Bernie

[David Kirkham]

Bernie,

We have not worked out our show schedule for the year. Sorry, we have just been to busy.

We are not that far away if you jump a plane to Salt Lake City. We would love to have you stop by.

Please let us know how we can help,

David

[DonC]

David:
I was talking about glass glass. A visible Cobra. Look kind of like the cutaway drawing on the poster ;-)

[BMK]

David

Thanks for the offer to drop in. May see if I can do that.

I'll be driving in a GT40 up from Phoenix Az. So anything is possible.



Although, after driving from Phoenix Az across to Columbus Ohio and back to Phoenix prior to driving up to Fontana I may just want to stretch my legs a bit..

I'll be shaped in the foetal position after being in the 40 for so long..

Look forward to catching up and meeting possibly - at either location.

Bernie

[David Kirkham]

Don,

Not sure how to make a glass, glass car...it does sound very, very interesting though.

Bernie,

Let us know if you need to stretch your legs a little. After a few seconds, we will see if we can get you into one of our cars and tour the country side!

David

[avanti-176]

David,
Right now I have the body off my Avanti and it is just a shell.
Hows about I give it to you and you have your boys make me a Copper one

Man ,now I am drooling all over my desk, you have turned me into a Raving Drooling Lunatic!

By the way I am using one of your pictures as my Desktop now if that is okay with you.

Dan

[David Kirkham]

Avanti,

That depends on what picture you have...and, are you using it as a dartboard? There are some who enjoy that sort of thing.

David