Body Panels Swapped

 Finally some progress is being made on the car. Body panels from the '82 Trans AM now live on the '83 Firebird S/E. Swapped the hood, left and right fenders, spoiler, steering column, and the doors that contain all the automatic electronics (Auto windows, locks, side mirrors). Decided it was easier to take the whole door than to rig the old one up with all the power motors. The car is now ready to be taken to the sand blasters to get all the paint off. From there, we are going to weld close the antennae hole on the front right fender, and weld close over the key locks. KITT will not open by a key anymore, but an electric fob.

The 1982 Trans AM frame has been taken away to the junk yard.

While I am on the topic, I have the hood, bumper, fenders, and doors from the '83 available for purchase.

I Just got an Update on my engine. Turns out the Head was indeed cracked. So, back to the engine builder to machine me another.

Season 1 Lower Console SPACEMAP Vs SPACEMAT

Over the past years the lettering on the lower console has not been clear enough to read. The best interpretation of what was written there, was "SPACEMAP". This has been the go-to text for everyone since it was originally suggested, and unfortunately, some have have accepted it as screen accurate.

However, "SPACEMAP" has always been a theory, yet never confirmed. The text has also been read as "SPACEMAT". Thus begun the debate.  I do believe I read somewhere that someone interviewed Michael Scheffe (Designer of the Original KITT), who confirmed it was "SPACEMAT". Knight Rider Archives is also confident it is "SPACEMAT".

Personally, with the release of the Blu-ray (attached photo), I am 100% certain that the correct text is "SPACEMAT". All lower consoles that read spacemap are in need for an upgrade.

Automatic Door openers and soft closers

A few KITT builders have incorporated one of my personal favorite features on their replicas, Auto-Doors.

First thing you need are electronic locks. Second would be to pick up a set of Door Poppers. They have been around for years and are probably the easiest thing to pick up off the shelf.

This alone would unlock your door by remote and pop them open. Depending on which popper you get may affect how wide the door opens. First thing I think of are the Shaved Door Kits with Door Poppers. These kits are designed so someone can can remove the door handles from the car, making it smooth. This requires the locks to unlatch and the door top open on its own.

Third thing would be a hydraulic system in the door that naturally wants to swing the door open. This is the tricky part. Might look into Linear Actuators for this. The actuator would have to swing the door open, and be able to pull it shut.

The fourth and last thing would be the soft door closer found on luxury vehicles. Slamstop makes a universal unit to install that will pull your door closed for only $250. This is the same idea as the hatch pull down motor for Trans-AM years '86-91. You can pick up a Slamstop unit on Amazon. The tricky part would be to get the door to open far enough away from the Slamstop system so it doesn't automatically close the door you just popped open.

Heated Seats for PMD chairs

Any luxury coupe is going to have heated seats, so your KITT should too. I mean, he is the car with everything. Here are some universal heating pads for $152.95 that will install under the PMD upholstery and wired in.

Engine Problems

I honestly gotta say, I am disappointed with how my engine build is going. I am not saying I wont love it in the end, but the road there has not been a fun one.

First, I commissioned the a Pontiac Engine with 500 to 550 hp to be built. Estimated completion date was four months. Great. Dropped 4k down-payment and set off to raise funds for the remainder. Four months come and go with no communication from builder. All my email inquires went ignored. I finally get communication seven months later that things are backed up and slow, but progress is being made. I request pictures, am told "no problem".

Three months later, still no photos and no communication. I call again. More delays, more backlog. Crankshaft is out of stock, so it's back-ordered.

A year after the commission I am told everything is ready. Assembly will only take a couple of weeks.

Four months later, I call again as I am still not getting any communication, still not assembled, but promise that will be done shortly. Finally get some photos sent to me that are of another engine, and others that are 6 months old (picture has date stamps) Also promises to call me when its ready so I can hear it run. I get excited and pull the engine from my car in anticipation of its soon to be arrival.

To make a long story short, the engine took two years and three months to complete. Every promise made was broken regarding deadlines. Every promise to call me, send me updates, photos, were all broken. When the engine finally arrives, the drain plugs are missing, the dip stick is missing, the rebuilt distributor is mounted 180 degrees the wrong direction and nothing about it looks new, there is rust along the side of the oil pan from the rusty water leaking out from the drain openings, the rockers are not centered (mechanic said that the will cause them to break after a hundred miles or so), my brand new spark plug cables are covered in grease (look used). Pulling the valve off, there is gunk in it. This is just the visual observations after taking it out of the crate.

Putting it on a run stand, the mechanic said that after 20 minutes of running, it blew off the top hose, and boiling water was coming out of the center void in the top of the head. So it's building pressure somewhere, as it could be clogged up, a gasket is blown, or a head is cracked. Just not good no matter what. The engine wasn't done when it shipped.

So, after two and half years of waiting, over 10K invested in the engine, it has to be taken apart to diagnose what is wrong with it. Talking to both the mechanic and the engine builder is frustrating as they both have different opinions and neither wants to talk to the other and they both get defensive when someone points the finger of blame. I am stuck in the middle and with the bill and a broke engine.

KARR is dead

I had both KTT and KARR towed to C&E Performance garage, and it's official, KARR is no longer going to be a project. He is going to be a parts car for KITT as I had originally planned when I purchased the shell. The cost and time to get both cars done is just out of my scope at this junction in my life. Once all the parts have been swapped from the '82 Trans-Am to the '83 Firebird, the remaining parts will be sold off and anything that doesn't get sold will be junked.

Engine arrived

Once I got word that my engine was done, my excitement for it to get here peaked. I arranged the engine to be shipped from Central Virginia Machine Services to C&E Performance shop. That was the longest week. It was really disappointing after paying for insurance that I was unable to track the engine as it traveled from one side of the country to the other.

It arrived at April 30th at 3pm to C&E Performance and uncrating it took a bit of time. After two years of waiting for this engine to be done, it's finally here! Now, more waiting till I can fire it up and hear it run. Headers have been ordered and once those arrive we'll be able to get it started.

First thing we noticed was some rusty water dripping out of the plug holes. Also, whomever crated it was a bit hands-y with their greasy fingers as the valve covers were dirty, the spark plug cables have grease on them too. So, it's not showroom ready out of the crate, it will need some cleaning.