Finishing KARR's New Trunk Carpet & Interior LED Upgrades

So back in December... 

Yeah, I have no excuse for why I didn't post this before now, but I am going through eight months of pictures and will bring the blog up to date. 

When we installed KARR's new trunk carpet I was missing a few retaining clips primarily because I did not realize how many were in the trunk or that I was missing some on the original carpet.  I really did not want to reuse the light gray clips, so I ordered three new black ones, along with a new trunk light lens as the original broke when I tried to reinstall it after the carpet.  This was also the perfect time to order new weather seal for the trunk.

There Goes The Blinker Fluid...

I checked and there is not a drop of blinker fluid left in there...ugh! 😉

When I installed the replacement turn signal lenses from the Fiero Store, I dropped one and the amber lens separated from the reflective housing.  I glued the lens and housing back together and installed it, thinking it was just a fluke.  The other night after remote starting the car I noticed the passenger side front turn signal was white and not amber.  Upon closer inspection, I realized the lens had separated and was laying in front of the turn signal.  Originally it was the driver's side lens that had separated, so I knew I needed to fix this problem.

KARR's New Taillight Lenses

Last March I came across a post on the Fiero forums mentioning that a member, Keith Goodyear, was working on recreating the Fiero GT taillight lenses. These have long been discontinued by GM, and there is no aftermarket part to replace these.

Everything he was posting looked very promising, however, this is not the first time that someone has claimed they were making these only to have it fall through or end up a scam. I remained skeptical, but could not resist adding my name to the waiting list. 

I was contacted by Keith last week and he said my lenses were ready to ship. He explained that there was a delay in getting the licensing through GM finalized, but everything is in order and they are ready to go.  I sent him payment and he told me they would ship the next day. Now I was getting really excited!

Eight Year Anniversary

We got KITT's 1983 Pontiac Trans Am body seven years ago. Here is what he looked like on January 14, 2012...

KARR's New Trunk Carpet & Leather Wrapped Shift Knob

Sometimes you just do stupid stuff...like leaving a partially used jug of oil in the back of your trunk which in hindsight you realize you did not did not seal properly. Poor KARR. He ended up with about a quart of oil in his trunk. 

Now my trunk carpet was stained to begin with. If you remember, even after the power washing I gave it, I was never able to remove the stains. They seemed like grease, or maybe oil? 🤔 In any case this was the perfect reason to buy new carpet for the trunk! 

I purchased the parts I would need from the Fiero Store. Premium carpet? Sure...why not? I also ordered two retaining clips and four rubber bump stops.

Celebrating 100 Followers on Instagram!

Project: K.I.T.T.'s Instagram page has 100 followers! 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 Instagram 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.

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Return Of The Cursed Fuel Gauge...

Okay, so first of all an update. When Troy installed the AC compressor, he noticed that the tachometer was zeroed out and was not reading the engine RPMs at all. I suspected that it was just a loose connection from when we removed the fuel gauge, but still....WHY KARR, just WHY?

As previously mentioned, Tom sent back the fuel gauge which he verified was in working condition. He thoroughly tested it and adjusted it back to factory settings.

Celebrating 1,300 Followers on Facebook!

Project: K.I.T.T.'s Facebook page has 1,300 followers! 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 Facebook 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.

You can follow Project: K.I.T.T.

• On Facebook
• Like and follow our page.
• On YouTube
• Be sure to subscribe to our channel and click the notification bell.
• On Instagram
• follow us on Instagram.
• On Twitter
• follow us on Twitter.
• Through Email Notifications provided by Blogtrottr
• Sign up here.
• Via Push Notifications in your Internet browser 
• Visiting the blog, you will be asked if you want to know about new posts. Click yes.

If you would like to see Project: K.I.T.T. utilize other social media, please let us know in the comments below.

Flux Capacitor...Fluxing

Okay, wrong 80s franchise...but still this is the first thing I thought of as I drove off to start my Friday. No, I didn't slip off the toilet and hit my head on the sink! So maybe I was just overly excited to get my day started! ;)

Fuel gauge goes in next...

Feeling Disconnected

I have been feeling lost, frustrated and a little helpless with this whole fuel pump issue. It seems I have tried everything logical and yet it still wasn't working. This whole thing has begun to feel like one of those situations that is just plain out of my control and I just needed to trust that eventually things would just work themselves out. That isn't easy for me to do. However, I know I have done everything that I could do and more and it was time to just step back and let someone else figure it out.

That's why I was so surprised when Troy called this afternoon with a diagnosis. It was something so simple...yet something I would never had thought to check.  

Beneath KARR's Dignity?

Maybe not, but the tow truck was definitely beneath him ALL the way to Troy's shop!

Once, Twice, Three Times Ridiculous

The new fuel pump arrived on Thursday morning, but I didn't have time to install before this weekend.  We started yesterday morning by jacking KARR up and putting him on jack stands.

Sometimes When You Are A Pain In The Ass...

You end up getting your ass spanked!  Yes, on the way to Troy's for his appointment to have the parking brake cables and fuel pressure regulator replaced, KARR decided to just stall out half way there.  Then he absolutely refused to start!  Troy had to bring his quad over and literally push KARR from the rear all the way to his shop!  Talk about an indignity befitting his stubborn little shit of a personality...

KARR Wants New Paint...

It's been obvious for quite some time that KARR wants to look new again. Despite that fact that he is often a little shit, he always seems to get what he wants. Why does this behavior seem so familiar? ;) In any case, I have started looking for a painter and I ordered the restoration parts that will be needed before and after paint.  The new parts I ordered from The Fiero Store have arrived, and I want to give you a quick preview.

KARR Is Getting New E-Brake Cables

I recently discovered that KARR's e-brake (aka parking brake) was not holding properly.  In fact, it was not hard at all to push the car when the parking brake was engaged.  I took KARR into Troy's shop to have Troy check it out.  Once up on the lift, we determined the 32-year-old e-brake cables are beyond stretched out.  They have been adjusted as tight as they can go and are still not tight enough.

And if that wasn't enough...in a very KARR-like act of defiance he decided he didn't want to start when I wanted him to...only when he felt like it. It would take two sometimes three attempts to get him to start and I often had to try to stroke his ego a bit. It seemed as if the engine wasn't getting gas. With practically the entire fuel system having already been replaced, Troy and I are betting on the fuel pressure regulator as the culprit. This would be the only thing aside from the stainless steel fuel lines that was not replaced. The fuel pressure regulator is an original now 32-year-old part. 

I ordered replacement cables, one for each of the rear brakes and the main cable running up to the parking brake handle.  I also ordered a new e-brake equalizer (adjuster). I am having Troy order the fuel pressure regulator.

Knight Industries Registration And Insurance Holder For KITT

Even KITT needs insurance and registration! So when I found out that KITT STILL ROCKS created a Knight Industries Insurance/Registration Wallet I knew I needed one!

From the item description: 

This rigid wallet is covered in high-quality black vinyl with a shiny gold silkscreened Knight Logo and the words "KNIGHT INDUSTRIES TWO THOUSAND." Two sleeves for your essential documents and foldable for compact storage.

This is awesome! 

The Cursed Fuel Gauge...

As you know, we have been trying to troubleshoot the erratic readings on KARR's digital fuel gauge.  After everything that we have tried, I have come to the conclusion there has to be something wrong with the gauge itself.  I contacted Tom at Tom's Digital Electronics to see if he had any suggestions.  He said I should send the gauge to him so he could check it out.  This required me to take the gauge cluster apart to remove the fuel and water temperature module. 

I started by removing the blackout panel.

Replacing KARR's Door Ajar Switches

I was able to source the Fiero's door ajar switches, one from eBay and one from RockAuto.  The picture below is the one from eBay and is for the driver side door.

Replacing KARR's Power Lock Actuators

KARR's power locks had stopped working about a year ago and I had been locking the doors manually.  I decided it was time to do something about it so I ordered new power lock actuators.

Here is one of the new actuators from The Fiero Store.

Upgrading KARR's Exterior Lights To LED, Part 3

The last phase of the converting KARR's exterior lighting to LED was to to replace the rear turn signals and front turn signal lenses and bulb sockets.  I had mistakenly ordered the wrong LEDs for the rear turn signals and had to return them and reorder.

Once the LEDs were in, the difference was like night and day!  In this picture LED is on the right and incandescent on the left.