Forgotten Friday

I forgot to post last night, and I did so much on the car today that it is hard to remember what I did yesterday. I took some pictures though, so I am going to at least post these.

Here is a picture of the old seam sealer underneath the driver side fender. This needs to be removed and have new seam sealer applied. 

Just Another Thursday Knight

The MarineClean and Prep and Ready I ordered last week came today. 

Yo Devon! Knight Rider Turns 30!

30 years ago tonight, September 26th at 8:00PM EST Knight Rider hit televisions all across America! It is just awesome that 30 years later Project: K.I.T.T. is in full swing working hard to restore KITT to his former glory!   

Please join us in watching Knight of the Phoenix, the 2 hour pilot that started it all!

Michael Knight, a lone crusader in a dangerous world. 
The world... of the

Adventures In Fenderland

I started off this evening with a trip to Menards with Sara's dad to see how just how great the Lifetime Guarantee on my $7 ToolShop brand C-clamp really was. Turns out it is a really great deal as they replaced it with no receipt and no questions asked!

Rear End Woes And Sealing The Crack

Sunday morning started well enough with Sara's dad arriving early to take pictures as we dropped the rear end. I started out by working on removing anything else I could get off of the rear end area before Troy called. 

I removed the rubber stops for the axle on either side. Each rubber stop was secured with two bolts.

Preparing To Drop The Rear End

Saturday was rather disappointing. I was hoping to remove everything but the rear end itself before Troy arrived to help. It was one of those days where nothing seemed to go the way I planned. 

I started with attempting to remove the sway bar and link on the driver side. I really did not want to have to cut the rear end links like I had to on the front because I want to get a measurement off them. I tried everything I could think of to get them loose, including my impact driver. I got them to budge a little but they would not come off. I spent almost an hour trying to remove this one before deciding to move on to something else.

Removing The Mud Flaps And Muffler

The last few nights I have been working on the rear of the car. I plan to lower the rear axle tomorrow and wanted to get as much stuff out of the way as possible. 

I started with the driver side mud flap. I am not keeping the mud flaps, so I was not concerned with getting them off in one piece. I ended up using a combination of drill, screwdriver, vise grips and utility knife to remove the mud flaps and the three screws securing each.

One Shirt Can Make A Difference

Our Project: K.I.T.T. shirts arrived yesterday! It is exciting to have shirts that say "Project: K.I.T.T." and I am really happy how they turned out.

I added some more items to the Project: K.I.T.T. store based on some requests I have received. If you have not had a chance to check out the store, be sure to stop by!

If you are interested in supporting the Project, just know that one shirt really can make a difference!

Fender Wheel Well Liners

When we were taking out the plastic liners from the wheel wells we noticed that both were cracked. The passenger side was in much better shape than the driver side. I decided to see if I could find replacements. There are no new replacement liners being made, but I did find a used set that was in good condition and cheap.

They arrived today and, although the box was just a little bit bigger than what you would need to ship a basketball, they were both in there. The picture below illustrates how they managed this feat.

Another POR-15 Sunday

The first thing Jonathan noticed when we got started this morning was some of the underbody was still damp (specifically around the frame areas). He took the heat gun to these areas to speed up the drying process.

Sara's Dirty Saturday

Jonathan got called into work this morning, so unfortunately we did not get started on the car until noon.

These are the heat shields Jonathan removed yesterday.

Wire Brushing Some Wheel Parts

This week I started by installing the new bolt for the K-member. Here is a picture of the new bolt and washer:

Missing A Bolt

I noticed when we were cleaning the underbody that one of the bolts securing the K-member to the frame was missing. This is why we deliberately left parts of the underbody unpainted. The picture below shows the driver side with bolt intact.

The Engine Bay Is Completely Coated With POR-15!

The engine bay is finally done! The upper portion of the bay has been top coated with the UV resistant BlackCote and the underbody portion with three coats of POR-15 black. The underbody portions of the video were taken while rolling on a creeper so they are a little shaky.

Take note of the awesome contrast of the treated underbody versus the untreated at [3:22] in the video. Also you will notice a few interior areas of the underbody that still need to be painted. I highlighted a couple of these areas starting at [3:37].

Another Saturday With POR-15 & Sara

Jonathan decided the first thing to do this morning was brush the seam sealer on the wheel wells. We still have to put the seam sealer on the interior of the car too, but on the inside it can go on top of the POR-15 since it will be covered by carpet. The seam sealer is gray, so Jonathan wanted to put it on the wheel wells first and then cover it with the black POR-15. This is a picture of Jonathan reading the instructions on the Eastwood Brushable Seam Sealer can.

Where There's A Wheel There's A Well

After work today I started on the remainder of the driver side wheel well. I also treated the underside of the engine bay tray with some POR-Strip as pictured below.

Wheel Well Stripping Fun

I did not have a lot of time to work on KITT tonight, but I wanted to get something started. I am off work early tomorrow and want to have something to jump right into when I get home.

I started on the driver side wheel well. I used my Hello KITTy duct tape to seal off the holes in the wheel well so that POR-Strip will not leak out into the engine bay.

KITT's Transmission Is Ready

KITT's transmission has been rebuilt and is back in town. Troy is going to store it for me at the garage until I am ready to install it again. Thanks Troy! I paid for the transmission this afternoon and snapped a few pictures. I will be adding a complete specification sheet to this post in the near future.

Project: K.I.T.T. Merchandise Now Available

Help Support Project: K.I.T.T. with cool Project: K.I.T.T. merchandise!

Shop the Project K.I.T.T. Store

KITT's Nose Has Been Ordered!

I ordered my first major conversion parts tonight. I ordered a season 3 front nose and rear stone guards from Knightdesigns.com. Estimated completion time is six months. These parts are all custom made, one at a time by hand.

We also placed yet another order from POR-15. We ordered another six pack of black POR-15 and another tube of POR-Patch. POR-15 is offering free shipping through Labor Day.