Trimming The Dash Underside Cover Plate

After the fibreglass was set I started peeling off all of the masking tape and then peeled off the Styrofoam form I had made. The white glue acted as an excellent barrier both preventing the resin from eating or dissolving the Styrofoam and made for a smooth inner surface, not that anyone is ever going to see it lol. I trimmed off the rough edges with a coping saw and filed them down a little.

Next up was do do a little test fitting of my newly formed cover plate to see what kinds of additional adjustment I am going to need to make. As you can see on the curved part of the dash I will need to file down and then add in some more fibreglass and resin to make it fit more flush with the edge of the dash. Overall though it is coming along much better than I though this project would. Once I get my cover plate to fit nicely around the edges I can sand the exposed side of the cover plate smooth and then it should be ready for priming and painting. 

Switch Pods Glassing To Dash

In preparation for mounting the Switch Pods onto the Dash I took the dash and Switch Pods out to the garage along with the Dash to do another test fit. I then bolted the Switch Pods onto the Dash getting it ready to glass the pods to the dash. I had to sand off all of the gel coat and primer to get down to the fibre glass.

Using the fibre glass matting and resin I glassed the pods onto the dash. I still need to glass the inside of the pods to the dash which I will do after I sand the outside down to get a good blend between the dash and the pods. I have a good build of fibre glass matting and resin built up making a very strong bond already between the two components.

I began the sanding process using a course sand paper to get a good blend between the two parts. So far so good but I have lots more sanding to do before I can flip over the dash and glass the inside of the Pods to the Dash but it's getting there.

I'm finding that the Switch Pods Unit from Knight Scan Industries is working very well with the Dash from Knight Rider World. Once the glassing and sanding is all done I'll finally be able to prime and paint the dash. I should still be OK for installing the two monitors and frames as I think they are separate components. If I need to spot paint after that installation then so be it. Nothing I can't handle.

I'll post more on my switch pod glassing as it progresses.

Reinforcing the Switchpods

I'm not entirely sure if it is a necessary job or not but after hearing a few stories on how the switch pods tend to get in the way of your knees from time to time and with that possibly being an open invitation to getting them damaged I thought of perhaps reinforcing them with some thick pieces of aluminum. I picked up some stock aluminum and this is what I came up with. I will glass thus into place and that should add a significant amount more sturdiness to the switch pods along the bottom where they are in possible danger of being constantly bumped with my knees getting in and out of K.I.T.T.

Some More Work on the Upper Console

I did some more work on the Upper Console with getting the multi coloured buttons mounted in place. I had to make some more mounting brackets using some "L" channel aluminum. I cut out middle sections and bent tabs outwards for mounting my Lexan plastic strips too that I ran through the centre part of the electronics board sandwich between the button bases.

I Contact cemented the aluminum brackets in place similar to the ones on the 2 TV Dash electronics install. Once the Contact cement was set I fibre glassed the brackets securely to the underside of the Upper Console.

Once the fibreglass resin was set overnight I had to do a little more filling to better accommodate my buttons assembly a little better. Once that was done I was able to drill some holes in the folded out tabs to place in some small bolts and washers to secure the board to the inside of the console. I wish I had pre-drilled my holes before I fibre glassed my brackets in place because it was a real pain in the butt drilling the holes with the brackets already fibre glassed in place. Just a little mental note for next time should I find I have to mount my buttons this way again.

Finally I Contact Cemented my black plastic trim into place. I have a little clean up to do once the Contact Cement dries tomorrow, but that's OK because I still need to pick up the other buttons for the console and install those before I can paint it. I also need to do another test fit in the car and see if I can figure out where to drill my holes for the mounting screws. I'm also still trying to decide if I want to keep my roof light assembly and if so if I should mount it to the back part of the console. I have removed the light assembly from the car and have it sitting on my work bench. I wouldn't mind keeping it, all I would have to do is extend the wires and make a hole in the back of the Upper Console to accommodate the light fixture. 

K.I.T.T.'s Front Nose Arrives

K.I.T.T.'s front nose arrived today in the mail from Knight Rider Shop Online. All wrapped up nice and safe in lots of bubble wrap and packing tape. Took a while to unpack it from all the wrapping, I was like a kid at Christmas lol.

 I had to laugh when the mail man arrived with it today, he said; "What kind of car is this for?" When I told him I was converting a 1982 Trans Am Firebird he was so amazed!! "No way!" He said.... lol

 I so can't wait to get into finishing it off and priming it and then painting. Right out of the mould so it has some rough spots and minor surface areas that will need to be filled. I'll need to get some fibreglass resin and some more primer... Curses that Canadian Tire is out of the 2 kinds of primer I like to use. :(

Yellow is so not K.I.T.T.'s colour lol gives me even more incentive to get the resin and primers I need so I can get the front nose to primer black and ready for paint. I'll fit it to the car before giving it it's final paint job and clear coat. So freaking can't wait!!

 You can see for right out of the mould it has some areas that need to be worked on but that's what makes a project like this more fun sometimes is all that hands on stuff. For me a lot of fibreglass work was done years and years ago so my knowledge is a little rusty in that area so I've some catching up to do on YouTube before I do any real work on my front nose just yet.

I'm not sure I I want to try and mould some brackets in the back of the front nose to place a grill in there or just leave that open... not really sure what look I'm going for with the front end just yet... plenty of time to make decisions on that I guess, gotta take a look at what other people have done and see what I like best for the front end.

I should really fit it to the car first before doing any kind of work on the front nose. My thought being that the yellow colour will make it much easier to see where my Sharpie pen will mark the areas for where I need to make my mounting holes. put it on and see how it fits and then refinish it one I have it prepped more. ;)