Thread: Kit car rant--Cobra vs. 'glas streetrod

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Originally Posted by G.R.

probably not SS but a polished Kirkham(builder from Utah)aluminum bodied car....and they are definitely purty when polished out

That is an understatement

Originally Posted by mrmustang

That is an understatement

That is a close example. Probably was aluminum. It almost hurt your eyes to look at in the sun.

Ron,

thanks for that info, I had no idea about that. I would say on an original of course not change the badges. I have had arguments with people about some of the other points on cobras, others insisting that "all cobras had the wide fenders" and "there's no such thing as a side oiler". gosh some people can be so frickin' stubborn, and when arguing from a point of ignorance.

If I had the money I wouldn't be opposed to buying a car that was done if it was what I wanted. there's a 48 chevy listed local that looks great i.m.h.o. there was a prostreet el camino for sale on ebay a couple of weeks ago I tried to talk my wife into letting me go in on with my uncle, was all done except engine assembly and transmission install. I'd have been happy to own it even if somebody else did all the hard work.

Red

Weren't the originals (England) Aluminum? I'd rather polish aluminium than fight stamping SS. How would you foum SS fenders with out the mold scratches / stretch marks?

Originally Posted by heatwave

Weren't the originals (England) Aluminum? I'd rather polish aluminium than fight stamping SS. How would you foum SS fenders with out the mold scratches / stretch marks?

Weren't the DeLorean's stainless?

Yep! They had simple panels made to be replace in case of an accident. Keen concept!

Originally Posted by heatwave

Weren't the originals (England) Aluminum? I'd rather polish aluminium than fight stamping SS. How would you foum SS fenders with out the mold scratches / stretch marks?

Yep the original Cobras were aluminum---Kirkham built a one-off out of copper a year or so ago.

I read an article a while back saying some electrolysis occurs between the aluminum body and the steel frames on the old shelby cobras. I guess this could be a problem. I wonder if you could put a zinc cathode on as a sacraficial piece of metal, kind of like on a boat engine.

You can get the same thing in an aluminum radiator in a steel frame.

Stovens, That is an interesting idea but it won't work using Zinc. Aluminum is already a more active metal than Zinc. The only way it might work is to use Magnesium which is more active than Aluminum. I have seen the same problem where folks use a Zinc anode on a boat with an aluminum hull when they should use an old mag wheel or a VW-4 engine block on the anchor chain. By the way a VW engine from a junk yard where it has had a chance to get water into the block should be inspected internally for "milk of magnesia" white slurry which is the result of magnesium reacting with water to form Magnesium hydroxide; iron rust is red but magnesium "rust" is white.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Don I was taking a guess at zinc, couldn't remember what they used on the out boards! Interesting on the VW's!