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Kirkham Motorsports

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  • 7 Post By john chesnut
  • 1 Post By Tommy
  • 1 Post By Buzz
  • 1 Post By john chesnut
  • 1 Post By john chesnut
  • 1 Post By t walgamuth
  • 3 Post By john chesnut

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  #1 (permalink)  
Old 07-11-2021, 07:18 PM
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Default Chesnut "Cheetah"

Hello Everyone, After much deliberation I've decided to test the waters for a kit for my Cheetah inspired car. I'm going to the Syracuse National car show and will be exhibiting my car in Mike Forte's booth. July 16-18. In prep my daughter has helped me setup a website.

Chesnut MotorSports

It will be interesting to see what people think of the car.
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Old 07-12-2021, 03:31 AM
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John,

I hope that it shows well. I wish that I could be there to see the cheetah and you, but unfortunately I will be racing at Pitt Race. Good luck!

Jim
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Old 07-12-2021, 04:16 AM
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John, it's a very attractive roadster and I wish you the best in marketing it. ... As I've said before, you were the person who gave me the courage to attack the fiberglass body in my Cheetah build. If I were closer, I'd certainly come out to see yours. Good luck.
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Old 07-12-2021, 04:32 AM
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Good luck with the launch, John! It's a beautiful car and I hope you do well with the venture.
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Old 07-12-2021, 09:01 AM
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Thank you for the kind words and support!

Tommy, I just went through your build log. What an awesome and beautiful car. Pure art and a great job building it. I love the Atomic Orange color. That's the color that I painted my Cobra.

Most of you know that if you click on "Chesnut Motorsports" it will take you to the website I'm working on for the car.
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Old 07-13-2021, 08:47 AM
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Good luck, John. I always enjoy seeing your work. Not a criticism, but when I think "Cheetah" I think of the coupe. What was your reason for going with the roadster. Will you do a coupe in the future?
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Old 07-14-2021, 12:05 AM
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Nice work, John! Best of luck with the venture!
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Old 07-14-2021, 07:13 PM
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Thank you for the support!

Rick, Since I wasn't building a "replica" I decided to build it as a roadster first. I love the open top driving experience. I wanted to create the "Cobra" experience with the engines and Vette suspension that I was familiar with. I also moved the engine forward and am running a short driveshaft. I wanted more room and a lower seating position that the Cheetah allowed.

If you check out my website and click on "about" I have a narrative of my thinking and how I built my car.

On my list of things to do is to build a coupe version. Buzz created an awesome photoshop version for me.



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Old 07-14-2021, 09:40 PM
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Thumbs up Nice!

Buzz does great work! The coupe looks great. Perhaps a removable hard top would be in order, like the Le Mans 289 cars!
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Old 07-15-2021, 04:59 AM
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John, I like the way you took the Cheetah concept and made it your own. And I notice this is a "step in" car without doors. Most people don't realize that one of the challenges of the Cheetah coupe design is the doors. That may be why some previous Cheetah replicas were roadsters that looked a lot like Cobra replicas reshaped as Cheetahs. It is also why it would be very challenging to add a top to a car that has no provision for side opening doors. .... Your design looks much better than other Cheetah roadsters I have seen, and the top concept is beautiful.
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Old 07-15-2021, 04:30 PM
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A couple of quick questions? What's your weight ratio since you shifted the engine forward?

Six gallons of fuel won't go far. Any chance of a larger tank?
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Old 07-15-2021, 06:12 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tommy View Post
John, I like the way you took the Cheetah concept and made it your own. And I notice this is a "step in" car without doors. Most people don't realize that one of the challenges of the Cheetah coupe design is the doors. That may be why some previous Cheetah replicas were roadsters that looked a lot like Cobra replicas reshaped as Cheetahs. It is also why it would be very challenging to add a top to a car that has no provision for side opening doors. .... Your design looks much better than other Cheetah roadsters I have seen, and the top concept is beautiful.
Thanks Tommy. Deleting the doors certainly makes the body much simpler. My 2 piece body is much like a dune buggies. Very simple and easy to mount. It mounts securely to the upper frame rails. The front is full tilting.

I do love the top idea and how I think that it can turn out.

Incoming, Thanks for the questions. The fuel tank holds 15 gallons. I'm getting 17mpg as an average with my SBC, Richmond 4 speed and 3.07 gear. I'm building one now with a mild LS1 (just freshened), a new Tremec TKX with 32% overdrive and the 3.07 gear. I had a similar set up in my Cobra and got in the 30's for fuel mileage.

I only had 6 gallons in it when I weighed it. With the 6 gallons the car has 50.6% rear weight. It will increase with more fuel and with my 200lbs in it. The seating position is skewed as far rearward as possible.
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Old 07-21-2021, 07:13 PM
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The show was interesting. Unfortunately heavy rain was in the forecast for all 3 days. It held mostly off but, I'm sure that it kept some people away.

I had a steady stream of people at the car. Those that knew of the Cheetah recognized it as a Cheetah. I only heard positive comments. Most seemed to love the look.

I gave away about 90 cards to people that seemed to me had a genuine interest. I didn't take any orders at the show. I think there might be a few potential customers from what I handed out.

My son and I are starting to build a new, better jig tomorrow. Then we will build a couple of frames and mount the bodies. I'll have 2 kits available soon.

I think that not having doors will limit the number of potential customers.

I had installed new springs on the car just before going to the show. I set them by the frame height. Yesterday I scaled the car. It has 15 gallons in the tank. LF=498lbs, RF=499lbs, LR=486lbs, RR=483lbs. Total=1967lbs. Cross=50.0%, Rear=49.3. With me in the car the rear goes to 52%
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Old 07-22-2021, 05:00 AM
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Nice car! The weight distribution is most meaningful with at least a driver in the car.

Is that an XKE windshield?
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Old 02-23-2022, 07:47 PM
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Hi John,
Nice hard top concept. Just my 2 cents but working along the lines of the 289 Le Mans type to could it hinge at the rear and tilt up on gas struts. Check out the old Chevy astro 1 concept car , lift the top, get in and pull it back down and latch it to the MGB windshield frame. It is not perfect but it does not require any doors. I will keep watching to see what you come up with. If I was not already building my car I would be buying your kit, it looks great and is beautifully simple.

Don’t add doors, your design is better.

Cheers,
Hudson




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Old 02-24-2022, 10:51 AM
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Hi John,
Nice hard top concept. Just my 2 cents but working along the lines of the 289 Le Mans type to could it hinge at the rear and tilt up on gas struts. Check out the old Chevy astro 1 concept car , lift the top, get in and pull it back down and latch it to the MGB windshield frame. It is not perfect but it does not require any doors. I will keep watching to see what you come up with. If I was not already building my car I would be buying your kit, it looks great and is beautifully simple.

Don’t add doors, your design is better.

Cheers,
Hudson
.
Thank you for your kind words Hudson. Your suggestion for the top is EXACTLY how I plan to make it. I just got in sculpting foam. I plan to start on the top next week.

I've sold some "kits" and have several people that have expressed interest in getting one. Unfortunately my heath issues are progressing. Time to really retire. I plan to work on personal projects but not build more to sell. I do have 2 frames and bodies that are almost complete. I will sell those. I'm putting the body plug, the molds, and the jigs up for sale. I believe that with the correct marketing that my car can be a success. It drives and handles great and draws a lot of attention.

Having fun. Come on SPRING!!!
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Old 03-08-2022, 06:32 PM
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I've finished my new frame. Test fitted an LS1 with Tremec's TKO trans. The trans has a pretty small over all size. Because of this I made the trans tunnel as narrow as possible.
Today I finished cutting and fitting the aluminum panels that close in the cockpit, foot boxes and storage area that is behind the seats.

Tomorrow I plan to put the body and windshield back on and start on the top.






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Old 03-09-2022, 01:14 AM
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Thumbs up Lookin' good!

Nice progress, John, for a chilly time in ole' E-town. She is coming along!
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Old 03-09-2022, 04:32 AM
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Remarkably compact design. I look forward to seeing more. I'm especially interested in the exhaust system design.
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