Knight Passions Dash

Received a Dash made by Knight Passions. This is one of his older dashes. I was hesitant to purchase one because of the casting seam lines that where very obvious on the dash that would require a lot of filling and sanding to smooth out and it didn't have cutouts for the top mounted speakers. However, this dash came up and the price was decent and I needed one sooner rather than later.

Some modifications to the dash will be to reinforce it in some areas where the fiberglass is thin, add supports inside to help with its sagging in areas. I will also be adding in a new row for the security mode, surveillance mode and eject left and right overlays. I have a voice box cover hiding somewhere, I just need to locate it so it can be added into the dash.

Paint shop update

 I finally got some progress photos from the paint shop on my car. It has literally been at the paint and body for over a year (too long).

They sand blasted the fenders, skim coated the rear to help smooth/straighten it out. The photos leave me uncertain that the entire car was sand blasted and repainted. I was told it was. I have to admit, when I first saw this photo I thought it was either the donor car, or they were painting it yellow like the donor car.

 

Photo of car after painted (?)

Starting to gut out the interior. Removed the seats

I am uncertain when this photo was taken, I hope that it is just dust on the new paint and not scratches.

 

Removed all the carpet, electronic wiring, dash etc. going to do a full new build up.

Dash Electronics

Originally I was going to have a friend of mine, who is an electrical engineer, build the all the electronics for me. He was excited about it and fully willing to help, but life and availability has gotten in the way, and he isn't going to be able to help me anymore on my KITT replica build. My loss. I had to move then to Plan B: Purchase dash electronics from a vendor. I looked around and found that no one builds a set of electronics that incorporate, or capable of incorporating, full functionality to all the dash gauges. Another disappointment was that most (all?) vendors do not sell all the electronics required for a single car. I will have to purchase my overhead console electronics elsewhere. Another disappointment was most vendors who do sell the overhead console electronics, are not accurate to the show.

I ended up purchasing my electronics for my KITT's dash from ZA Elettronica. They were shipped DHL and arrived fairly quickly, despite coming from Italy. There was VAT/Import taxes that needed to be paid to import these into the USA (in case anyone is wondering). I have not hooked anything up yet, but was assured that they were checked for functionality before shipping.

My first impressions: Everything is smaller than I always envisioned them to be. Looks well done and thorough. Cannot wait to get everything set up and read to go.

Some disappointments: Don't get me wrong, these were items what I was aware of before ordering and are obvious that they exist (in other words, they are not surprises to anyone).

The Green color on the Switch Pods are the wrong shade. In the show, the green buttons are much lighter than the ones that come with any vendors electronics. Everyone, has these colors wrong.

Another disappointment are the dummy electronics. I would prefer that all the electronic gauges/lights were functional and capable of being connected to sensors. It's too bad that to redesign these dash electronics would be too expensive. It would be cool if they were designed for both options. For instance, the LED lightbars can display randomly like they currently do (doesn't take much tech to do this). Flip a switch (or button) that switches between "Demo" mode to "Function mode". Then you can plug anything into the board and it would display its readout, like any off the shelf gauge. I realize that the Pontiac doesn't come stock with all the sensors required for all of the dash gauges, but they can be purchased and added to the car separately. Just need to find someone who is ambitious enough to tackle such a project.

Side-by-side comparison of shades of green

(Left is the Replica, Right is an original found Button)
Note the black text is difficult to read/see

Updated Overlay Replicas

I contacted yet another company that produces custom face places to do my overlays. Their communication with me could use improvement as I would not hear anything for weeks sometimes. But I did manage to get a price quote, went through one design stage and finally got an Overlay in-hand with white text that can be back-lit.

The plastic is much thicker than the first company that I went through. Their production costs where about the same, however, they were able to give me white text instead of "clear" text that the previous company said was all they could do. I also like the black finish better. It is on the face of the plate, were the previous plate, the "black" finish was on the back of the clear plastic. Makes a huge difference in appearance. Another big plus is that when I order more overlays, that the material code used will make sure that ALL the overlays match each other.

I went ahead and got an overlay made that I am sure no one else has incorporated into their KITT, "SECURITY MODE". It was shown only once on KITT's monitor and never seen again. One could speculate that it wasn't ever a real gauge on the dash, but it existed in one form or another, so I see it at KITTs Alarm system, and will either place it next to my Eject overlay, on the overhead console, or on the left hand side of the steering column. Haven't decided yet.

Delivery Day! Thank you American Garage!

Bumper, Overhead Console and Lower Console all arrived safely from American Garage based in Italy. They were gracious enough to to give me two day shipping. I wanted the grills and blackout with my bumper. AG installed the steel grills permanently into the bumper. I was hoping they would be adjustable, because my fantasy was to motorize the grills so they could open and close. Oh well, no biggie. All parts are going to require lots of fine sanding to get smooth and to remove the "scratches" and seam lines from the molded parts. All the parts have about 80 grit sandpaper scratches that will have to be sanded smooth. Oh, and holes will need to be drilled for bolting to the car. I am hoping that this is the strongest part of the bumper as I would hate it to crack and fall off cause the wall was too thin/brittle. The parts themselves feel really solid and durable without being too heavy. Now I just need to drop it off at the paint shop Monday.

On a side note, this bumper is going to need some major TLC to fill in all the pits, scratches and minor holes for a smooth finish. Same goes for the other fiberglass parts received (overhead console and center console). Some corners were a little thin and will need to be built up. There is no "shelf" for the lightbar, so it will require some ingenuity to get that mounted. The Blackout wasn't a tight fit, it leaves about a 1/4" gap all the way around.

New Bumper, Overhead Console, and Center Console

 I ordered the bumper (with grills and blackout) and the Overhead (upper) Console from American Garage. I am crossing my fingers that it will be here within a weeks time. No updates on my car yet from the body shop. I am hoping to get the word soon that my engine has been put all back together.

I was able to sell some items on eBay that allowed me to pick up a Center Console from American Garage as well. They offered me one that was pre-cut.

After some quick google searching, I located another company that I will use to make my back-lit overlays. I sent them off my drawings for a quote. They came back a little more expensive than the first place I used, but they will be able to get me my white text and lines in the plastic without me having to paint it white on the back. They also offered to including a lighting system, but I opted out of that, because I intend my gauges to house the lights to light it up. So, I am anxiously awaiting to hear back from them.

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.