Announcing New Kirkham Billet Aluminum 427 Block

[quickjack]

5" bore spacing and 12" deck height... 800+ cubic inches.
I'd definitely recommend an original type bias ply tire setup for this.

[David Kirkham]

Jack,

What on earth are you going to do with 800 inches! Rotate the earth!

David

ps. I hope you don't try to turn the corner at the 1/4 with that set up!

[David Kirkham]

Next thing you know someone is going to try to put a Merlin in one of these cars!

David

[Tinker51]

Originally Posted by David Kirkham

Next thing you know someone is going to try to put a Merlin in one of these cars!

David

If you are going to go to that exreme then put a R4360 in it.
Or a Bristol Centaurus.

My woodworking expert agreed that Poplar is a good stable wood providing the wood was dry prior to glue up into the "billet".

[quickjack]

Just taking the more is better thing to it's logical extreme!

Actually, most of the billet pieces we have made fall into this catagory. The current trend is moving to 5.200" bore spacing - heading for 900+ CID. These are Pro Mod motors, similar to the Kasse job earlier in this thread, not at all street oriented!

[David Kirkham]

Jack,

We are just taking weight reduction to its logical extreme.

F=MA

David

[quickjack]

I remeber reading an article many years ago where someone, might have been Bill Harrah, put a Ferrari V-12 in a Cobra replica. He had acquired the engine and figured the Cobra would be a suitable chassis.

[rsimoes]

Originally Posted by quickjack

... put a Ferrari V-12 in a Cobra ...

Blasphemy!

Don't tell Carroll! I hope Enzo never knew about it. . .

[What'saCobra?]

Years ago i recall a mag article about a COB that had an E-type engine installed in GB! Yoiks! Complete with the big pot SU's, would you believe.

i'm sure it can't be found and isn't still installed. Can't recall where i saw it pictured.

How embarassing to a Yank's sensitivities...

[David Kirkham]

Tinker51,

How about a Napier Saber?

Jack,

Yes, that was one of our customers. He needed a challenge!

rsimoes,

Enzo died before it happened.

Gotta run! BIG, BIG day today.

David

[David Kirkham]

Post Update/Correction.

I just corrected the original post to reflect the correct weights of an original 427 iron block weight and the Shelby Aluminum block.

I Originally posted the original Ford block weighed 190 pounds. Keith Craft weighed one at 204 pounds.

I originally posted, "A cast aluminum Shelby 427 block (with caps) weighs about 150 pounds. (I am giving you that number from memory. I will get the exact weight as soon as I can dig it out of our records)." I could not find the records so I called Keith Craft and he weighed a Shelby block for me at 133 lbs.

Thanks!

David

[Jamo]

Quickjack...are you sure you're not thinking about Harrah's Jeep Wagoneer? The sucker ran back and forth between Reno and Harrah's lakefront compound in Tahoe for years.

Harrah died well before Ferrari.

[David Kirkham]

Jamo,

Actually we DID have a customer put a Ferrari engine in one of our cars! He thought the car was cool and he thought the engine was cool. He said he loved the sound of the V-12. I would agree.

David

[Lew Ledyard]

There was actually another one done in the late 1970s or early 1980s. It was red and I think based on a Contemporary. Instead of 4 header pipes coming out of the side and merging into the collectors, there were 6 pipes. I remeber reading an article on it about 20 years ago in a magazine. I think that it was a mainstream publication like Road & Track or Car and Driver.

[rsimoes]

Originally Posted by David Kirkham

Jamo,

Actually we DID have a customer put a Ferrari engine in one of our cars! He thought the car was cool and he thought the engine was cool. He said he loved the sound of the V-12. I would agree.

David

No Kirkham for him, 2 years! (to quote a character from Seinfeld)

[xlr8or]

At least my engine was a Ford.

[David Kirkham]

Lew,

You can remember that far back? You MUST be a car nut. Does your wife know about this? I just want to know which you like more--cars or helping your wife at work?

David

[Jamo]

Having seen DV's Viper thing, I imagine a Ferrari V12 would look real purty...just don't think it was Harrah.

[Excaliber]

Check this out!

A guy in the UK rebuilt an early BMW V-12 and has a LOT of documentation\pictures on the web site, interesting stuff seeing the inside of the Bimmer 12.

Quote concerning the alloy cylinder walls after a 170,000 miles:

'the cylinder walls didn't have edges, scratches, sign of wear and tear and looked like brandnew. I didn't do a thing about them'.

And what's the motor going into? Well thats the best part, a COBRA of course!



Heres the web site for those who want more info...

http://bmwe32.masscom.net/sean750/en...0rebuild_1.htm

[decooney]

Are you guys are talking about the Bill Harrah's "Jerrari", a 69 Wagoneer with a Ferrari Daytona V12 in it. Here it is, making a run from Tahoe to Reno! Woooohooooo.

Recent article in SFGate, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...TG0BOA8A91.DTL

Quote:
"To me, the most obvious and whimsical example of Harrah, the legendary casino tycoon who died in 1978 at age 67, is the Jerrari -- a combination Ferrari and Jeep Wagoneer. It's on display in a corridor between some of the museum's galleries.

The story was that Harrah asked Ferrari to make him a four-wheel-drive vehicle because Harrah was having trouble getting over the hill to Lake Tahoe in style. (Harrah was not one for plebian transportation.) Ferrari said no. So Harrah had his mechanics stuff a V12 Ferrari engine into the engine bay of a 1977 Wagoneer and got himself a unique four-wheel-drive.

Or almost unique. Although the museum's curator had no record of it, it appears Harrah had another Jerrari created from a 1969 Wagoneer. That one had the long sloping hood, the grille and the front fenders of a Ferrari 365 grafted onto the Wagoneer and, yes, it does look weird. The car cropped up recently on the Web site of Barrett-Jackson, the big Arizona auto auction firm.

Jerraris, Ferraris. There are many other cars worth seeing in the museum, which came about after Harrah died and his vast collection became the subject of huge controversy in the rarefied world of collector cars. Harrah had cobbled together some 1,450 cars that were in a collection of warehouses in nearby Sparks. The collection was open to the public and became known as the world's largest assemblage of collector cars. After Harrah died, Holiday Inns acquired the Harrah's casino and hotel empire."