Back To Working On KITT

With the extreme temperatures we have had lately we have not worked on KITT as much as I would have liked. Tonight there was a major cool down following a brief storm and we were able to get back to work on KITT again.

I want to continue work on putting POR-15 on the firewall and the rest of the interior spots that we did not get to the first time. I started tonight by removing the brake and accelerator pedals.

Center Console And Door Sills

My center console was pretty much trashed by the previous owner trying to remove it without knowing how, so I have been in search of a good replacement. I found someone that had one and it arrived this week. As a bonus it had the radio plate included and it is in great shape. I intend to repaint these a matte black so everything looks like new.

My 24K Gold Knight's Head Arrived!

Well, not exactly...

I found the perfect knight's head pieces at Target and with a little gold spray paint I think they look pretty convincing. One for the garage and one for my desk!

KITT MiniMate And A Comic Con Exclusive

More Knight Rider purchases :)

A Toys R Us exclusive KITT MiniMate

Powerless And Waiting For Upgrades

A video showing KITT in his currently powerless state.

KITT Returns A Little Lighter

Jack towed KITT back home this morning.

Removing The Engine And Transmission

Today Troy and I pulled KITT's engine and transmission. I took a really quick video of the engine bay in its current state before we got started.

Off The Jacks And Waiting For Jack

Once I had KITT lowered back to the ground, I covered it with a tarp to keep the sun off the POR-15-coated interior. Then I rolled KITT out of the garage to wait for Jack to bring the tow truck.

All Jacked Up And Nowhere To Go

This afternoon after work my father helped me get KITT up on jack stands.

The jack stands I had purchased have 16 inches of lift height. Although this is enough to get under the car, it is very tight laying on a creeper. I needed to find a way to get more lift, so I bought a 14' 2x10 and cut it into 9 1/4 inch squares. Sara and I glued them together in a cribbing style with Gorilla Glue last night. Once the jack stands are on these cubes, we've gained an extra six inches of clearance.

Emptying The Engine Bay, Part 3

Saturday KITT goes in to the mechanic's to get the engine and transmission pulled so they can be sent off and rebuilt. I wanted to focus my efforts yesterday and today on removing some of the remaining brackets from the engine bay.

A/C Compressor Bracket

Complete Crossfire Injection System!

I have been searching for another Crossfire Injection wiring harness because mine had been left at the mercy of some less than desirable previous owner. My harness is so badly hacked in some areas that I cannot make sense of the connections. A member of the Foundation board had a complete '82 Crossfire Injection system for sale, which included the wiring harness, so I bought it. The package arrived today. 

The set includes everything shown in the pictures below.

Emptying The Engine Bay, Part 2

We got up early so it was still cool in the garage when we started working on the engine bay. We planned to remove as much as we could from the engine bay today.

A/C Compressor

What A Little Cleaning Can Do

Yesterday ended up being hotter than originally forecasted, so I brought the taillight harness inside to work on cleaning/restoring it. I tried using all-purpose cleaner/degreaser to clean the wire loom, plugs and wires. This did not work the best, so I ended up using Gojo Fast Wipes. They seem to cut through the grease and dirt much quicker.

I started by removing the section of loom to the right of the large plug you see on the left side in the picture below. I cleaned the loom in the bathtub so I could spray it with water and cleaner. This loom, other than having overspray on it, is in really good shape. I plan to reuse it. I do not foresee this being true with the other wiring looms on the harnesses I am going to be cleaning and restoring.

Hey Bonnie! New Diagnostic Wands!

Presenting two Diagnostic Wand props I made. They are not exactly like the ones on the show but similar in fashion with a slightly updated look. 80's style electronic wizardry at its best.

New Radiator Overflow Reservoir Has Arrived!

My new radiator overflow reservoir arrived this week in the midst of the sweltering heatwave. 

Emptying The Engine Bay (The Continuing Saga)

The new windshield washer reservoir arrived today! Below are two pictures of the new reservoir next to the original. The design for the reservoir changed in 1986/1987 and this design superseded the previous models.

The Reservoirs Are Out

Today I removed the washer fluid reservoir and radiator overflow tank. Both were easy to remove and secured only with two screws.

The washer fluid reservoir is mounted on the driver side wheel well.

Eradicating The Radiator

I decided to start by removing the radiator this morning. The previous owner installed a radiator from a Pontiac 6000. Not only is this radiator too small for the Trans Am, but it required a hack job to get the transmission lines to hook up.

A Trans Am's Nose Job

A picture of the Trans Am nose before we started tonight:

Removing The Hood

Tonight Sara and I removed the hood. I want to be able to work on the engine bay this weekend, and having the hood out of the way will make it much easier to access the bay.