The Chronicles of KITT

Well, that went quick!

2009-07-17T07:27:00.001-04:00

Today marks one year since I purchased my 1982 Trans Am. Progress has been next to nothing since we sold our house and I had to put the car in storage until our new house is completed. That was February 2009. In the next few months, expect more postings as the project is restarted!

Making It Authentic...

2009-02-05T14:52:00.002-05:00

In my quest to build the most authentic replica possible, I have been trying to track down original PMD seat material. Unfortunately, there's no NOS fabric to be found...so I have to resort to buying up used covers, cleaning them, fixing them and dyeing them back to their original color. Here's my collection so far - what you see is enough for a complete rear seat and one of the front seats. Lots of work to do!

New Year's Knight

2009-01-01T17:06:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year! With this new year comes big goals for my replica in 2009! Paint! Engine! Transmission! This car WILL move under its own power by the end of this year, something it hasn't done since 1997!

One small update - I received my voicebox bezel the other day - it's amazing! Take a look:

Not much new on the front nose, but I did push the car out into the driveway to get some better angle shots. I'll be starting the sanding very soon!

Silent Knight

2008-12-21T09:55:00.002-05:00

Work on KITT has been a bit slow lately, but I did manage to get my lower console almost finished. Note the placement of the window switches - same location as the hero car!

More to come in the new year, including a very special part never replicated before!

Joe

Knight Light

2008-11-29T07:42:00.000-05:00

A quick update - I have made some good progress on the nose sculpt over the holidays. I've added more putty and finally cut out one of the fog light openings. I've also roughed in the driver's side. It's almost time for the fun stuff (sanding, sharpening lines, etc). I'm really starting to get excited - this nose is turning out better than I could have ever dreamed, considering I have next to no background in sculpting:

Cold Winter's Knight

2008-11-20T11:12:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone, progress on KITT has slowed a bit due to the chilly temps we've had here lately, but there is some news to report. First, progress on the nose sculpt. It's going extremely well, I have the passenger side nearly sculpted (minus the lower dam) and I've started 'glassing it:

Also, check out this score. I recently acquired two front windshields for my replica. However, these aren't just any windshields, these are NEW OLD STOCK windshields from the original series! Note the lack of window tint across the top! I bought two so I'd have a spare, in the event something happens to the one in my car. This are rare pieces for sure, 2 out of, well, not many left!

Hopefully more to come soon as I want to get this nose sculpt finished!

"Scanners Indicate an Opening, Michael."

2008-10-25T14:50:00.000-04:00

I made some more progress on the front nose sculpt today. I used the tracing I had of a real season 3 screen used bumper and transferred it to the passenger side of my nose. Also, I cut out half the scanner opening:

Sorry for the short post - more to come soon!

K.I.T.T. Foam Home

2008-10-21T17:59:00.001-04:00

While the title of this blog may remind some of the working title of season three's "Lost Knight", this entry has little to do with that episode. After reading stories of others building their own parts, I've become inspired and decided to try my luck at sculpting a season three front nose. There aren't any vendors out there who offer a truly accurate season three nose, so using numerous reference photos and dimensions from an actual season three screen used nose, I'm going to give it a go. If all goes well, what I create with look exactly like this:

So far, I have the foam boards mounted on the car. The tape is on there while the adhesive dries:

A hint of the bumper appears in the center piece I carved. This will serve as a guide while I cut away excess foam:

I began to shape the one side...just for kicks:

Here's the bumper I had on my car. A very nice piece, but it's a fourth season nose:

Lastly, I primed the passenger side door - the one that had all the dents. Came out smooth as silk:

More to come on this exciting project as I make more progress!

The Heart of the Knight

2008-10-16T06:22:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday (10/11/08), my buddy and I pulled the seized engine of KITT. I pulled out the spark plugs and water came out! Yeah, this engine had to go. Now I can detail the engine bay before putting a new motor in:

Also, here's the body (mostly) in primer, in the sunlight. With the passenger door smooth and that rust hole fixed (not pictured), the car is ready for another coat of primer:

I'm a Horrible Blogger

2008-10-09T19:20:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the lack of updates! I've been very busy with other things lately, but I did manage to get some work in on KITT. The passenger side door had a lot of minor dings in it so after some putty and sanding, I'm proud to say it's smooth now:

No more antenna hole!

I posted this on the board, but can anyone tell me if this differential cover and metal tag are stock? The tag reads, "Use Limited Slip Diff Lube Only":

One of the most important things in building this car as accurately as possible is the interior. Beyond the dash, the seat material must be the same as what's seen on the show. That means tracking down 1982 Tan Parella cloth, no easy feat...I've been lucky enough to obtain a set of mint rear seat covers and nearly mint door panels. I will be carefully cleaning and dying the original Parella cloth so it's back to its unfaded glory:

That's it for now!

Where's Waldo - Knight Rider Parts Edition

2008-09-28T07:54:00.000-04:00

A few updates - yesterday was a busy day for me (most Saturdays are) in terms of working on FutureKITT. First, a side project, somewhat related to KITT - currently, my 15 inch turbocast rims and caps are on my 1984 stock Trans Am. I have a set of 14's, but in my opinion, they are too small for the wheel openings (and series inaccurate). So I found a set of 15 inch 1984 turbine rims (the ones that look like the turbocasts, but without the hubcaps) at a junkyard for $30 for the set! I sandblasted them and then painted them the same gold color that I used as an accent on my 84 T/A. Once I get tires mounted, these will replace the turbocasts on my stock T/A:

I went to my garage attic the other day and realized just how many KITT and Trans Am parts I have accumulated over the years. See if you can spot the parts!

And, finally, last but not least, I finished priming the car. Behold it's light pink primerness!

Primed

2008-09-23T19:17:00.000-04:00

I spent last weekend prepping and priming the front half of FutureKITT, from the doors forward. You can see the results here:

You may notice that the scanner opening is bowed up in the middle - this has been fixed since the pictures were taken. A simple shim did the trick. Looking more and more like KITT everyday!

Powerless

2008-09-19T13:39:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of updates - I was without power from Sunday night until yesterday due to Hurrican Ike. More updates soon!

Knight of the Car Parts

2008-09-10T15:29:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm back from my vacation and ready to move forward with KITT. I just realized after today's work that I have parts for this car EVERYWHERE. I really need to take some time and organize it all before it gets lost. Here's what I mean:

I removed the front windshield the other day, the HARD way. I don't know how I did it without cutting myself. Here's what was left of it when I finished:

I don't think I covered this before, but this car's body is nearly flawless except for one rust spot...and it's bad. It's hard to believe that the rest of this car's body is pretty much rust free, and then there's this:

No sweat, though...nothing a little welding can't fix. Today, I also removed the CFI and the intake manifold. They look to be in decent shape, just need cleaned up:

This kinda stumped me, though. The rear two ports were sealed off...anybody have a clue why?

And finally, here are some more random car shots. I started priming some parts as you can see:

More to come soon!

Labor Day Weekend...Labor

2008-08-31T16:40:00.000-04:00

I have spent most of yesterday and today getting the body of the car sanded. Still have a ways to go but you can see it's coming along. I also removed the heavily cracked front windshield. It took me about an hour to get it off!

With the fenders inspected and repaired where necessary, I re-installed them and the front nose:

Almost ready for primer!

More Disassembly...

2008-08-29T10:31:00.001-04:00

I made a slightly unpleasant discovery when I removed the driver's side fender on Tuesday...turns out that it's a replacement fender. My first clue were the patches of fiberglass on the back...they hid extra mounting holes that usually come with reproduction fenders. Also, there was no factory date stamp:

However, the biggest clue that this wasn't a factory fender:

That's right! Made in Taiwan. Notice the amount of rust on the inside of the fender. It's only surface rust so it can be easily fixed...however, before this fender goes back on, I am going to coat every square inch of it to help prevent future rust. Or, I may try and find a replacement original GM fender.

Moving on from that, you can see that progress has been made on the sanding front, still a long way to go. Also, here's a shot of the dead engine that's getting ready to be pulled:

More to come!

Disassembly...

2008-08-27T13:48:00.000-04:00

A few week's back, I began disassembling the car, starting with the front stone deflectors:

Most people don't realize this, but the screen used K.I.T.T. cars DID NOT have these deflectors with the exception of ONE car...the original Pilot Presentation car...you know, the one with the odd front nose? This one:

...So I sold them on Ebay. More disassembly:

As you can see above, there's some minor surface rust - nothing major though! A quick sanding and priming of those spots and we're good to go.

And, finally, test fitting the front nose for the first time. I was even able to copy the infamous season 2/3 "droopy" turn signal indentations:

More to come soon!

Almost KITT vs Future KITT

2008-08-27T11:16:00.001-04:00

I decided to have a little fun with my two Trans Ams...the fully restored 1984 T/A is the one I have had since 1998...at one point during those ten years, it was going to be my replica, and I even got so far as to convert the outside:

...but I ultimately decided that I wanted to keep this one stock and buy another to convert.

July 17, 2008 - The Day I Brought KITT Home

2008-08-25T14:30:00.000-04:00

I found this car on Craigslist. A 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, 58,825 original miles on a blown LU5 Crossfire FI 305 that had been sitting since February 1997! The car originally came fully loaded (minus power seats and power mirrors). Black exterior, tan interior. Unfortunately, a previous owner had swapped out 90% of the original tan interior for a gray set, and pulled the PMD seats and replaced them with gray Camaro seats. Luckily, I have an extra set of PMDs and a tan interior. The body is 100% original with only one small rust hole near the passenger area t-top. The original wheels (15 inch turbo casts) were long gone, but I have a set of those as well. My buddy and I drove about two hours from where I live and we towed it home. Even with its faded paint job and mismatched wheels, we still had people eyeing it over when we drove by. Incidentally, the car was purchased on July 17th, 2008 - David Hasselhoff's 56th birthday...call that a good omen.

Creating a K.I.T.T. Replica

2008-08-25T14:22:00.001-04:00

Well, here it is. The beginning of my blog which will cover the construction of the Knight Industries Two Thousand, the high-tech talking car from NBC's Knight Rider. My goal - to build the most series accurate version of the season three K.I.T.T. hero car. I've gone so far as to locate original tan PMD seat material, obtain measurements of the seldom replicated tow bar and take measurements and tracings of an original season three front nose. By the time I am done, you will be hard pressed to find a more accurate season 3 hero car replica!