Kirkham 427 for sale

@ak1318

Hi Clive will do!

@ak1318

Clive, tried calling earlier today, my number is 07841 027887.

Regards

@gtgeorge

Many thanks Mark - been a bit snowed today so apologies that I missed your call.  I'll give you a buzz tomorrow if I may.

Best regards

And yet this one sold for £96.5k!

https://themarket.co.uk/listings/kirkham/cobra-427/b1faa421-3a04-4d09-ba96-91781b86a94a

Built in 2005-2011 as a Kirkham, registered as a historic AC and not paying tax?  Who reads these adverts?

@roger-king EL1594 isn’t a Kirkham chassis number and FE’s don’t have engine numbers, let alone ones that happen to match the chassis number. 
Something isn’t what it claims to be. 🤔

RHD FE engined cars are difficult to optimise and I’m not aware that Kirkham make dedicated RHD versions. With RHD cars, the motor has to be offset 1/2” off centre towards the driver, which severely cramps the footrest and compromises already marginal header clearance. If you use decide on the easier to fit, period style floor mounted pedals (as this car) you cannot rest your left clutch foot beside the clutch pedal. This makes driving a RHD car particularly uncomfortable. The only option is top hinged pedals which require a complete re engineering of the front end. Autokraft took the latter route, but they went for a cable clutch which is not suitable for an FE.

Engine position apart, the same applies to original RHD leaf spring 289s, Mike.  The O/S footwell box has a 'dog leg' inner wall next to the engine, to clear the RH exhaust manifold.  Even with my size 7s there is nowhere to rest my clutch foot so I tend to 'bend the knee' when cruising.  Obviously a LHD car doesn't have this problem as the clutch is far left.

Why would the engine need to be offset towards the steering rack in a RHD 427?  I'd expect the opposite, but I don't know 427s.

 Roger, I think I said it was offset towards the driver. As you probably know the Salisbury diff has the pinion has offset 1” to the right. This is to ensure the half shafts are equal length. However if you mount the motor central as you would think, the UJ’s at each end of the 13” ultra short propshaft, can’t cope and vibration is the result. Shelby split the difference and settled for 1/2”. This is perfect for a LHD car as it improves footwell room, but particularly annoying for RHD as the Salisbury (Jaguar) IRS diff was designed and made in the UK!
 If you saw Part 1 of my 427 install with the February Newsletter, you can see how the top mount pedals were re-engineered, to get the masters cylinders and reservoirs out of the engine bay. I would say it was definitely worth fighting for. I’m 6’ with 91/2” shoes and the car is very comfortable to drive, which means we use it at every opportunity. The pedal box I used was self contained and could be retro fitted to any car. As you can tell, I maintained those parts which I believed contributed to the spirit of the original, but was relaxed about changing the things that would make living with the car better.

@mike, yes, offside - driver's side.

I never used to think I was lucky being 5' 8", but it's turned out that way in the long run!  I fit in restricted-space classics easily - S2A Landie, GT6, XK and Cooper S - the last of which, surprisingly, has the most space of all of those.  It means I can keep my 289 as original, pedals, 16" wheel etc. with no trouble.

We must be one of the few with 16” steering wheels. One of the key features I do agree and very nice to hold. All those guys on Club Cobra talking about fitting electric power steering make me laugh 👍

Posted by: @mike

We must be one of the few with 16” steering wheels. One of the key features I do agree and very nice to hold. All those guys on Club Cobra talking about fitting electric power steering make me laugh 👍

You're joking... aren't you?  PS on a Cobra??  I suppose it's because they've fitted smaller wheels, and huge tyres.

It's not too difficult to modify the Motolita wheel aluminium parts to the original pattern.  I assume they are chunkier than the originals because of strength issues.