Upper Console Update

I marked and cut out my holes into the Upper Console with my Dremel tool. Each hole cut to fit each of my five DPDT lighted rocker switches. I was toying with the idea of making an aluminum plate with the holes for the switches cut into it but the rockers have their own plastic bezels so I figure this should be good enough. I then inserted the switches into the holes and snapped them into place. Next step will be to wire them up. I am going to wire these in a way that they will be lighted only when turned on.

Cowl Induction Hood Modification Part 3

My version of the Cowl Induction Hood modification is coming along slowly as I figure out how to do this. I have been in contact with Antoni J. Hairston

on Face Book who I am closely following for my version of the modification. On his version he says that the green light is hooked up to the Fuel Pump Relay, however on my 1982 Trans Am which has a Chevy Small Block V8 and some other after market modifications, I think my Fuel Pump may be a mechanical one. More investigation there is needed to be sure. But if it is a mechanical one he say for my green light I may need to tap into the hot ignition wire for my green light.

For now though I wanted to see how well my bracket for the lights was going to fit so I installed it temporarily for a test fitting to make sure the lights will be visible and that the unit fits into place well. So far so good. You can see in these shots (Above) how the unit fits inside of the Turbo Hood bulge and in the shots (below) how the lights are visible inside of the air flow opening.

Now keep in mind that this is NOT something K.I.T.T. actually had in the show, this is just what I think is a very 

cool modification that is WORTHY of K.I.T.T.

Cowl Induction Hood Modification Part 2

I picked up some coloured 12V DC Indicator lights from Tip Top Electronics today and installed them into my mounting bracket I had made from some stock aluminum. I'm not 100% sure on the colour arrangement but for now this will do. I have added and extra red indicator light that is going to serve as my "Check Engine" light seeing how the Knight Rider dash electronics does not have one and I feel it is important to have one somewhere, so this seems as good as any place because it will be noticeable especially at night.

I drilled in some holes into the back of the plastic Air Induction Unit to accommodate the backs of the indicator lights as they went back far enough to interfere a little with the back of the air opening. I guess a smaller light would have been better which is something for you to consider if you are going to do the same thing. But even then your wires need to come out somewhere so it's not that big of a deal I don't think. I used a "Step Drill Bit" to do the job.

I then threaded the wires for each indicator light in through the air opening and into each of the holes drilled into the plastic. I then used a couple of small bolts and washers to secure the whole assembly into place. Now all I need to do is figure out how that other Knight Rider Car builder on YouTube wired up this crazy cool set up. My extra "Check Engine" light is easy enough as it's just a simple light wired up the same was as the one from the original Gauge Cluster.

Adding Some Speaker Grill Cover Plates

Yesterday I cut out the stock OEM speaker grill I salvaged from the red parts car. I cut them so as they fit into the recessed areas of the Knight Rider Dash for the speaker holes. At first they looked a little odd to me because the actual rectangular hole in the grills is on a bit of an angle which was throwing me off for a while. But that's just the way they were made. Even the speakers in the stock OEM dash under the dash pad are set at the same odd angle.

I then made a cardboard template (left) for each side of the dash, one for each cover plate I would make. Here you can see how the speaker matches the odd angle of the elongated octagonal hole I'm making. I made the hole octagonal to kind of go with the same theme that my season one monitor frames have. The next step was to cut my cover plates out of some Lexan plastic I had on hand. I would then need to file and sand them so as they fit nicely over the stock OEM speaker grills that will be set into the recessed area of the dash. The one of the drivers side is cut different to accommodate the Countdown Indicators channel.

Once both of my cover plates were made I gave them a good sanding to scuff up the surface a little so they will be ready for painting. First though I marked where I would drill my holes so as I can bolt them onto the dash when they are ready. Here you can see the cover plates (left) I have them resting on top of the car before I drilled the holes. A little more sanding first though and then they should be good to go. Finally the painting (right). Once this side is dry I'll flip them and do the other side. By tomorrow they should be OK to install into the dash.

Third Dash Test Fitting

Another test fitting today of my Knight Rider 2 TV Dash after trimming a little bit off of the drivers side mounting wing on the dash and sticking down the pipe insulation I ran across the front of the stock OEM dash. I drilled in a few holes and Zip-Tied down the pipe insulation to the OEM dash just to be doubly sure it not going anywhere. After letting the 3M glue dry overnight I also removed the masking tape from around the steering column that I had glued on a piece of the pipe insulation and a piece of high density foam rubber to help raise up the front of the Switch Pods to match the Gull-wing a lot better. I put the dash in for another test fitting and it's definitely fitting better after those tweaks. I think I can still trim a little more off of the mounting wing on the drivers side but I would not take off too much more though as it's fitting pretty good now. Although I did try and put my windshield side moulding back on the window column to see if that would fit, it doesn't so I'm not sure what others have done to rectify that. I do know now that I don't need so many power wires going up to the Upper Console when I can get away with either a 16 or 10 AWG wire to feed power to the upper console. This would minimize the amount of wires I currently have running up both sides of the window column. I can then run that power wire to my fuse block I have installed on the passenger side hush panel. That way both the Upper and Lower consoles will get their power from that block.

My next job for today was to work out what to do with my speaker grills. Fortunately I had gotten some from the red parts car I had which is great because my car for some reason did not have any installed into the stock OEM Dash Pad. Now because my speakers kind of stick up a little this was going to be a little more tricky than I originally thought it was. My initial plan was to try ands see if I could somehow mount the speaker grills in under the Knight Rider Dash but due to the lack of space I figured I would need to modify them to fit into the recessed areas in the Knight Rider Dash made for the speakers. As you can see in the samples (above left & right) I have cut the passenger side speaker grill to fit nicely into the recessed speaker holes in the fibreglass dash. I'll do the same to the other side taking into account that it is shaped a little different because it is pretty close to the Countdown Indicators channel.

Here you can probably see the difference in the shape of the speaker recess area on the drivers side. It's kind of notched out a bit to accommodate the Countdown Indicators area so I will need to reflect that change in the speaker grill for this side. I'll most likely trace out the other one on a piece of cardboard and make the change to it and gets fit it in and then cut out the speaker grill to match.

Once they fit nice I'll cut out a recessed area in the "Slats" of the speaker grills to allow for a countersunk screw in a few areas and then secure the speaker grills to the Knight Rider Dash. I'll probably clean them up and repaint them too before securing them in just so they will look a lot nicer.

Clear Coating The Voice Box Bezel

Above are my before and after shots of my Voice Box Bezel after it had been clear coated. As you can see I masked off the surrounding area and then gave it a good coat of Clear Coat. I did end up doing a little wet sanding first with a 1000 grit stage 4 sand paper just to take out any of the brush strokes from my painting with the fine tip brush. Cleaned it up with a Q-Tip and a Tack Cloth before applying the Clear Coat and there you have, one shiny Voice Box to match the rest of my nice shiny Knight Rider Dash :)

Dash Views - Final Stages Of Completion

With my Knight Rider dash now clear coated and left to dry overnight morning time taking off the masking tape I must have been like a little kid opening his presents Christmas morning, lol at least it certainly felt that way as I carefully but feverishly peeled off each strip of masking tape being extra careful to cut around any edges that might stick with my X-acto knife. As each layer of tape peeled away revealing the gleaming Lexan displays I could not help but giggle with glee like a school girl ;) lol... Yeah I know I'm such a kid with this stuff ;)

With all the masking tape off and giving the dash a good going over I can see it could use a little wet sanding and then polishing here and there with a Polishing Compound. Nothing major though and I would bet over time just the good polishing here and there would eventually take out any minor surface roughs from the clear coating. Over all I'm very pleased with the way my dash has turned out. Looking at it all glossy with the Lexan plastic overlays I had made for each of the displays it looks really sharp. Very sci-fi like and futuristic, it's a no wonder I have always loved this dash in K.I.T.T.

I need to let the dash sit for a few days to let it fully cure, but in the meantime another little job I need to do is to had paint the Voice Box Bezel, I figure it will be easier to just spray some paint from the can into a small container and use a fine brush to paint the Bezel, I'll have a lot more control over the paint this way. With this stage of my dash out of the way the only thing to do is replace those fake temporary T.V. screens with real 5 inch LCD touch screens. Another thing is to work out which one of the Switch Pod Buttons I want to use to cycle the Message Centre. I have a plan for that I posted a few articles back about how to wire each Switch Pod Button individually. For the Message Centre Cycle button all it needs to do is close a ground connection on the board terminal and this can be done with a simple SPST Relay, a Mini-Relay would be more than good enough for something that simple.

Outside of all of that my Knight Rider Dash is getting super close to completion compared to several months ago in January of 2014 when it first arrived from Knight Rider World in Italy. It's been a lot of work, fun, and sometimes frustrating but very rewarding work too, especially to finally see it at this stage of completion. :)

Dash Clear Coated

Finally the clear coat has been applied to my Knight Rider 2 TV Dash. Now to just let that cure overnight and then see about any wet sanding that needs to be done in the morning. The dash looks so nice all black and shiny. I'm glad I went with the gloss versus the satin finish as to me the gloss looks more "Futuristic" to me somehow, just a personal preference I guess but I like it.

Starting The Dash Painting Process

I didn't think I was going to get to this part today but as luck would have it I was able to get the first coat of gloss black paint on my Knight Rider dash. In truth I still have a few minor spots on the Switch Pods to do a little light sanding on but I can do that just as easily with the painting process started. You probably can't tell in the photos as like I say it's a few minor areas but I'm picky about it so I notice.

It's sure nice though to be finally getting the dash to this stage. It looks so nice already with just the first coat of gloss black applied, it will look even nicer once it's eventually clear coated. When it's clear coated and fully cured I'll see about doing another video with the dash turned on as it will looks so nice all lighted up, animated with the finished dash surface. :)

Making The Backs Of Switch Pods

With me getting a lot closer to being able to install the dash or at the very least do a few more test fittings as I get things ready I figured that I better get the lead out on working on my Switch Pods. I placed an aluminium support inside the back of the Switch Pods because I had heard that some people had problems accidentally breaking their pods by banging their knees against them whilst getting in and out of the car. So this is just one of those little extra steps that I'm hoping will prevent that from happening by making the pods a lot more stronger by giving them some additional internal support. I have also placed in 4 pieces of aluminum pipe 2 each side to act as wire conduits for the switches. I probably didn't really need to but I figure it's just another way to help keep wires neatly bundled together and help prevent any possibilities of dangling loose wires.

I have also used some more of that plastic I salvaged from an abandoned T.V. set's casing to make back cover plates for the Switch Pods. I will glass over these and eventually cut out an access panel on the back to allow access to the backs of the switches circuit boards. What I'll do is make an aluminum cover plate that can then be screwed onto the back that way there is no danger of accidentally coming into contact with the backs of the circuit boards or and debris to fall back into the pods and cause shorts or damage to the switches circuit boards.

Here you can see a view of the back of the Switch Pods with my plastic covers just resting in place for now until I am ready to glass over them. Once that is done I'll be able to cut out the access holes for each side of the Pods and then make my aluminum access plates. I'll keep you all posted on how that goes once I am at that stage. Next will be to glass my Pods to the Knight Rider 2 TV dash.

Front End Nearing Completion

K.I.T.T.s front end is nearing completion. I still have a few things to do but as you can see it is getting closer and closer to being done. You know I was amazed going through my photographs the other day at just how far I have come along with this project. I mean for a guy with absolutely no prior automotive experience I feel I have done pretty darned good all things being considered. I am well on my way to achieving a life long dream of owning my very own Knight Rider car.

I took some of the rubber that was on the original GM flat hood that came stock with my '82 Trans Am and cut some to fit across the top of the scanner between the hood so it helps close up the small gap at the top of the scanner. The rubber also acts as a bit of cushion between the top of the scanner and the front of the hood.

Here is a shot of K.I.T.T. with his new Turbo Hood finally on and his scanner working.

You can see I still need to do something with those front ground effects, not yet sure if I am going to use trim fasteners to attach those to the underside of the front nose or if people just take them out. I'm still looking into that.

I think I figured out the issues I was having with how the air cleaner assembly was attached. My guess is that they must have done some kind of engine modification that bypasses most of what the air cleaners original function was as that small short hose was clearly NOT attached to the Carburetor, where it would have gone was sealed up with a short piece of rubber hose with a screw in the end. So I figured OK if it was working fine like that before why mess with something I don't understand I'll just attach the new shiny one in the same manor. I'll get someone with much more automotive skills than me to have a look at it later on when I can get a chance.

Upper Console Installed

I have the upper console pretty much installed. I have some tweaking to do and I want to see if I can add some more felt around the top edge to try and tidy up my install a little more. I also want to make sure my wires are tucked away neatly inside of the console, I did a pretty good job but there are a lot of wires in there so I just want to be doubly, doubly sure that there are not any pinched wires or wires that are not properly insulated that could cause a short, a short would be very bad! :(

I have the push buttons wires run down the drivers side windshield frame and under the dash to be plugged into the tone generator on the Knight Rider World Voice Box. They too can be hooked up to do things individually but that would be a whole load more wires to deal with so for now I'm OK with them just being hooked up to a tone generator when I put the Knight Rider 2 T.V. dash in. I have the rocker switches wired, the first two as mentioned before are for the front Fog Lights, the other four switches are not yet assigned for any purpose yet, not sure what I'll use them for just yet.

The headliner near the front will need some additional padding as I appear to have a gap there that needs to be filled, perhaps some 1/2" foam rubber under the headliner will do the trick? I'll see what I can do about that.

I'll follow up a little more on my install with a video as I know there are many out there who seem to like my videos.

Upper Console Update 2

Finally got the primer and a good 2 coats of universal black paint on the upper console and put in my custom rocker switch bezel and switches. I'm just waiting on the last lighted rocker switch that is being shipped from Calgary to Active Tech Electronics Canada, that should be ready for me to just walk down and pick up on either Monday or Tuesday, they'll call me and then I can just walk down and pick it up. lol I live close by so the place it just a 15 minute walk away. ;)

Then all I need is something cool to put into that forward electronics area, I might just put a simple digital clock in there along with a few extra momentary push buttons.... we'll see ;)

K.I.T.T.'s Voice Box Bezel Ordered

Probably one of K.I.T.T.'s most famous and prominent features next to his scanner is the voice box. I have finally gotten around to ordering the bezel for my 2 TV dash, both from Knight Rider World. I can't wait to get his voice modulator installed into my dash. lol right now I have it sitting upstairs in our bedroom loft under the stars just so I have a little more room in my back room to prime, paint and clear coat the rear bumper and then finally the Turbo Hood.... there is a pain in the backside project that I had wanted to get done all winter but not having a simple box fan for ventilation was holding things up.... Oh well... just as well as it probably would have been too cold for the paint to set properly with the window open anyways ;) Warmer weather coming so it's time to "Get it On!"