Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Merry Christmas 2015
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
This Is Your Chance To Say "Hello" To KITT
There was enough interest from our followers, so we are hosting a video Hangout to give anyone interested a chance to say "hello" to KITT. Please keep in mind that because KITT will be learning your voice all you will be able to say is "hello", but if we have enough people help with this we might be able to let you talk to him more in the future.
Mark your calendar and join us on Hangouts on Sunday, December 13 at 7:30 PM CST.
Are you going?
Sunday, November 1, 2015
My New Gullwing Knight-Head Hat
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Introducing K.I.D.
Introducing the Knight Industries Drone, or K.I.D. for short. K.I.D. is a Syma X8C remote controlled drone.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
An Update On KITT's Engine
I stopped down at Troy's shop on my way home from work and he had a surprise for me. He had resumed work on KITT's engine rebuild. He has the chrome valve covers and Renegade intake manifold installed. Looking pretty sweet if you ask me. :D
I have been slowly going through the parts boxes in the garage and attempting to better catalog and store them. Once I have that finished we are going to get to work on a few more things for KARR before diving back into KITT.
Here are the items I still want to get done on KARR this fall:
-Install new door glass for both doors
-Clean and lube all door/window hardware
-Tint both side windows and rear glass
-Replace or repair windshield weather strip
-Install remote starter
-Paint gullwing steering wheel
I know Project: K.I.T.T. has been quiet lately, so thanks for sticking with us.
Saturday, September 26, 2015
KITT Turns 33 Today! Happy Birthday Buddy!
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Can Anyone Guess What We Are Doing?
Monday, August 24, 2015
KARR Get New Tinted GT Sail Panels
I know Project: K.I.T.T. has been quiet lately, but that is only because I have been busy with other smaller projects, like giving KARR some much needed love and attention. New door glass is also on my list for KARR before the summer is out.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
KARR's Gullwing Installed
KARR is finally back home tonight! He has been at the mechanic getting some much needed maintenance. KARR received a catalytic converter, new water pump, new thermostat, new spark plugs, new brake pads, a coolant flush, a tune up, and a replacement line for the damaged high pressure A/C line so KARR now has working air conditioning!
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Preparing To Come To KITT's Defense...
Sunday, July 19, 2015
My Birthday = KARR's New Gullwing
I thought it would be cool to put a gullwing steering wheel in my Fiero (KARR). It was an idea I was toying with, but I really could not justify the expense of putting a gullwing in my daily driver just to have a gullwing. This summer the leather-wrapped GT-style steering wheel in my Fiero started oozing whatever glue was used to hold the leather in place on the steering wheel. It oozes out of the pores where it is stitched and looks like melted chocolate, in both consistency and color. It also stains clothing. One day while trying to get a "chocolate ooze glue" stain out of my dress pants, Sara said, "How about for your birthday present this year you get a gullwing steering wheel for KARR?" Got to love my wife!
I had decided before starting Project: K.I.T.T. that all of KITT's conversion parts, both interior and exterior, will be from Billy at Knight Designs. Billy's parts are the true "Cadillac" of conversion parts. They are not only the highest quality and most screen accurate, but feature all the bells and whistles, too. The downside to having "Cadillac" parts is the "Cadillac" price that goes with them.
When it came to choosing a gullwing for KARR, I was not looking for the ultimate in screen accuracy, but rather a cost effective, functional, quality gullwing. Also, I needed a customized gullwing, as I was putting it in a Fiero and not a Firebird, and would not have the dash and the rest of the conversion parts.
I turned to João at Knight Passions. I liked the look of his 3rd season “Gullwing” steering wheel and he was willing to customize the steel neck of the gullwing by shortening it for my Fiero. He also had an unbelievable turnaround time for a customized part. I had my customized gullwing in just three weeks!
Here is the box from Knight Passions. João wrote "Very Careful!" or "Extremely Careful!" on every side of the box, including the bottom. I have never seen a box marked that well. Very impressive!
I had decided before starting Project: K.I.T.T. that all of KITT's conversion parts, both interior and exterior, will be from Billy at Knight Designs. Billy's parts are the true "Cadillac" of conversion parts. They are not only the highest quality and most screen accurate, but feature all the bells and whistles, too. The downside to having "Cadillac" parts is the "Cadillac" price that goes with them.
When it came to choosing a gullwing for KARR, I was not looking for the ultimate in screen accuracy, but rather a cost effective, functional, quality gullwing. Also, I needed a customized gullwing, as I was putting it in a Fiero and not a Firebird, and would not have the dash and the rest of the conversion parts.
I turned to João at Knight Passions. I liked the look of his 3rd season “Gullwing” steering wheel and he was willing to customize the steel neck of the gullwing by shortening it for my Fiero. He also had an unbelievable turnaround time for a customized part. I had my customized gullwing in just three weeks!
Here is the box from Knight Passions. João wrote "Very Careful!" or "Extremely Careful!" on every side of the box, including the bottom. I have never seen a box marked that well. Very impressive!
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Google+ And YouTube Custom URLs
Project: K.I.T.T. has new Google+ and YouTube custom URLs!
https://plus.google.com/+ProjectKITTblog
https://www.youtube.com/c/ProjectKITTblog
June has been crazy busy for us and all the while KITT has been very patiently waiting in the garage. We hope to be back at work on him soon, so stay tuned!
https://plus.google.com/+ProjectKITTblog
https://www.youtube.com/c/ProjectKITTblog
June has been crazy busy for us and all the while KITT has been very patiently waiting in the garage. We hope to be back at work on him soon, so stay tuned!
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Fixing The Front Bumper (Again) And Applying (More) Sound Deadening
When we mounted the front bumper, we used fender washers to replace the brackets that spanned between each bolt pair. Unfortunately the fender washers, because they are thin, bent and/or cracked when the bolts were tightened down.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Finishing The Heater Box And Blower Housing
This morning we went to Menards to get the hardware I needed to finish the heater box and blower housing. Because the receiving nut stripped out, I needed to create a stud in the blower housing that would reach through the firewall so that I could secure the heater box with a nut and washer from the inside.
Friday, May 29, 2015
To Screw Or Not To Screw...
After work today I got out all the parts bins and went through each bag one by one looking for the four screws for the air inlet.
Monday, May 25, 2015
Memorial Day 2015
I started this morning by cleaning the air inlet. The air inlet goes directly behind the blower motor on the interior side of the firewall. I had forgotten about this piece when I cleaned the rest of the heater box. Here are some pictures for reference.
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Finishing The Sound Deadening
This morning we made a quick trip to Menards and then got started on the sound deadening. The first thing I did was get KITT's interior plastics down. We decided to put the plastics in KITT to see the exact area they will cover, and then sound deaden everything not covered by plastics. It is our intention right now to cover all the backs of the plastics with Ensolite prior to installation. This should achieve the same sound deadening as applying it directly to the RAAMmat BXT II. If that ends up not being the case, we can always still apply it to the areas behind the plastics.
Saturday, May 23, 2015
A Little Bit Of Engine Bay And A Lot Of Sound Deadening
Friday, May 22, 2015
Heater Box Cleaning, Part 2
The parts I ordered for the heater box and blower housing arrived this week. I needed to compare them to make sure everything looked right. Here are pictures of new versus old.
Sunday, May 17, 2015
A Picture From The Past
One of my coworkers brought me this picture from a car show he had attended in the 90s. He had the opportunity to see a screen used KITT. He said I could have the picture, so I hung it up in my office. Thanks Gary!
Heater Box Cleaning, Part 1
On Saturday afternoon, Sara attended a bridal shower, and I tackled dismantling and cleaning the heater box. One of the things I have discovered while looking back through my blog for reference pictures is that I did not take enough pictures. I have had trouble finding pictures of certain parts, fitment, sides, angles, etc. I have decided I cannot take too many pictures of this project, hence all the pictures of the heater box in this post.
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Return To Fenderland
Today we mounted the fenders! Up until now they have just been hanging on the frame of the car. First we located all the hardware for the fenders.
A Tale Of Two Bumpers
Sara and I spent Saturday mounting the front and rear bumpers back on KITT. I really do not need them on the car yet, but I also really do not need them off the car any longer. Plus, it will be nice not to have to store them any more.
Sara and I started by cleaning the nuts and washers for the front bumper. This is a fused nut and washer combo where the washer is allowed to freely spin.
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Fog Light Pods, Part 2
This week I finished cleaning the rock shield for the steering shaft.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Fog Light Pods
It has been beautiful here the last two nights and I have made sure I was out in the garage taking advantage of it. I have been cleaning up a bit, and by cleaning I mean going through KITT's parts. Tonight I decided to work on the fog light pods. I have been wondering just how to approach cutting off the pods from the Camaro headlight mounting panel. I am thankful that I have a broken one to experiment with.
Friday, April 24, 2015
Differential Cover, Knight Pins And ECM Chips
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Cross-Fire Injection Adapter
When I decided that I wanted to replace the wiring harness on KITT, I knew that I wanted to use a wiring harness from Painless Performance. They have some of the best wiring harnesses available. I have been gathering parts that will be needed in order to use their electronic fuel injection harness. Troy had the ECM #1227747 and I just recently found the 5.0 L EPROM #16139492 and Calpack #16060836 from a seller on eBay.
The last piece I would need to make the EFI harness functional with KITT's Cross-fire setup was the Painless Wiring Cross-fire Injection Adapter Part # 60112. Unfortunately, this part was discontinued by Painless Performance in 2011. I tried unsuccessfully to order this from five different online vendors that still showed it in stock on their websites. Each time I was informed that they could not fulfill the order as the manufacturer no longer stocked the part.
Feeling frustrated, I called Painless Performance and spoke with Mike in technical support. I explained that I wanted to use their EFI harness to power KITT's 1983 Cross-fire injection system, but that I could not without the adapter. I also explained how many stores I had contacted looking for the part. He said that he had one on the shelf behind him and that he would check with the powers that be to find out if he could just sell it to me. He took my number and promised to call back.
He called back about 15 minutes later and said that he could sell it to me for well below what I had found it online for! It arrived today. Thanks Mike!
Friday, April 17, 2015
I Love It When A Plan Comes Together
I titled this post for Sara, my A-Team fan. If you are not familiar with the show, Hannibal Smith often uses this catch phrase when things work out and go his way. It also sums up how I felt today when I stopped by Troy's shop.
I stopped in to ask him a few questions, and we got to talking about the EFI harness I plan to use for KITT. I mentioned I have been searching for the ECM the harness will require, but so far have not found one. He asked, "Which one is it? I have about fifty of them in the back." He went to the back of the shop, opened up a cupboard, and the first ECM he pulled out was SERV. NO. 1227747 - the exact one I needed! Thanks, Troy!! Now all I need to find is the PROM for the 5.0 L engine.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Painting The Differential Cover
One of the projects I have been putting off is cleaning up the intermediate steering shaft. The engine rock shield was particularly grimy. I started using Gojo wipes to cut through the grime. The plastic is actually shiny black underneath and will not need to be painted. You can see just how bad it was on the areas around the collar that I still need to work on.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Painting The Blower Housing
Saturday, April 11, 2015
Prepping For Paint
I am feeling better today...well, at least I don't feel awful and I am not constantly coughing as I have been for the past two and a half weeks. I actually felt like getting out and working on KITT!
I decided to repaint the differential cover because I am unhappy with how the finish turned out. I used a red caliper paint, and the finish did not end up smooth. It is very wavy and shows all the brush marks. I did a poll on the blog a while back asking whether I should paint the differential cover black along with the other red parts that ended up covered in grey primer. The poll results indicated I should keep it red.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Renegade Intake Manifold
The following was copied from Dynamic Cross-fire Solutions and is presented here for historical purposes.
...INTRODUCING FROM DCS...
THE ALL NEW RENEGADE MANIFOLD
Monday, March 23, 2015
Celebrating 1,250 Followers On Google+
1,250 people are now following Project: K.I.T.T.!
If you have not had a chance to check out the Project: K.I.T.T. page on Google+ you really should. It's a great way to stay updated, leave comments, or even ask questions about the Project. It will even notify you of new blog posts and videos.
Friday, March 20, 2015
KITT's Rockin' Red Engine!
I stopped down at Troy's today after work today because I had a couple of questions for him. I wanted to get his opinion on using a newer ECM along with the Painless EFI harness. In order to make the new harness work, I will need to use an ECM out of an 1986-1993 Firebird. I was a little concerned about being able to balance and tune the Cross-fire with a newer ECM. Troy said that it would not be an issue.
The second thing I wanted to ask him about was the intake manifold. I am trying to decide whether to leave it stock, port it out, or purchase the Renegade manifold. Troy said I would definitely see a benefit by porting the manifold and even more by using the Renegade manifold. He was trying to explain just how restrictive the stock manifold was. He said it might be easier to just show me... also, they just finished painting the engine red! We went to the back of the shop to check it out.
Here is the engine:
Monday, March 16, 2015
KITT Has All 16 Wheels On The Ground
Friday, February 27, 2015
Celebrating 1,000 Followers On Google+
Celebrating YOU, our followers! Thank you for helping us keep the dream alive! One Man Can Make A Difference and each of you make a difference with your support of Project: K.I.T.T.
KITT cannot wait to be restored to his former glory, but knowing there are so many fans waiting for that moment too only makes it all that much sweeter!
Keep on spreading the word! KITT loves the attention!
If you have not had a chance to check out the Project: K.I.T.T. page on Google+ you really should. It's a great way to stay updated, leave comments, or even ask questions about the Project. It will even notify you of new blog posts and videos.
KITT cannot wait to be restored to his former glory, but knowing there are so many fans waiting for that moment too only makes it all that much sweeter!
Keep on spreading the word! KITT loves the attention!
If you have not had a chance to check out the Project: K.I.T.T. page on Google+ you really should. It's a great way to stay updated, leave comments, or even ask questions about the Project. It will even notify you of new blog posts and videos.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
KARR's New Shift Knob
The original Fiero shift knob in KARR was leather wrapped because it was a GT. Considering its age it held up well, although the leather was starting to come unstitched. KARR, being the uber cool prototype for Knight Industries, deserves better!
Matt Meyer, a member of Pennock's Fiero Forum, offers a service of recovering your shift knob in leather. He does however require the core from your current knob. I could not send mine in until I had one to replace it so I took before and after pictures to show what an awesome job he does on these!
I ordered KARR a grainy black leather with Knight Industries gold stitching. You can see the results below:
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Don Peake's Knight Rider Music
Last July Don Peake made an announcement about the release of the next four volumes of KNIGHT RIDER soundtrack music. Here's what Don had to say...
Thursday, February 19, 2015
POR-15 Follows Through
POR-15 contacted me on Tuesday and told me they had received my return (the cans of rubberized undercoating). Instead of giving me a refund for the two cans of undercoating and the return shipping, they refunded the cost of my entire original order. (I had ordered the undercoating and also a jug of POR-15 Metal Prep.) Here is what the email said:
Jonathan,I received back the undercoating today. I also just refunded you the full amount for your order. That will cover the return shipping to us and then some. You should see the credit back on your credit card in a day or so. Sorry about the inconvenience and I hope this problem doesn’t sour you from ordering again from POR-15. Let me know if you need anything else. Thank you.
This problem definitely will not sour me from ordering POR-15 again. I still think they rock!
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Happy Valentine's Day From Project: K.I.T.T.
Friday, February 13, 2015
Celebrating 900 Followers On Google+
Thanks for following everyone! Your support, encouragement, and feedback is always appreciated! Wow! When we said spread the word about Project: K.I.T.T., we had no idea we would pick up so many new followers so quickly! Keep on spreading the word! KITT loves the attention!
If you have not had a chance to check out the Project: K.I.T.T. page on Google+ you really should. It's a great way to stay updated, leave comments, or even ask questions about the Project. It will even notify you of new blog posts and videos.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Applying BlackCote To The Firewall
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Undercoating The Firewall
I started this morning by making sure the tape was still firmly attached in all the areas I masked off last night.
Friday, February 6, 2015
Masking Off The Firewall
When I got off work today, I touched up the spots I could not get to on the underbody last weekend. Here are the spots I wanted to touch up:
Monday, February 2, 2015
Celebrating 800 Followers On Google+
If you have not had a chance to check out the Project: K.I.T.T. page on Google+ you really should. It's a great way to stay updated, leave comments, or even ask questions about the Project. It will even notify you of new blog posts and videos.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Unveiling The Wheel Wells
I started today by making a close-up inspection of all four wheel wells to look for spots I missed. I noticed in the driver side rear wheel well there was some cracking over top of the area I retreated with POR-15.
Saturday, January 31, 2015
Undercoating The Wheel Wells
Last night I did quite a bit of research online, and I decided to fall back on my original plan for the wheel wells before I had decided to do them in high gloss black POR-15. Originally when we stripped the wheel wells, I had two options: 1) replace the factory-style undercoating, or 2) try something different and go with high gloss black. I decided to go for something different, and everyone knows the ending to that story...
After last night, I decided to fall back on my first idea. Sara and I had breakfast and then went to Menards and purchased cans of Bondo heavy duty rubberized undercoating. Each can cost only $4 compared to the $20 POR-15 undercoating.
Matte Black Spray Paint Only $20 A Can!
Yesterday as soon as I got home from work I hit the garage running. I wanted to get as much done on the wheel wells this weekend as we could. The first thing I needed to do was clear out underneath KITT, which meant putting KARR's summer tires away.
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Sara, Bonnie Has Nothing On You
Sara found something that she thought I could use, and I immediately I knew I could make it into a prop with just a little work. Here is another variation on a diagnostic wand for KITT.
As you can see in the video, I took a preliminary scan of the wheel wells in preparation for this weekend. Stay tuned!
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
A Satisfying Unboxing
I contacted the eBay seller FPARTS Salvage / Contemporary Corvette about the damaged '93-'97 Camaro headlight mounting panel I received. I even provided the link to my video and blog post about the unboxing. He was very quick to respond and said that was not how it left his shop. He wanted to know if I would like him to send another out right away. I of course said yes. It arrived today. Here is the unboxing video.
Sunday, January 18, 2015
A Disappointing Unboxing
The '93-'97 Camaro headlight mounting panel I ordered on eBay from FPARTS Salvage arrived and as Sara promised here is an unboxing video. The box was sent from Contemporary Corvette. I am not sure how the two stores are related.
Saturday, January 17, 2015
Organized And Ready To Roll!
40 degrees in January! We decided to take advantage of the super nice weather and get rolling on KITT this afternoon.
Jonathan's sister Amanda found this Pac-Man sleeping bag for him on an online garage sale. Jonathan hung it up in the garage last night. It looks cool, but I pointed out it is going to get super dirty once we start tearing into KITT again. So we snapped a picture and took it down. We are going to hang it with KITT's parts in the storage closet until we can put it back up in the garage. Thanks for the cool find Amanda!
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Celebrating 700 Followers On Google+
Project: K.I.T.T.'s Google+ page just hit 700 followers today! Thanks to everyone for your continued interest and support!
If you have not had a chance to check out the Project: K.I.T.T. page on Google+ you really should. It's a great way to stay updated, leave comments, or even ask questions about the Project. It will even notify you of new blog posts and videos.
Three Year Anniversary
We got so busy yesterday that we forgot all about posting this, but as they say better late than never...
We got KITT's 1983 Pontiac Trans Am body three years ago today. Here is what he looked like on January 14, 2012...
We got KITT's 1983 Pontiac Trans Am body three years ago today. Here is what he looked like on January 14, 2012...
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