Getting Anxious

I am anxious to get back to work on KITT!  He has been waiting at the body shop for me to pick him up and trailer him home.  It has been so dang cold and snowy here lately that I have not been able to.  Soon though...

Merry Christmas 2013

KITT's Scanner Bar Update

The 55 Watt halogen bulbs arrived last week, but I have been fighting off a nasty cough/virus and have not been working on the project much. Today I decided to see if I could get the hardware I need to mount the bulbs in the scanner bar.

Celebrating 100 Followers On Google+

Project: K.I.T.T.'s Google+ page just hit 100 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.

KITT's Scanner Controller Is Finished!

Brenon, of Letric Enterprises, finished my scanner controller and it arrived on Monday. 

Bodywork Update 2

Last Tuesday Dad and I stopped by Mario's shop to see how he was progressing with KITT. He had both rear quarter panels down to bare metal and had not found any unexpected surprises.

Small Box Of Parts For KITT

Back in August I received a package of parts I ordered from Shawn (OhioKARR on the Foundation board). One item in that package was the vent for the dash. Shawn had sent the center vents though and I needed the driver side vent. I was also missing the hardware for the fan shroud he sent me. I contacted him and he said he would make sure to find the correct vent and hardware and get them sent out to me. 

It took him a few months, but he came through and even contacted me to see if I needed anything else before he shipped them out. It just so happened that I did. I need the mounting brackets for the later pin style t-tops I had just acquired. I have yet to hear anything back from the guy who sold me the t-tops. :( Luckily, Shawn said he had some and would throw them in. :) The package arrived yesterday.

KITT's Scanner Controller Build Update

As promised, Brenon Fulbright of Lectric Enterprises emailed me some behind-the-scenes pictures of my controller as he is building it. He will continue to update me on the progress, so watch for more pictures soon. I am really anxious to see the finished product.

Jonathan here is a shot of some boards being populated...

Thanks

Brenon

Bodywork Update

Friday night Mario sent me a message that he was going to be working on KITT, so I stopped over to take a few pictures. I took the cowl screen and plastic mounting gaskets for the side view mirrors with me so Mario can paint them.

Mario had removed the bolts securing the rear hatch glass and asked me if I would help him lift it off. We set it to the side so that he can remove the trim.

KITT Goes In For Bodywork!

Last night Troy stopped by with the car carrier so we could take KITT over to Mario's shop. Mario plans to do all the bodywork on KITT now and then we will paint him this spring. 

I got all of the stuff emptied out of KITT and had him ready to go, along with the driver side fender and the rear spoiler, both of which still needed some work. 

Insulating The Garage, Part 5

As we were coming in for the night, Sara commented that the people who read our blog are probably thinking "What is with all of these garage updates and what does it have to do with Project: K.I.T.T.?"

The truth is, it has everything to do with KITT! If it wasn't for Project: K.I.T.T. we would not have insulated the garage. Period. I did not want to spend another winter freezing in the garage just so I could get some time in with KITT. Besides, everyone knows KITT hates winter, cold temperature extremes and most of all, snow.

I vacuumed and taped the other half of the east wall and one fourth of the south wall, and vacuumed the shelves after work today. Once Sara got home we tackled the bench and tools.

Insulating The Garage, Part 4

I vacuumed and taped one half of the east wall, and vacuumed the shelves and KITT's driver and passenger seats after work today. Then when Sara got home we put everything back after thoroughly cleaning it all off. We now have the north stall of the garage about 80% cleaned and back to normal.

Insulating The Garage, Part 3

We finished insulating the garage earlier this week and everyday after work I have been spending a couple hours cleaning up the mess. Mess is an understatement! The sheetrock powder and the dust from the cellulose insulation is EVERYWHERE. It does not matter how well we covered stuff up, in the end it was futile.

We have been following the recommended method for sheetrock powder cleanup and have been working in sections vacuuming everything including the ceiling, walls and floor. This way there is no dust kicked back up in the air (thanks to the HEPA filter). We will have to do this for the entire garage.

Today we finished cleaning the north wall and we taped off the seams I had cut to drop in the insulation. 

Insulating The Garage, Part 2

Although we have not been working on KITT, we have been making progress insulating the garage. It is very messy and time consuming, but it will be so worth it in the end. With the garage insulated we will be able to get a lot more time in with KITT this winter. :)

KITT's New T-Top Hardware... Or Not

The guy I bought the t-tops from said that he mailed the mounting hardware in a separate envelope so that it would not accidentally scratch the t-tops. The envelope arrived today.

Fuzzie was anxious to find out what was inside.

KITT's New T-Tops

After a fun-filled weekend trip to celebrate my brother-in-law's 30th birthday, I could not wait to open these up! They were packaged very well and arrived without incident. The t-tops themselves are in great shape with all of the inside plastic trim intact and uncracked. The insides are mirrored just like the originals I had, but there is not a scratch to be found. There are some scratches on the outside of the glass, but that is to be expected with anything 23-years-old. I think most of them can be polished out, and I plan to have a local glass shop go over them for me once I have them disassembled for reconditioning and painting.

Insulating The Garage, Part 1

Today Sara and I are insulating the ceiling of the garage. It will be so much nicer to work in a warm garage this winter. :) 

Installing The Steering Column

Today after work I finished painting the middle portion of the steering column. I realize that none of this was really functionally necessary, but it sure looks a lot better.

KITT's Cousin

I had to take my '88 Oldsmobile daily driver to Troy's shop because the fuel lines had rotted away and pin holes had developed in the return line. Troy thought this would be a fairly straight forward replacement, but it turns out the fittings on the fuel lines for that car are not available from the local auto parts stores. Troy was going to have to rescue some from the salvage yard. 

Needless to say, I am without wheels for at least a couple days. Troy graciously lent me his '83 Camaro to drive in the meantime. It's not quite like the Olds, but I think I can manage. ;)

While I had it, I decided to take a couple pictures with KITT in the background. It is neat to see the two cars together. They are cousins, after all. :)

New T-Tops On Their Way

I have been searching for replacement plastics for KITT's t-tops. This is the plastic trim on the interior of the t-top that runs between the A and B pillars. Mine was cracked and there are no reproduction pieces to be found.

I came across a guy on Thirdgen.org parting out a '90 Trans Am and he had the t-tops listed for sale. The plastics looked great and so did the glass so I inquired about the condition of both just to be sure. It turns out they are in great condition and as an added bonus because they are from a '90, they are the locking pin style latches and not the '82-'83 hook style latches. GM revised the latches starting in '84 because they held and therefore sealed better. I asked if he had the mounting hardware (car side) for the pin style and he said he would sell them with the t-tops if I wanted them. With the hardware I will be able to easily convert KITT from the hook style to the newer pin style. 

I said I would take them, sent payment and he shipped them out this morning! Pictures to follow when they arrive. :)

As a side note: I found out through a lot of researching that most if not all the factory glass t-tops are mirrored on the inside. This was something I really was disappointed in when I first got the car. At night the mirroring makes it very hard to see out of the t-tops unless you are under a very bright light source. I was worried about the reflection of KITT's dash, but since it is highly unlikely that I will find a non-mirrored set I have decided to put up with them (the '90 set that is on its way is also mirrored).