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...

Prior to deciding on using high gloss POR-15, I had researched online and found 3M Automotive Coatings makes a heavy duty rubberized undercoating as part of their Bondo line. This is what I would have used had I decided to replace the factory-style undercoating. Fast forward a couple of years to us once again having to make wheel well coating decisions. POR-15 had introduced their own line of rubberized undercoating, and when it came time to undercoat the primered wheel wells I thought the POR-15 undercoating would be a better choice.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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...

Engine Rebuild Update

I stopped down at Troy's shop to visit and he was excited to show me how the engine was progressing. They continue to do work on it here and there as time allows and they have more parts cleaned and painted. It really is looking good. 

We finalized the decision to paint the engine block red to match the transmission. The red block will look sharp with the black and silver accents.

Frozen Package From POR-15

The POR-15 Rubberized Under Coating and Metal Prep I ordered arrived today. I quickly opened the package and the first thing I said to Sara was, "I wonder if this stuff is okay if it is frozen?" The Metal Prep was completely frozen solid. It is currently -10 degrees out, so it is not surprising. I will have to see what happens once it thaws out. I may end up checking with POR-15 just to be safe.

A Bright Idea

I just ordered a 1993-1997 Chevy Camaro headlight mounting panel from a seller on eBay. The 1993-1997 Camaro headlights are the perfect size to use as fog lights for KITT. They also mounted in a stair-stepped fashion which will naturally follow the angle of KITT's nose. Here are some pictures taken from the auction listing.

A Year Later...

KITT: But, I wanted high gloss wheel wells! You said!

Me: KITT are you whining?

KITT: No that would be undignified, but you did say that I would have high gloss wheel wells.

Me: Well, KITT, we cannot always have what we want in life. In case we forget that, there are always A-holes with paint skills out there to remind us.

KITT: I still get to be black, right?

Me: Yes, KITT.

After the paint fiasco that started off last year on a sour note, I had set out to determine the best course of action to remove the primer. I wanted to find a way to restore the wheel wells and underbody to the show ready finish they had before going in for paint. I was able to scuff off most of the primer from the underbody and then apply yet another coat of POR-15. I still have some touch up work to do in this area. The subframe connectors were not so easy and in fact trying to remove the primer destroyed the red powder coat finish. But that is all last's years news.

We tried to strip off the primer in the wheel wells and it was next to impossible to get off. What we were able to remove took enough paint stripper that it also damaged the POR-15 that was underneath. In thinking about all the time and money that we have put into just the wheel well areas in order to treat them with high gloss black POR-15, we just could not see starting over. We would literally be throwing away money. 

We decided to use another POR-15 product called POR-15 Rubberized Under Coating. This is a spray on undercoating similar in texture to the normal undercoating applied by many auto manufacturers, but with the added benefits of POR-15 protection. It remains flexible, has superior resistance to road salt, and will resist chipping and abrasions.

There are two benefits going this route. One is that we will save all of the hard work and money already put into the treatment of the wheel wells and two, it will add sound deadening and help reduce road noise.

New Year, New Toys, New Plan

I received two Project: K.I.T.T. related gifts for Christmas, and both will come in incredibly handy.

First up is a Black and Decker 6V and 12V Battery Charger / Maintainer.