Michael Knight

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I am new to this forum, I have owned 2 Firebirds and 2 Camaros in my past and unfortunately sold all of them before I was 30. Now I just picked up a 1985 Firebird for $800 and I wasn't going to pass up that opportunity since I can afford to restore one now.

Anyways, this is the start of my restoration project. My plan for the car is to restore the car back to 1985 factory specs, but also to do that with a twist. And I am sure that I am going to get some slack from some because of whatelse I want to do with it, but the car is also going to be restored to look like KITT from Knight Rider. I grew up watching that show in syndication and been hooked on the car ever since! So here starts the journey!

Let me add, that the moron who owned the car previous to the guy I bought it from painted the car gunmetal grey right over a great factory paint job. And I don't know what the idiot was thinking when he painted a lighthouse on the hood!!

Michael Knight

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So here's an update...

Tore out the interior and found what I had feared..... Driver's side floor gone at the front. I knew basing on the last couple 3rd gens I had the problem was starting, but I got to this car too late. I had seen the metal panel when the car was on the trailer, but when I pulled the carpet back I got more of it!!! The only bonus was that when I gutted the entire interior, the only rust in the floorboards was there on the driver's side!!!

Michael Knight

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After watching Knight Rider for some information on the car and because my son wanted to watch it. I have now come up with a name for my project. In season 3 episode 60 of the series, called "Junk Yard Dog". The premise of the episode is KITT goes into a pit of toxic chemicals, gets nearly destroyed and is rebuilt. Similar conditions of my car being that it probably belonged in a junk yard. Never the less, it will be rebuilt. So here's to the start of Project Junk Yard Dog.

ibmtech

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Please post pics if available.. I actually seen the real KITT when they were filming 1 episode many years ago. I know there is a KITT dash assembly somewhere, as I found one on the net about 3 years ago. It sounds like you have a good project to work on...

Michael Knight

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Thanks ibmtech-

I know that Rob Louisell Industries is just north of me in Mt. Pleasant, but ever since he came back on line, his prices have gone up dramatically. I am more looking at Don Collie and Advance Designs. But that is a long way down the road. I want to restore the car mechanically and cosmetically first before I start the conversion. It's like a house, in order to have a great house you have to have a good foundation to build on.

2007xl50

I loved and hated that EP when I was a kid. I hated to see KITT messed up, but he looked cool when he was in primer doing testing after the rebuild. Good luck on the project.

Michael Knight

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It was one episode I didn't like either because KITT was destroyed but I would have to agree he looked cool in primer! This has been a project I've wanted to do for at least 15 years . I am looking forward to work ing on it and sharing my journey with everyone .

Richboll

Good luck with your "Junk Yard Dog" project. Please post pictures of the restoration along with the KITT conversion. I think it was at Universal Studios in LA years ago that they used to have one you could stand next to for a photo op and they had someone in the bushes or someplace that talked to you.

Richboll

Wow! I just did a quick look on ebay. I'm surprised at how many parts are available for the KITT conversion and how expensive some of them are. It looks like a lot of them come from Italy. Again, Good Luck!

Michael Knight

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I will post pics as I go. You have a very nice Camaro!

Michael Knight

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I looked at those on eBay before. The quality I saw didn't impress me. Especially where the dash and front nose come in 2 pieces and you have to fiberglass them together. Plus I'd rather keep my $ here.

Michael Knight

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Updated pics:

Interior gutted out. Solid floors except drivers side in front of the seat mount, and a pin hole in the passenger side.

Michael Knight

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T-top bar removed

Michael Knight

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Passenger side of the car without the wheels

Michael Knight

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Inner fender on the driver's side....rotted. Nice!!! Now It'll have to be patched. The Ziebart undercoating didn't save this side!!!

Michael Knight

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Passenger side... More rot.

Michael Knight

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Interior gutted except for the steering wheel, pedals, shifter, and e-brake lever.

Faded

You got lucky on the T-top channels, based on the condition of the drivers side floor.

Michael Knight

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I am suprised also. I am wondering if there was a seam that wasn't sealed from the factory or another issue from zeibarting that caused the rot on the floor. I do know the reason for the rot in the inner fenders.... Leaves and moisture.

Michael Knight

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Update:

Not much work done on the car because of the bitter cold that has gone on here in Michigan the past couple of weeks. No heat in the garage!! I did bolt up one of the replacement doors for giggles and was trying to take the gas tank out before it got to be -5. So far the I have all of the interior harness out including drilling out the rivets for the connection that goes to the fuel pump. I did suprisingly break the last bolt that was connected to the torsion bar and the panhard bar...somehow.

Michael Knight

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Update:

Since the weather has been ok the past week. I have been working on getting the gas tank out since the car has to be completely stripped when it goes to the soda blaster. So after wrestling with the panhard bar and torsion bar I finally go the tank out. Sad that I didn't find the build sheet for the car, but oh well. Also got the entire wiring harness removed also. So I am about a couple o weeks away from getting it sent out. Hopefully I don't find more issues after it comes back.

Michael Knight

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Wiring harness removed.

l_dis_travlr

Glad to hear of your effort to keep the breed alive.
Be patient, thorough, and some day it will all be worth it.

At the beginning of my resto project, I decided to include a
KR front bumper. (Not doing a KITT replica, I just like the bumper.)
After considerable research, I found:
1) There's subtle differences in the parts, based on "Season" id.
2) Parts are still available, but the demand has obviously peaked.
3) There's web-sites devoted to KITT restoration, some of
which are actually still active.

I wanted a slightly mod'd Season 1 version, and decided on a Canadian
supplier, Joe Penko -- highly recommended on several of the above forums.
Base price + (international) shipping was a bit more than I was budgeting,
but the end product is commendable -- good thick construction, for
structural strength & rigidity. (Will need some minor trimming at the mounting
points, as most custom fab work usually does.) Overall, , highly recommend this vendor.

The web-site info is not at-hand, so I'll include that in another post,
as well as some pics.

Michael Knight

iTrader: (1)

Update:
Found a great 3rd gen junk yard south of Lansing,Michigan. I picked up a trans am hood, '82 t/a fenders, rear spoiler and the hood latch support for $195! I was originally going for the fenders and hood but after seeing all of his treasures, I got more. He just got a '92 z that was an insurance total from an engine fire. I believe he told me that it only had 60,000 miles on it. If anyone is interested in getting a hold of him, send me a pm.

Michael Knight

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Hood and fenders test fitted

Michael Knight

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Rear spoiler test fitted.

Michael Knight

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Did you ever find his website? I found links to people who have bought parts from him but nothing that would get to his website.




QUOTE=l_dis_travlr;5505106]Glad to hear of your effort to keep the breed alive.
Be patient, thorough, and some day it will all be worth it.

At the beginning of my resto project, I decided to include a
KR front bumper. (Not doing a KITT replica, I just like the bumper.)
After considerable research, I found:
1) There's subtle differences in the parts, based on "Season" id.
2) Parts are still available, but the demand has obviously peaked.
3) There's web-sites devoted to KITT restoration, some of
which are actually still active.

I wanted a slightly mod'd Season 1 version, and decided on a Canadian
supplier, Joe Penko -- highly recommended on several of the above forums.
Base price + (international) shipping was a bit more than I was budgeting,
but the end product is commendable -- good thick construction, for
structural strength & rigidity. (Will need some minor trimming at the mounting
points, as most custom fab work usually does.) Overall, , highly recommend this vendor.

The web-site info is not at-hand, so I'll include that in another post,
as well as some pics.[/QUOTE]

l_dis_travlr

Last word I had from him is that his web-site is in progress.
Meanwhile: Joe Penko -> mdk187@rogers.com
There's about 3 variants of the bumper available, so you have to
decide what what particular configuration you want to build to.

Additional Knight Rider parts vendors:
www.knt2000customs.com
www.markscustomkits.com
www.roblouisell.com / louisellenterprises.com
www.knightpassions.net
www.knightridershop.com

Knight Rider websites:
www.knightregistries.com
www.knightfoundation.net
www.knightriderrevolution.com

Keep up the good work...

Michael Knight

iTrader: (1)

Update as of 3/29

The weather has been a blessing because I have sanded down most of the body panels. My new t/a fenders are great. I stripped the right side down to bare metal and no bondo in them. Also no rust!! Then got to the task of removing the windshield. Since my budget took a hit because I hit a deer last week w my dd, I saved myself the $75 and removed it myself. Not to mention it was already cracked. I got it out. Also as I was sanding the drivers side quarter panel I found bondo. Not suprised because of the car's age but now I need to get it out of there and fix it.

Michael Knight

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Windshield out.

thomas1976

Big respect and thumbs-up for the courage to restore that car.

When I was about 10, I spent most of my vacations at a car shop, the shop used to do special transports for police and others. One day they picked up one of the original KITT cars to bring it to a show. The car stayed at the shop for about 2 days and I had unrestricted access to the car

85f-bird

Cool project, and good luck. I'll be keeping an eye on your progress, might help me in the restoration of my 85 firebird as well. What type of price did you get for the media blasting?

Michael Knight

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Well I got several quotes:

Media blasting - $1,000-1,200
Soda blasting - $800
Sand blasting - $400-700

Had a guy at work tell me he has a friend that does restorations on the side and is going to sand blast the car, weld up all of the rust, and reptile the entire car inside and out for $500. The guy's regular job is slow so he is doing this side work to make extra $.

85f-bird

Sounds like a good price! Good luck, and show us some progress pictures as more progress is made. I'm feeling pretty lucky right now, recently got a promotion at work, so I might start to have a few extra $$ that I can throw at the car without making myself broke, or having to sell off other toys to do so! Hopefully i'll be following in your footsteps in the near future.

Michael Knight

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Since I haven't been on here in a while, here's an update:
At this time KITT was 80% stripped down to just a rolling chassis that has an iron block and trans still sitting under the hood. I took the car to the media blaster about 4 weeks ago. A buddy of mine recommended him, because he not only does media blasting, but does metal work on the side. So he's doing all of the patch work on the floor, replacing the battery tray, welding up the gfx holes, etc.

Michael Knight

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Since I don't have the car to work on, I have tried to keep myself busy by redoing the gas tank and doing a complete overhaul on the headlights. With the headlights the biggest issue for me was if I wanted to blast the parts or just scuff and paint. And since they weren't rusty I just scuffed them up and painted them. I do highly recommend if you are doing the same thing that you spend the 6.00 and replace the adjusters because mine were so corroded that they didn't turn very well. But all said and done I probably have around $30 rebuilding them. Except for the h/l motors which I found on rock auto.com for $100 each. The gas tank was in pretty good shape, all I did to it was sand it down, primed it, and then repainted it in a silver finish. But I am having no luck with anyone that carries the anti squeak straps that go under the gas tank straps. I'm thinking I might just use dynamat for them and cut to fit the originals.

Michael Knight

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Before on right, redone on left

Michael Knight

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Here's the gas tank as of now. I still need to decide if I'm going to run carbs on it or fuel injected.

Richboll

It looks like you're making good progress. When do you expect to get the body back?