Saturday, June 14, 2014

POR-15 Canceled On Account Of Rain

I wanted to finish the trunk area of the underbody today. It was a partly cloudy day and perfect for painting. I got everything together and got started.


Applying POR-15 To KITT's Underbody (Again)

Yesterday I started reapplying POR-15 to KITT's underbody. KITT had been sitting on all four wheels all week drying. According to POR-15, the metal has to be "bone dry" for it to adhere properly. My mom stopped over early in the morning to spot for me while I got KITT back up on jack stands. Thanks Mom!

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-hdlydOSiiIk/U5vGMQYm9DI/AAAAAAAAla4/4BATaVcDw5c/w1504-h846-no/IMG_20140613_082635537.jpg

Friday, June 13, 2014

Getting Ready To POR-15 KITT's Underbody (Again)

Here is a quick video update on the state of KITT's underbody and my plan for fixing it. Stay tuned for another post about the whole process.

Monday, June 9, 2014

Sara Surprised Me With An Early Birthday Present!

This last week our deep freeze died. Then a couple days later my 8 gallon air compressor went south. It started leaking at the tank by one of the welds and I needed to replace it. We headed to Menards to get another like it and they were out, so upgrade time! I chose a standing 11 gallon air compressor. Then Sara suggested that we look at the mini refrigerators. (I had previously mentioned my cooler in the garage was not keeping my pop cold enough.) Sara surprised me by picking out a counter high 5.5 cubic foot refrigerator/freezer combo for the garage! Thank you Sara, you are the best!! I love you honey!

Now I can reward anyone who comes over to help with ice cold beverages! ;)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-379ava4tZSQ/U5ZFeKurLiI/AAAAAAAAkys/SF39pqp79sE/w1504-h846-no/IMG_20140608_111753348.jpg

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Redoing What Has Already Been Done

The plan for yesterday was to MarineClean, power wash, and treat the underbody with Prep and Ready. First I needed to clean up the paint dust from the interior. It seems that none of it was masked off and the dust settled everywhere. Just as a note for anyone who is having someone paint their car: Make sure to specify everything you want masked off, even if it seems blatantly obvious to you. And if the painter is not willing to do what you want, find a different painter.


Saturday, June 7, 2014

KITT's Chrome Is So Bright, He's Gotta Wear A Shade

I had been in search of chrome coat hooks for KITT. They were chrome in the series and it is a little detail, but one I wanted to get right. Shawn (OhioKARR) had not only the chrome coat hooks but the chrome door lock sliders as well. He also had a mint privacy shade for the trunk area. I had previously purchased a shade from Dave (TheTurbocastKing), but it was broken and had paint overspray on it. I knew this ahead of time, but I did not think I was going to be able to find one in better condition. This was before I met Shawn.

The package arrived yesterday evening and Shawn's packaging was excellent as always.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-5-4Li2YYW74/U5PB5D83dKI/AAAAAAAAkeY/BToa4mt324w/w1504-h846-no/IMG_20140607_202011845.jpg

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Man, That's Rough

While going through the pictures for the blog, it occurred to me that the pictures so far have really made it hard to tell just exactly what I am having a fit about with the red parts. :/

I removed the Founders Performance sticker from the Panhard/track bar and I think this picture finally shows how badly the primer overspray affected the red color. Keep in mind that the Panhard/track bar was one of the least affected parts.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-leqOPmrgCAY/U4ZtozNGmEI/AAAAAAAAjsQ/qSR0Rn1K9OE/w1506-h848-no/IMG_20140528_093329472.jpg

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

KITT's New Friend

A young robin decided it would be cool to hang out in KITT for awhile today while I was working in the garage. He was very content to just sit inside KITT and watch me. I talked to him quite a bit and he would hop over to see what I was doing.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rxDphNtkT_k/U4U48DynW2I/AAAAAAAAjfA/hm8i_iszUxA/w1369-h770-no/IMG_20140527_175537516.jpg

Monday, May 26, 2014

The Great Underbody Dilemma

I need your help in deciding what to do with the Wonderbar steering brace, the only remaining red part, on KITT's underbody. My original idea was that all of the upgrades that were done to KITT's underbody and suspension would be in red. I wanted them to stand out as an upgraded part. This is no longer possible as the primer has destroyed the red powder coating on the subframe connectors and the lower control arms. Only the Wonder Bar on the front appears completely untouched by the primer.

The red Wonderbar steering brace in the front.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-i8cJA49-L_8/U4OP5j-vr5I/AAAAAAAAjK8/SmOO-4BjCPw/w1520-h855-no/IMG_20140526_135105384.jpg

Friday, May 23, 2014

Primer: It's Not Supposed To Come Off...

I wanted to tackle the subframe connectors today and see if I could get the primer off of them. I am also working on refinishing a coffee table, so I was working on that on and off throughout the day, too. I figured it would be best to start with all the red parts because I wanted to keep them red. If I can remove the grey primer I would just mask them off really well so that I could reapply the POR-15 Black to the underbody.

I had noticed that when Sara and I had put KITT back up on jack stands to inspect the damage we did not quite have him sitting level and the passenger side seemed to be about four inches lower. You can kind of see that in this picture. I did not want to start working under the car with it sitting like this. I asked my friend Jessica if she would come over and spot for me while I jacked the car back up and readjusted the stands. 

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8QJbnAVv6ow/U4J0bbwuPMI/AAAAAAAAjDw/JAX-1LI8mxE/w1520-h855-no/IMG_20140523_131911335.jpg


Thursday, May 22, 2014

Life, Love And Hope


Life, Love and Hope...That's the title of Boston's latest album and appropriately enough it also sums up this year so far for us. LIFE has definitely reminded us how not in control we really are and although there have been several setbacks and challenges, throughout it all we have witnessed and felt the LOVE of friends and family. It has been a difficult year but it's just when things seem that they will never turn around, something happens to give you HOPE.

That brings us to today, and although I have let this year affect me more than I care to admit, it is time to move on and get back to living life and doing what we love.

I want to thank you all for your support and continued encouragement during this time. I am going to get back to working on KITT starting today and I promise there will be more regular updates.

I visited with my high school electronics teacher this morning about the Project. We discussed some ideas and it did not take me long to realize again just how endless the possibilities are! I have a ton of great ideas and I am anxious to get back at it! Thanks Mr. Taylor!

Stay tuned...

Monday, May 12, 2014

Knight Designs Tow Bar

Project: K.I.T.T. has chosen Knight Designs for all of the Knight Rider related conversion parts needed for KITT. Billy's parts are absolutely the best money can buy! Here is another video highlighting the tow bar that will be going on KITT in the near future. Just another item to make KITT screen accurate. If you haven't already be sure to visit his website at www.KnightDesigns.com

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Project: K.I.T.T. Store Closing

With much regret, I am closing the Project: K.I.T.T. store due to a conflict with the vendor and NBC Universal.


Thursday, May 1, 2014

Celebrating 400 Followers On Google+

Project: K.I.T.T.'s Google+ page just hit 400 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.

Friday, April 25, 2014

General Lee

Look who I spotted while filling up the daily driver!  I have no idea whose it is, but I have never seen one in Aberdeen, South Dakota before today...

I am not sure that KITT would be impressed...  In fact, I am sure he would have some smart remark about it being an insult to automobiles or something, but I thought it was pretty cool. :)


Thursday, April 24, 2014

Celebrating 300 Followers On Google+

Project: K.I.T.T.'s Google+ page just hit 300 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.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Knight Shield Pins

The Knights of the West Coast and Nick Nugent of NRN DESIGN have teamed up to create an official one of a kind pin. The pin features a raised, die struck, and polished gold shield design with baked on black enamel paint.

Of course Sara ordered me two right away. :) I love you honey, you are the best!

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ily56xxiieg/U18Hhl00OsI/AAAAAAAAgjA/PqEnbdjpo_4/w1520-h855-no/IMG_20140423_171340506.jpg

Friday, April 18, 2014

Happy Easter 2014

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter from Project: K.I.T.T.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Here's The Plan

Thank you to everyone that voted and helped me choose between LED and halogen. The overwhelming response was that the halogen could not be beat. In one last attempt to give the LEDs another shot, I disassembled all of the surface mounted LEDs on one of the LED replacements and re-soldered them as one front facing board. You can see in the picture below that the overall brightness increased, but still cannot compare to the one halogen bulb two chambers over. There just is not enough light to fill the chamber the way the halogen bulb does. Halogen it is, or as one follower put it, "Halogen For The Win"!

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6rFB5oP_Ls8/UwqRZEicgcI/AAAAAAAAaus/lEjWTSAX0PI/s0-no/IMG_20140220_163655947.jpg