 Project: K.I.T.T. is the restoration & conversion of a 1983 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am into Knight Rider's KITT |
Project: K.I.T.T. Blog
KITT Visits Jay Leno's Garage
My friends Joe Huth and AJ Palmgren were lucky enough to have their screen used KITT featured on "Jay Leno's Garage"! This was filmed last month in California. The YouTube extra show premiered today and the televised episode will be in May. Congratulations Joe and AJ!
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Six Year Anniversary
We got KITT's 1983 Pontiac Trans Am body six years ago. Here is what he looked like on January 14, 2012...
Here is what he looked like five years ago on January 14, 2013...
Here is what he looked like four years ago on January 14, 2014...
Here is what he looked like three years ago on January 14, 2015...
Here is what he looked like two years ago on January 14, 2016.
and here is what he looks like one year ago on January 14, 2017 April 14, 2017.
and here is what he looks like today. Thank you Sara for all the hard work you have put into this project over the last six years, and although the project really slowed down in the last couple years I am looking forward to diving back into it with you!
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KITT Turns 35 Today! Happy Birthday Buddy!
Knight Rider debuted on September 26, 1982 and introduced KITT to the world!
KITT will always be the original smart car! Happy Birthday Buddy!
Join us tonight in watching the pilot episode "Knight of the Phoenix" in honor of KITT's birthday:
Part 1 http://goo.gl/bmlyhi
Part 2 http://goo.gl/L8AZQi
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Installing KARR's New Gauges
I wanted to give KARR's instrument panel a little more of a Knight Rider look, so for my birthday this year Sara bought me a set of digital Fiero gauges from Tom's Digital Electronics. Thanks Baby! We had them custom built to look a bit more like the bar graphs seen on Knight Rider. They took six weeks to build, but they arrived a few days ago and I couldn't wait to get them installed. As you can see KARR was just waiting to pull into the garage too!
Here are the current stock Fiero GT gauges.
This is everything included in the Fiero GT digital gauge kit.
The volt meter and oil pressure gauges.
The tachometer
The water temperature and fuel gauges.
The speedometer.
One last look at the stock gauges before tearing them apart.
I started with the volt meter and oil pressure gauge pod.
Comparing the analog versus digital.
I had to remove the stock connector and hard wire the new digital gauges in.
On to the main gauges...
With the main gauge pod removed, I just had to remove the plastic lens and metal fascia to access the stock gauges.
For those of you who have never had the gauge pod apart, the back of the metal fascia is painted orange. This is actually what makes the gauges appear to be lit by orange bulbs. It is just the light reflecting off this panel as it illuminates the gauges.
Comparing the digital and stock analog tachometer.
Comparing the digital and stock analog water temperature and fuel gauges.
Comparing the digital and stock analog speedometer.
Here is the back side of the main gauge pod. I removed the six bulbs that were used to illuminate the analog gauges.
With the gauges installed, I reassembled the pod.
I mounted the gauge pod back into the dash.
The tachometer, water temperature, and fuel gauges all use the stock connectors so there was nothing to wire. The speedometer wires needed to be spliced into the existing speedometer connector which was still needed to power the odometer.
Powering everything up for a test.
After installing the black outs, if they are in direct light, you are just able to see the circuit boards peeking out. I love that look!
When they are not in direct light, they are totally blacked out.
Digital glory! What a transformation!
I am thrilled with the digital gauges! I will be doing a video showing the before and after with the gauges working shortly after this post, so be sure to watch for it.
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Time To Fly The Flag
When Joe Huth, of the Knight Rider Historians, announced that he was making a F.L.A.G. flag...I knew I had to have one! Joe's stuff is always top notch and his attention to the smallest detail means you will end up with the most authentic prop. This flag is the proud symbol of Knight Industries and the Foundation for Law And Government as seen in Knight Rider.
Here is Joe's description:
NOW ACCEPTING ORDERS for the “F.L.A.G. flag”! Modeled after the flag seen flying high above the Foundation for Law and Government in “Goliath Returns”, our large 3’ x 5’ waterproof flag is double-sided and made of a high quality knitted polyester. The back side features the Knight chess piece in reverse. Grommets at all four corners allow you the flexibility to mount it to a flagpole, hang it on a wall, or stretch it between two posts! Perfect for car shows, garages and man caves.We are offering this flag in two color schemes – black graphics/yellow background (similar to the “Goliath Returns” flag) and a more traditional gold graphics/black background. We had a limited run of 100 made (50 of each style), and when they are gone – they are GONE!
I ordered the black and gold color scheme. Mine arrived today and I couldn't wait to get it open!
The quality of this flag is absolutely amazing! I cannot wait to get this hung up in the garage. Thanks Joe!
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It's Unboxing Time!
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.
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A Day In The Garage
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.
Next we applied the restorer to the tiles. Here's KITT enjoying the sun while the restorer dries.
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?
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Shifting Things Back Into Gear
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!
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