I couldn't wait to get home today so I could get this bad boy open!

Wait a minute, this isn't a TV!

It's my new, non-defrost, screen-accurate back glass for KITT!

You can see in this picture just how massive this back glass is!  It's one of the largest pieces of glass ever used on an automobile.  It provides a large amount of structural support for the rear of the car .

Here's where the back glass I bought a few years ago has been sitting.  This is the one that was supposed to be scratch-free but came with a large scratch.  It also has the rear defrost because I had given up on ever finding a new piece of back glass.

Side by side comparison of the non-defrost glass and the defrost glass.

Defrost glass.

I found one blemish on the new glass, but it turned out to be just some sticky gunk from shipping.

Thanks to my friend Kevin Knight, I was able to find new old stock non-defrost, screen-accurate back glass from Ira Turner with Glass Seekers.  He actually had a few available!  This is 30+ year old back glass!

New back glass safely stored.

Sara and I are back to feeling ambitious again so we tackled a bunch of projects this weekend. After church this morning we fixed a rock chip in the windshield of the Freestyle, then rolled KITT out of the garage so he could enjoy the sun.

With KITT out of the garage we swept and vacuumed the tiles on KITT's side of the garage. When we cleaned and restored the tiles last week we couldn't get to this side with KITT in the garage.

Here you can see the scuff marks the auto dollies left on the tiles when we moved KITT the first time after installing the flooring.

We had some bubbling issues in the tile in this corner and needed to remove the shelving so we could get to the problem.  We cut the tiles down a little more to allow them room to expand during temperature changes.

We cleaned the tiles in the picture above as well as on KITT's side of the garage.  While the cleaner dried, we went to visit our two favorite dogs.  While we were visiting Kayser and Knox, Troy left a package for us in front of our garage.  When we got back home, we moved it inside the garage.  The Freestyle is going to have to sit outside tonight.

End result:

Scuff marks are gone!  Tiles are shiny!

Garage just needs to be put back together...

Now the question is: Once I get it unpacked, what wall should I put my new 75" TV on? 

As more and more vendors seem to be leaving the Knight Rider conversion parts scene, I have been keeping my eye out for last chance deals. That's exactly what I was able to score with Billy Chingas's billet aluminum black anodized shifter knob! He has painstakingly recreated the iconic shift knob from the '82 Firebirds, but in aluminum. I managed to get one of the last three he had. :)

It arrived today and I couldn't wait to get it opened!

Everything was well wrapped and protected.

Billy includes everything you will need to install the knob including the drill bits!

Here it is in all its glory! This thing is built like a tank!

I am so glad I was able to snag one of these. It has such a solid feel to it. Thanks Billy!

I decided this weekend to dive back into working on KITT, and realized I never finished the taillight harness.  Just for curiosity sake I pulled up the blog post where I started on the taillight harness, and realized it was in July of 2012.  That's insane!  I really need to get back to work on this project!

I started this weekend by putting a new section of wire loom on the section of the harness I had already cleaned and restored.

With the loom in place, I just had these last two sections to restore.

I started by peeling off the old electrical tape on the junction just before the grommet.  You can see how much dirt was still trapped in there.

This plug had a zip tie with a pin style mount.  I am not sure if this means the original clip broke off, but I will have to deal with this when it gets reinstalled.

Metal mounting clip -- needs to be cleaned before reattaching.

I removed the smaller loom from the upper section.  The wires seemed to be in good shape, just needed to be cleaned.

I decided before I got too far on wrapping the new section I should probably tape off the junctions coming out of the loom on the main section.  I bought 3M Super 33+ tape as it is supposed to be the best stuff to use for wiring harnesses.  It does not unravel and the adhesive does not get gummy.

I started to peel off the old electrical tape from the remaining section.

That's actually black duct tape on the brown wires.  I will definitely have to check this out...

With all the wires uncovered, I hit them with the air compressor to blow all the loose dirt off.

Then I wiped the wires down individually with a Gojo wipe.

I'm not sure why someone used duct tape, but the connection underneath was clean and solid and looked factory. I taped the connection properly and then retaped this section of the harness.

I installed the smaller loom on this upper section.

I taped off the main harness wires and the junction of the upper smaller loom.

Once the loom was properly taped off, I cleaned both of the connections on this side with all-purpose cleaner and a scrub brush, then rinsed and dried them thoroughly.

On the way back out to the garage with the clean harness, our neighbor saw us with it and commented, "Oh, the new wiring harness came in!"  I thought that was quite the compliment considering this is a restored original harness.

The next thing that needed to be done was to clean the two side marker light sockets.  I used the same vinegar/salt (acidic) solution as before to eat away at any corrosion.

I was able to get both side marker light sockets in the solution at the same time.

While the side marker light sockets soaked in the acidic solution, I used contact cleaner on the two connectors that had not been previously cleaned.  Both of these connectors were in great shape to start with.

I followed that up with DeoxIT D5, which is a cleaner and protector for connections.

Once I was done cleaning those connectors, I gave each light socket a bath in the water/baking soda (neutralizer) solution.

Time to reassemble the sockets!  I am not adding dielectric grease at this time.  I want to do more research to find out how much is necessary.  These were packed full and being an insulator, electrically that does not make sense to me.

Final step: adding the foam seals.

Taillight harness has been restored!!

Next up, this bad boy!  What is it?  Stay tuned to find out!

I had been looking for a way to improve on our cracking and salt-eaten cement garage floor for a while.  I saw some Craftsman garage tiles at Sears a couple of years ago, and had been thinking about them ever since.  Sears no longer sells the Craftsman tiles I first saw, but I was able to find an online source for PVC garage tiles.  

These are twenty inch square interlocking tiles.  They sit on top of the floor and require no adhesive.  They are water, chemical, and solvent resistant.  I chose black tiles with a leather-like look.  

Garage floor before tile installation:

Garage floor after installation:

The tiles are advertised and reviewed as being used in a garage, and able to withstand high loads and the use of a floor jack.  We noticed as we were putting the garage back together after installing them that the tiles scuffed and scratched incredibly easily.  Also when rolling KITT back on his auto dollies, the auto dollies left indents in the tiles, and scuffs as they rolled.  This was not the type of durability I was expecting, or that was indicated by the company we bought them from.  I contacted the company and worked directly with the manufacturer, who eventually gave us a partial refund.  

On the plus side, the tiles are extremely comfortable to walk and kneel on.  Liquids clean up easily, and I am hoping it will be easier now to push out water and salt in the winter.

I wish I would have bought a more durable garage tile (ie a commercial-grade tile), but I am happy with these for what I ended up paying for them after the partial refund.

I found a product line called Rejuvenate at Menards that is made for vinyl floors.  I bought both the cleaner and the restorer.  We applied them today.

You can see the difference in the tiles below.  This is the same tile, dry in both pictures.  The Rejuvenate cleaner and restorer are easy to use and I highly recommend them. :)

Before:

After:

Today we took KARR back into to Troy's shop for his 1,000 mile tune-up and inspection. The engine still has a weird rattling sound between 1800 and 2200 RPMs.  Troy, along with every machine shop he talks to, is baffled as to what this can be. KARR also has been stuttering every once in a while right after starting it up and shifting into gear, almost like it is not getting enough fuel or air. I'm thinking this is a bad connection in the wiring somewhere. Troy is going to look it over this weekend and let me know what he finds.

Isn't Knox adorable though?

So...you're probably wondering where is this all coming from and where the hell have I been the last 7 months? Suffice to say KARR was misbehaving, hurt himself, was taken to the mechanic, and ended up needing the equivalent of open heart surgery. There were complications which required parts that were not made anymore and KARR was on life support awaiting parts for the last 7 months.

This all started right after the Sizzlin' Summer Nights car show in late August of last year. Just as we were pulling into the show KARR decided to overheat...spewing coolant everywhere! This was just plain odd as it wasn't hot out and KARR had never exhibited any behavior like that before. After the show we checked the coolant level to make sure there was enough to drive home and there was, but the trip home was even more disturbing. 

KARR was running like absolute crap. I mean it was horrible...stuttering, shuddering, surging. I was in total disbelief and shock. Sara was worried we wouldn't make it home. I knew I had to get him into to the mechanic, and sooner rather than later. This was beyond devastating! We had poured so much of ourselves into KARR that year, and had just taken him on a long trip to Devil's Tower, WY that summer. How could this happen all at once, and when he was fine just the day before?

Once at Hub Auto, Troy was able to diagnose that the timing chain had started jumping. It would need to be replaced which meant that the engine would have to be pulled. I am glad we caught it right way as this could have spelled certain disaster for the engine. Not the best news we could have received, but not the worst either. With the engine coming out, now was the perfect time to have the transmission rebuilt, engine inspected and the seals and gaskets replaced to fix the small oil leak. You know how I love to blow money!

I had planned on putting on the pressure with the beginning of March, but I was hit with kidney stones. :( Horrible pain! I would not wish that on my worst enemy. Needless to say my mind was focused on getting through the pain and not so much on my car. I did find out during this time that Troy's hydraulic lift line had burst one day when he went to work on KARR. This sprayed hydraulic fluid all over the place. KARR was not hurt, but it did mean he had to get a replacement line for the lift.

New rear exhaust manifold.

Routing and connecting the vacuum lines.

Installing the brackets and attaching the gear selector and clutch cables.

Installing the vacuum canister and cooling pipes for the ignition coil and alternator. If you are not familiar with V6 Fieros they have a rear blower that pushes air through the silver pipes seen below. They direct the air at the ignition coil and alternator to help keep them cool.

Reattaching the chassis ground wire to the engine block.

Intake installed!

Routing throttle cable and cruise control cables.

Time to install the rear axle.

Parking brake needs to be hooked up as well.

Disconnecting the brake line brackets so we can replace the struts.

I took these pictures just to show how filthy KARR had gotten sitting in the shop for six months.

You can see the hydraulic fluid that sprayed on the passenger side window.

Unfortunately the front hood sat open the entire time the car was in the shop. Everything in the front trunk was as filthy as the car. :(

The driver side window was also half way open. You can see my fingerprint on the gullwing.

We had to compress the springs to remove and install the new struts.

Once the struts were installed I was able to put the rear wheels back on.

I filled the engine and transmission with oil while Troy put in the coolant.

Time to get the spark plug wires on and fire it up. It started right up! With no exhaust it was loud as hell, but it was so awesome just to have it running again!

I backed it out of the side bay and pulled it around to the front bay, so we could get it up in the air and install the exhaust.

Just some random pictures of the underside before we mounted the exhaust.

You can see the end of the Y pipe on the top right corner of this picture.

With the exhaust mounted, all that was left was to adjust the timing.

We sprayed it off to get as much of the dirt and grime off as we could.

KARR is finally home!

This was an insane ordeal that I don't ever want to have to go through again! Like I said at the beginning of this post, people have a hard time understanding why anyone would put the amount of time and money that I have into an old car. The answer is simple: I love my car!

The engine and transmission still need to get through the initial break in period, and there are various odd behaviors and noises to track down. I will have an update on that in the near future. For now just remember, Life is a Highway!