Is This Shelby Cobra’s Polished Copper Body Unique or Just Weird?

Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:

I was wondering if you could actually take regular steel panels and electro/chem-plate them with copper or similar. Actually I'm sure you can. I was actually wondering if they did that or if they handmade new pieces from solid copper. 

Car body panels are usually made by stamping a sheet of metal in a die.  They didn't make many of the "continuation" Cobra, so it's not clear if they would have invested in that kind of tooling (the dies are very expensive to make), but if so then you can probably just use a sheet of copper in the die instead of a sheet of aluminum.  Raw material costs more, but if you can reuse the tooling then it's not that hard to do.

I'm in the minority, but I really don't like the polished / mirror finish cars, old or new.

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:

I was wondering if you could actually take regular steel panels and electro/chem-plate them with copper or similar. Actually I'm sure you can. I was actually wondering if they did that or if they handmade new pieces from solid copper. 

Car body panels are usually made by stamping a sheet of metal in a die.  They didn't make many of the "continuation" Cobra, so it's not clear if they would have invested in that kind of tooling (the dies are very expensive to make), but if so then you can probably just use a sheet of copper in the die instead of a sheet of aluminum.  Raw material costs more, but if you can reuse the tooling then it's not that hard to do.

 

IIRC Kirkham has access to an ex-MiG factory in Poland for their hand-formed panels.

I like it "Just because"  

I think there are some Youtube videos about the build , 

Would you like it better if it was in Magnesium ?

In reply to californiamilleghia :

I would prefer lithium for weight savings and for smiles per gallon. 

A see a full sized drivable Trophy Car.

My question is how did they join the panels without leaving a trace?  Aluminum can be TIG welded, sanded & polished.  Metal much the same.  But copper?  Soldering or leading would leave a trace...

Inquiring minds want to know...

Unless it is "plated" as was mentioned as a possibly.

Watch out for vandals with Brillo pads.....

Carman944 said:

My question is how did they join the panels without leaving a trace?  Aluminum can be TIG welded, sanded & polished.  Metal much the same.  But copper?  Soldering or leading would leave a trace...

Inquiring minds want to know...

Unless it is "plated" as was mentioned as a possibly.

Braze it with the same material as the body panels, that way the color matches.  Then you sand it down and polish it out.

I think it’s cool, for something that would just be put on display to be looked at and never driven.

In reply to Carman944 :

I don't know if this helps, but here's a photo of the underside of the hood where it looks like two pieces were joined:

My coffee mug would look good in there

Copper was probably easier to form since it's a soft metal, but then it can also work harden from vibration so I wonder if the car will develop cracks over time.

This is off topic a bit but back in the mid/late '70s a long time European world champion speedway motorcycle racer was awarded a gold plated Jawa 500 (IIRC). This machine was not only 'entirely' gold plated externally, but internally as well (i.e. piston, rod, crank, gears, etc). A number of big motorcycle magazines in the day had picture laden articles about it. Haven't heard anything about this machine since then, but I'm sure it's still out there somewhere.

I find it ironic that the body is copper, but the radiator is aluminum.

You can weld copper...no need to braze or solder.

Funny this came up as I linked this to another site yesterday:

http://www.kirkhammotorsports.com/book_aoe/

Lots of info and progress pics of a Cobra they made for Oracle's founder back in the day. 

(It's polished aluminum with similar sanded stripes.)

Mr_Asa said:

Carman944 said:

My question is how did they join the panels without leaving a trace?  Aluminum can be TIG welded, sanded & polished.  Metal much the same.  But copper?  Soldering or leading would leave a trace...

Inquiring minds want to know...

Unless it is "plated" as was mentioned as a possibly.

Braze it with the same material as the body panels, that way the color matches.  Then you sand it down and polish it out.

If you braze with the same material you are joining, you are actually welding rather than brazing. Copper will Tig weld fine. You could likely set up Mig for it, but Tig would be most likely for a one-off.

66polara said:

Anyone want to bet it was built for the same guy who had the Copper Caddy built by Dave Kindig? 

I can't believe someone else had the same thought! That episode was called "Copper, copper, copper" and aired in December 2015.

I'm just giggling at the thought of wire-stealing crackheads getting a look at this thing. 

In reply to Colin Wood :

Aha!  I see that now.  I wasn't aware that you could TIG copper (although I don't see why you couldn't).  I'll have to give that a try.  

Learn something new every day!  Or a least try too...

David S. Wallens said:

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

I wonder if you could clearcoat it to keep the look but not have to worry about it turning green?

 

Would wax help preserve the finish? 

Yes to both of these.  Its Bronze Disease and treating it is fairly well known due to how many brass and bronze things were made back in history.  The more chloride the copper has attracted, the worse it is, but its possible.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_disease

matthewmcl (Forum Supporter) said:

Mr_Asa said:

Carman944 said:

My question is how did they join the panels without leaving a trace?  Aluminum can be TIG welded, sanded & polished.  Metal much the same.  But copper?  Soldering or leading would leave a trace...

Inquiring minds want to know...

Unless it is "plated" as was mentioned as a possibly.

Braze it with the same material as the body panels, that way the color matches.  Then you sand it down and polish it out.

If you braze with the same material you are joining, you are actually welding rather than brazing. Copper will Tig weld fine. You could likely set up Mig for it, but Tig would be most likely for a one-off.

Aren't there temp differences and a difference at the molecular level between the two?  Welding actually fuses the two materials, while brazing is closer to a glued joint?

Ya nope.  As art ok it is unique but you could get the same affect with copper plating. 

Am I the only one that is annoyed by this because everything was done to make the car as light as possible to go fast (because racecar) and then they go and put a heavy body on the car for looks or art?  The OCD engineer in me sees this and it bugs the hell out of me.

Now if some one made a polished titanium body that would be impressive.  Just trying to polish titanium is an art all its own.

Think I'd rather have this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlTDZ8Sfr9M