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**ALL UPDATES ARE POSTED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE:)** Last Update November 14, 2009

 

Hey everyone. Here I plan to keep track of the massive task I took on to build a Kitt replica based on the 3rd/4th season of the series. I hope to have an extremely accurate replica when complete. I started my project in July 2005 with a 1982 Trans am, and haven't looked back since.

It's a very expensive hobby, but truth be told.....I'm loving every minute of it. Here is the car as it was in the summer of 2005. Rims and hub caps had just gone on. Rims and caps pictured are 14". The larger wheels (15"), will go on after paint.

The original motor is a 305 crossfire fuel injection set-up. After endless amounts of time and money invested, I decided to swap out the crossfire for a carb set up. I'll cover the motor swap later on.

There a few hard to find and much needed items if you want to accurately reproduce the look of the show car. Luckily, some of the parts I needed came with this car when I purchased it. This is also a t-top car, which is screen accurate to the tv series.

The correct seats used are PMD seats, also known as Viscount seats, 15" turbo cast wheels (not turbo finned which were available in 1983 models) and the "bowling ball hubcaps", automatic shifter which was ONLY found on automatic 1982 trans ams, but can be made to fit any 3rd gen trans am, and a cowl induction hood.

The first part I purchased was a fiberglass nose off of ebay. Long story short, I sold it as I was not impressed with the quality. I then contacted Ken @ Wraith Innovations and put myself on the waiting list for one of his incredible 4th season noses. 16 months later, I had the most awesome front nose I have ever seen.

The next most important item when replicating the exterior of Kitt is the red scanner. I purchased mine from Brenon Fulbright of Lectric Enterprises located in Winston Salem, North Carolina. This is the Halogen version, with sound effects and remote option. It is an extremely well made peice of art. Thanks Brenon and Ken.

I then turned my attention to interior conversion parts. I contacted Joao at Knight Passions located in The Netherlands, and purchased his one tv dash, gullwing steering wheel and upper console. They arrived very quickly. I haven't done much to the parts, as I want to collect all the items before putting it all together.

 

I then purchased the pod unit (which sits between the gullwing and the dash), and the lower console. Both items were purchased from Knight Designs (Billy). The quality of these parts are amazing. Some pictures show a temporary lower console, it has since been replaced with one of Billy's.

Next are a few goodies I purchased from Brian Thone, such as overlays, and some electronic components from Christian at Jupiter electronics.

Pod Overlays                                             Upper/Lower console electronics

Countdown sequencer:

 

Voice box:                                                 Dash electronics overlays

Of course, every car needs a license plate....thanks Mark.

Foglights:

Just so I know where to park:)

Next are a few goodies I picked up from a friend of mine (thanks Rob).

SPM (Super Pursuit Mode) panel:

Season 3/4 printer prop and an Auto Window panel

 

A reproduction of the lower console assembly, including the modified Alpine cassette deck, and floppy drive used (shown on Billy's lower console):

Oxygen vent prop:

In April of 2007, I decided I wanted to search for original tan plastic panels to replace the black ones in my interior. It wasn't long before I had all the panels. Thank you John and Vince.

A few more must have goodies for every knight rider fan, courtesy of Joe Huth:

A beautiful 3/4 tv frame from Bo McDonald (fits pefectly with my dash). I also have a personalized set of in car DVDs from Bo. They really bring Kitt to life.

In the fall of 2008, I decided I had enough of the crossfire motor, so with a friend of mine (him doing most of the work), we switched over to an Edelbrock carb and intake set up. The entire process spanned across four weeks, but when it was all over, my car was back on the road. Quite a bit of money and parts went into the motor conversion, but it was well worth it. Thanks Rob.

In late October 2008, I decided to clean up the engine bay, and add new washer fluid, and coolant overflow bottles. Both were ordered from Year One. Also adjusted the headlights to sit flush with the hood and bumper.

I also found an entire set of tan seat belts from a 1982 Trans am. This was the only year the seat belt retractor was on the roof, every other year had the retractor on the floor. A very lucky find indeed.

 

Last day with the car on the road before the weather turned horrible (Nov 17 08).

     

Here are the latest updates for 2009. I picked up the side plastics for the PMD seats, as mine were very worn. Also picked up a passanger side mirror. Should be getting a few more interior items within the next few weeks.

I am awaiting a few more items, such as weather stripping. Once it arrives, I will update the pictures.

 

February 10, 2009

Quick update: The overhead console pictured above is for sale. I'm asking $235 USD plus shipping. Please feel free to email me if interested.

 

To be continued.......

 

March 2, 2009

 

I recieved several pieces of weather stripping. I now have the outer window sweeps, hatch weather stripping, and a complete t-top weather stripping set. All that's left is the door weather stripping.

I also sold the upper console above, and I am awaiting delivery of a new, more screen accurate version from a friend of mine.

Lastly, received an excellent book, all about Knight Rider. A must for every KR fan.

 

March 09, 2009

 

Here are a few pics of some of the parts I have gathered within the last few months. I'll start with the weather stripping. Not pictured are the outer window sweeps I purchased a little while ago.

T-top glass weather stripping (awnings)

T-top weather stripping

Side view mirror triangular weather stripping

Rear hatch weather stripping

 

Also, I just placed an order for the last peice of weather stripping, the door hull weather stripping, which will hopefully arrive within the next week or so.

 

I also managed to pick up some stereo equipment. I picked up a Pioneer deck and a set of Rockford Fosgate 6X9.

Like I mentioned above, the upper console that I had was recently sold, and I have since recieved my new one from Knightdesigns.org. I can't describe how increible this piece is. All the detail of the original studio console was brought back to life, and refined. Also included are the two caps that fit on top of the overhead, which give it a very clean look once the t-tops are removed.

A beautiful work of art.

Today, I received a cool little addition to any replica from Jupiter Electronics. I purchased a surveillance mode display that functions just as it did on the tv series. This also comes with the overlay.

That's all for now:)

 

March 15-19, 2009.

I spent the last few days fixing some odds and ends, and updating a few parts aswell. First that had to go was that horrible aftermarket cassette deck that came with the car. I picked up a new Pioneer deck, and boy, what a difference.

 

I also had some slight rust to deal with on the underside of the hood. It wasn't that bad, so I used some POR 15 to kill it in it's tracks. My trans am is remarkably rust free for a car that has spent it's entire life in Canada. A few spots under the hood, and the battery tray were covered with POR 15.

Before:                                                          After:

Before:                                                         After

Before:                                                          After:

Next up on the long list of things to do are the head light buckets. The head light buckets have a lip on them that must be shaved off the allow the headlight to open and close. Both the driver's and passanger side buckets were shaved down. They will be painted very soon.

Passenger side shaved down:

Also, today (March 19 09) I received the final piece of weather stripping I was waiting on, the door hull weather stripping. Thanks to Steve at the F-Body Store.

Stay tuned for more updates as I have plenty of work to do:)

 

April 02, 2009

I have continued work on the headlight bezels. They have been sanded, primed, and painted. They came out decent enough, and looked very good once installed, but I had a surprise awaiting for me once I put the bumper back on. I'll explain further down.

 

 

I also began installig the fog lights. First thing I had to do is remove the front nose. I went with 2 fog lights on either of side, for a total of 4 foglights. Only 2 fog lights were seen in the 4th season of the show. I went to Canadian Tire and purchased some steel flanges with holes running down the middle. I chose this material to allow installation to go as smoothly as possible, and make the fog light placement fully adjustable.

I also removed the front ground effects, as the car in the series did not have them. I was a little worried I would find rust behind them, but it was in very good condition, with only minimal surface rust.

I also purchased new headlights to replace the old ones.

The front end starting to take shape:

The problem I ran into with the headlight buckets is that once the nose is put back on, it is impossible to re-install the headlight bezels without scratching the nose, and breaking the headlights, so I had to come up with another solution. Many do not reinstall them, but once the headlights are popped, it looks unfinished. The solution was to cut the buttom of the bezel, to allow enough clearence to reinstall the bezels without any issues.

So now they have been cut an re-primed.

Here is the front end all buttoned up with the fog lights in there final placement.

 

last little bit I bought was a knight rider collector guide book. There is quite a bit of helpful info in this book.

 

April 03, 2009

Today I started tapping off the rear hatch glass so I could sand and paint the trim. Unfortunately I couldn't get too far because of the rain:(

 

 

April 06, 2009

Over this past weekend I picked up a new set of Pioneer 4x6 for the dash. They have been installed and sound really great. I did not take any pics of the install because it was fairly straight forward and uneventful:)

I also did the final paint and install on the headlight bezels. They now fit great and go up and down with the headlights with no problem at all. I also replaced the side marker reflector, and side marker bulb.

I also continued work on the hatch trim. I finished tapping up the glass, and sanded, primed, and painted the trim. It came out excellent. I should have done this a long time ago:)

April 10-13, 2009

I did a quick test fit of the front scanner. There was a slight gap near the top that was quickly solved by slightly lifting the front of the scanner. The scanner hasn't been wired yet (that will happen after paint), but I just wanted to get the look with the scanner and fog lights mounted.

 

I also decided to paint the t-top glass trim to match the hatch trim. I'm not a big fan of having the t-top trim painted gloss black like the car, so I painted them a satin black, like they originally were. First I removed the old/factory weather stripping and did a test fit of the new weather stripping.

I was a little worried about the t-top awnings, since the factory ones are rubber, and the new ones are plastic, but everything fit really great, so it was removed again, and both sides were painted. I will re-install the weather stripping once the paint has had enough time to cure.

Passaner side before:

Test fitting driver's side:

 

April 16, 2009

 

I decided to put my t-tops back together, but I re-installed the old weather stripping, because the car has to go to my mechanic, and then hopefully off to a body shop, so I will hold off installing the new rubber until it returns, just incase they get damaged. The painted portion of the t-top look really great.

I also replaced the fuel door as it was rubbing the car, and causing the paint to chip. Luckily I had a spare gas door, so I installed it, and painted the surrounding of the filler neck.

Here is a nice little addition I purchased a while back, that will look great displayed with the car. It is an EXACT reproduction of Michael Knight's KITT ownership. This is just for novelty use, it is NOT an actual ownership.

Today (April 16,09) I received an item I have been waiting years for someone to reproduce. The 3rd/4th season of Knight rider had textured overlay surrounds over the pod electronics. I got these from Jupiter Electronics, along with accurate pod labels, that will look great, and authentic once installed in the pod.

There were two different dash set-ups in the 3/4 season. The stage dash (that was used for close ups, or when Kitt was driving himself) had coloured LEDs on the dash, that lit up with the corresponding colours. The in-car dash had white LEDs, that would light up all colourful, just like the stage dash. This is the look I am going for (white faced)

 

Here are some pictures of the items I received today.

Installed on pod electronics:

Displayed on fiberglass pod:

Here are a few comparison shots from the actual tv series, to show the look I am after:

Notice the texture on the pod overlay (stage dash):

A look at future items I will be adding.......

 

April 19,2009

Thank you so much for all the wondeful comments guys and gals, I am very humbled by them. It is a dream come true for me to be able to put this car together, and I am happy to share it with all you fantastic car people.

Thanks again, and stay tuned:)

 

April 21, 2009

Well, it has been an expensive few days, but well worth it. The starter motor, and water pump on my car is still factory, so I purchased new ones. I also picked up a set of AC Delco spark plugs, an MSD street fire distributor, and a set of MSD Ignition wires.

I still have a few tiny and inexpensive items to buy, but we're getting there:)

 

May 12 2009

 

Just a few updates. The MSD wires, and distributor are now installed, aswell as the AC Delco spark plugs. Everything sounds really great. The lower valance rubber was removed because I thought it looked pretty bad, and the radiator support was painted.

Also, the car has been at the shop since last Wednesday for several little jobs. The starter motor, water pump were replaced, aswell as flusing and refilling the radiator. A new catalytic converter was installed, aswell as a new set of rear disks.

A new ignition lock, and a fresh oil change was also completed, and the addition of a new chrome alternator.

Hopefully the car will go to the body shop by end of next week, and I can see some serious progress.

Sorry for the lack of pictures on this update, been really busy:)

 

May-June 18 2009

 

The car has gone and come back from my mechanic. New parts were installed such as a new Magna Flow catalytic converter, new chrome alternator, new water pump, new starter, flush and re-fill radiator, new rear brakes, fix transmission leak, and an oil change.

 

While I had the car back home, I took the opportunity to fit the taillight blackout, as well as cutting the tailights, and drilling the mounting holes in the lights, and blackout. I didn't want to be messing around with this after the car was painted.

  \

Also of interested. I received a brand new hood insulation from Classic Industries, and new insulation clips from The F-Body Store. Sorry, no pics:)

 

A few weeks later I finally took the car to the body shop where it will recieve a much needed fresh coat of paint. Along with the paint and body work, I will also be adding a new windshield. All the weather srtipping has been removed, and body work has begun. I will also be getting my hubcaps painted. After paint, all new weather stripping will be applied. The following pictures are a few weeks old. I should have the car back by the end of June. The anticipation is killing me....lol

 

Once the car was gone to paint, I painted my 15" rims aluminum colour, then clear coated them. I really like the way they turned out.

 

Today (June 18 09), I finally purchased brand new 15" Cooper Hercules tires for the 15" rims. I really don't like how these cars look with the 14" rims, so I was thrilled to be able to get these for my car.

I went with the stock tires size 215 65 15, and they look really great mounted on the wheels. I'm really getting excited now:)

Hopefully, the next update will reveal a completed accurate exterior replica of the Knight Industries 2000.......To be continued.

 

July 23, 2009

Well, I would have liked to post pics of a completed exterior replica, unfortunately the body shop is taking a little longer than aticipated. That is not to say they are not doing a good job, just longer than I had hoped.

Here are a few updated pics from a few weeks ago with the first primer sprayed:

Hubcaps have been painted and mounted to the wheels/tires:

Body getting wet sanded:

Sprayed as of July 9th, 2009

The car is now in the process of being wet sanded and polished.

I have also purchased a new fiberglass t-top headliner from a friend of mine. It is a really nice piece, that has been painted black for now to match the interior. It will later be recovered with tan doeskin material (which is on order), to match the newly changed over to tan, interior.

 

September 15, 2009

Well, it has been a very long summer waiting for the car to come back from the body shop. I finally got the car back a couple of weeks ago, and have spent the last little while putting it all back together.

The exterior of my car is now complete, and I feel it is a very accurate representation of what Kitt looked like during the 4th season of the tv series.

All new weather stripping was added, including the t-top awnings, the 15" turbo cast wheels were added, wrapped in new Cooper Hercules tires, as well as the signature front scanner, and tailight blackout.

On to the pics....and on to the interior:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 21, 2009.

Here are a few more pics of the car, as well as a few updates that slipped my mind:)

 

The new hood insulation and clips were added. I also replaced the factory t-top headliner with a fiberglass one that a frind of mine made. I painted it black and cut the slots for the seat belts to pass through.

 

Also, in July 09', I placed an order for my dash electronics, which is the last piece of the "knight rider" parts I need. I also sold the dash overlays shown above, and have placed and order for a new set, which I couldn't pass up:)

I also received the tan material I will use to recover the t-top headliner, and the sail panels, hopefully next spring.

I was also fortunate enough to receive a new 4the season chemical analyzer, that was designed in Auto Cad, and laser cut. I need to paint and assemble it.

Also, today (Sept 21, 09) I received a highly anticipated Knight Rider model, the 4th season SPM (Super Pursuit Mode), made by Aoshima in Japan. A cool little addition.

 

Also, here's a sneak peak of the work I am doing on my 4th season Knight Passion's gullwing. A friend of mine was kind enough to send me a new knight head logo:) Thanks Billy.

 

As this season comes to a close, parts for next season will inlcude a new suspension, and a new mechanical fuel pump. Tons of fun....:)

I'll post updates as I get them:)

 

November 05, 2009

Here are the next set of updates. Finally after months of searching, I have found an original set of mint condition tan door panels from a 1982 Trans am. I was extremely happy to get these, as I really don't like the aftermarket ones. All I need to complete the interior switch over to tan is the full carpet set, and seat covers. Thanks so much John and Vince.

I also picked up a really cool key chain. I know, I know, a key chain isn't that big of a deal, but I have been searching for a cool one to use, so when I stumbled across this one, I knew it would be perfect.

I also picked up a Knight Rider calender made by a Knight rider fan, a pretty cool addition.

I'm currently waiting for my dash electronics to arrive, as well as my new set of electronics overlays. They have been on order since the end of July from Jupiter Electronics located in Quebec.

Here's just a cool pic, one of my favourites:)

 

November 14, 2009

 

I spent some time yesterday prepping the car for winter storage. I filled the gas tank, added fuel stabilizer, removed the battery and covered it up. So Kitt is now hibernating for the winter months:)

Just because the car is put away for the winter, doesn't mean the updates will be stopping, so check back from time to time for some updates:)

Just a few pics:

Zzzzzzzzzz...........To be continued:)