In 2012 we were able to make so much progress on KITT it is almost mind boggling. So far in 2013 we have not been as fortunate and our experience thus far has a recurring theme: Delay.
It all started with the engine rebuild which was supposed to be done and reinstalled in early January. The engine was not finished until mid-March and when it arrived it was the wrong color. Troy and Joel are working to repaint the engine red to match the transmission.
The car was supposed to go to paint at the end of March, but that required that KITT be back on his wheels. The rear end has been at the shop for over a month now and little progress has been made. The fuel sending unit needs to be rebuilt and there is welding that needs to be done to the Panhard/track bar bracket and subframe connectors. Troy has been very busy at the shop and has not had time to assist me with this. Although I feel I have done great so far, there are some things I am just not comfortable doing myself and would prefer the help of a mechanic I can trust.
I have also been waiting for my front nose, rear bumper and rock guards to arrive from Billy at Knight Designs. I recently contacted him to see how they were coming along and found out they too had been delayed due to a necessary shop relocation.
I guess I was naive enough to believe we could maintain the pace we set in 2012. It has become apparent that I am not going to be able to get KITT to Mario in a reasonable amount of time, so although it sucks I decided that I needed to postpone KITT's paint job until this fall. This should give everyone ample time to recoup and hopefully get things back on track.
Mario stopped by this afternoon to drop of the doors, back glass, and front bumper. I was a little worried to break the news to Mario, but I should not have been. He has been awesome to work with and said he understands that delays happen with projects like these. Mario and I decided that we would just resume the painting when things are back on schedule. I am aiming for a late summer/early fall date. Thanks for understanding Mario!
Here is the new back glass/hatch glass.
This is the metal edging that Mario removed from the donor back glass. Notice the brackets for the sun louvers.
Mario also finished painting the front bumper. It turned out beautiful and will look great behind the front nose.
Here is the donor trunk lid and the metal bracket for the underside of the trunk lid. I will be getting rid of the donor trunk lid as I have no need for it.
Here are the doors primed and ready for paint.
The door bottoms and jambs have all been painted gloss black.
Mario installed the replacement hinge and bushing kits. The hinges are nice and solid now.
The insides of the door were cleaned and retreated just as they were originally at the factory.
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