November 17, 2000

Every project starts as someone’s dream…

This is Matt’s dream.

Like many fans of the 80’s television series Knightrider, Matt knew that the ultimate expression of that love of the show would be in a form of owning his very own version of the series co-star, K.I.T.T. He set out to do just that.

I met Matt about two years ago and he expressed his interest in the show and his desire to own a replica of the Knight Industries 2000. He was a very talented web-designer and the fact that you are reading this is a tribute to his skills. We came to an agreement that day and he became the webmaster of www.codeoneauto.com We also began preparations to construct a replica of KITT designed to his specifications.

This vehicle provided a unique challenge in that it was going to be a movie car that was going to also serve as primary transportation. This meant that many of the "off-road" modifications to the car were going to have to be modified or discarded. We came up with a unique solution to the problem and the search began for a donor car.

While many vehicles were considered over a period of 4 months, we ultimately decided on a Red 1986 Pontiac Firebird with a V6 engine.

While this car would suit our needs, there was still quite a bit of work to be done to the donor to make it useable. The vehicle was sent out to be certified mechanically sound before we even considered exterior modification. A few weeks later, the donor was back at the shop with a new exhaust system, brakes, hoses, wires, a tune-up and a clean bill of health.

Now it was time to begin the exterior work….

The first thing to go on the donor car were the wheels. The film car featured the familiar "Turbine" style wheels with the bowling ball or "frisbee" hubcaps. These wheels were purchased separately and swapped for the newer style wheels.

Several of the body panels of the car were damaged and they would have to be repaired or replaced before any conversion parts could be added. As with most Knightrider conversions one of the first things to be done was to remove the bumper cover and modify the crush bumper underneath to accept the Knightrider nose. The right fender had been damaged beyond repair and required that it be replaced. The available replacement fender was not exactly a "perfect fit" and required modification to be installed.

The next step was to replace the stock firebird hood with the recognizable Trans Am turbo scoop hood familiar to fans of the series. With the hood in place it was time to attach our custom front bumper cover or "Knightrider nose". Matt himself was on hand that day to assist.

From there we repaired damage to both doors and the right rear quarter panel. While replacing both doors is usually the way to go, finding used doors in excellent condition that will properly line up on a different car is not always easy. The doors of this vehicle were hammered out and finished off with body filler. One of the difficulties with using body filler on doors decklids and other movable surfaces of a vehicle is that these panels are subjected to much more force than the rest of the car as they are constantly struck against one another during normal use. I have personally seen amateur bodywork on doors and rear hatches fall completely off after a few days of opening and closing. The worst of which was 2 square feet of bondo that slid off a rear hatch, AFTER the vehicle had received a custom paint job. Moveable surfaces require much more surface preparation than a fixed panel.

Here you will see that 1/8" holes were drilled ¼" apart along the entire surface to be filled. This gives the body filler a secure footing.

The rear section of this donor car was unusable as it was a later model with newer taillights, bumper cover and a center mount brake light, None of which were featured on the 1982 models used in the series. The hatch was swapped for a 1982 as was the bumper cover and taillights. The taillights presented the difficulty in that the later model vehicles featured additional yellow turn signals where previous models had not. These additional lights were discarded in favor of the more "authentic" look.

With the bodywork near completion on the car, it was time to remove all of the accessories from the exterior and begin preparation for the color change to the vehicle. This vehicle was completely "stripped" inside and out, to make the original color of the vehicle practically unnoticeable. Nearly every metal surface of the car was to be painted.

The vehicle was coated with several layers of primer to assist in removing 13 years of minor scratches and dings from the vehicle surface and to assist in locating trouble spots previously unseen in a highly reflective red colored surface. Some imperfections were discovered at this time and repaired.

The surface was prepped and the familiar black enamel was applied to the vehicle.

Once we had the main body out of the way it was time to work on some of the smaller exterior parts like the hubcaps, side mirrors and fender vents. The caps were used and required some dents to be removed and some scratches to be filled. The mirrors were the original red an also had some damage to be repaired.

Shortly thereafter, the car was buffed out and the tail lights were reinstalled as well as the signature, "bulletproof" tail light covers. These covers were fitted using black hex bolts as is common on many of the display cars exhibited by the studio.

With the exterior all but complete, it was time to get to the heart of the conversion. The NASA style custom interior…

This donor vehicle was originally equipped with a black cloth interior and a factory dash. Prior to painting, this interior was completely gutted from the car. The task at hand was to first, replace the stock interior with the familiar camel interior of the series car. We acquired the necessary components from a salvage yard and set about repairing the damaged pieces and in some cases, constructing our own OEM replica components. The two most difficult interior pieces to obtain for this vehicle are the T-top headliner and interior door "skins". The reason that very few of these survive more than a day or two at a salvage yard is that they were constructed at the factory from simple cardboard. While this may be an acceptable construction method for the interior of the vehicle, many of the salvage yards consider the greatest prize from a salvage Trans Am to be the pair of glass T-tops. Every year, hundreds of people attempt to remove their T-tops while driving causing them to be launched down the freeway. Smashing these tops is also a popular auto-theft method as glass breakage sensors cannot be mounted on a removable panel. So these tops are usually sold off by the salvage yards within hours of a car’s arrival. The problem here is that these cardboard interior panels are immediately at the mercy of the weather and are usually destroyed within hours. We purchased the panels along with our interior and re-skinned them with our own backing using 3M Hi-tack.

The T-top headliner was a bit more difficult…

Marketed as a "Fibreglass" component, this interior panel is little more than pressure molded cardboard with a single sheet of fibreglass cloth glued to panel and covered with fabric. It has more in common with household insulation than automotive fibreglass. While there are a few aftermarket pieces available as well as OEM replacement parts, the shipping costs on such a large item are quite extensive for "a simple piece of cardboard with some fabric glued on". We salvaged several different damaged headliners and constucted a fibreglass mold instead. From this mold, we produced a all fibreglass headliner molded to fit the shape of the car and covered with aftermarket foam-fabric specifically manufactured for the Trans Am.

We now had a headliner that was impervious to the weather and would most likely outlast the life of the car.

We constructed a fibreglass two-screen Knightrider dashboard to Matt’s specifications and custom built a switchpod steering column cover that would work with a factory steering wheel. Again, this car was built to be driven daily, and the series’ "butterfly" or "aircraft" steering wheel was not an option. The "butterfly" wheel is designed much longer in the shaft to allow for the addition of the switchpods. We had to modify and shorten and standard switchpod as well as enlarge the opening to accept the factory wheel.

Several test fits were made and the alignment was achieved. From there we riveted and eventually fibreglassed the switchpods to the custom dash.

The dash then underwent surface preparation and painting as well as the installation of the display panels and VOX box familiar to fans of the show. As this vehicle was again, to be driven on public roads, the panels were made to be removable and the factory gauges and displays were visible through the display panel glass.

The next step was the creation of the upper and lower consoles that complete the "cockpit" style modifications. They were created from fibreglass and finished in the same style as the dash. These consoles featured many of the simulated devices displayed in the television series as well as functional switches for some of the vehicles custom features.

With the consoles installed the next step was the final installation and wiring of the dash.

The last remaining item to be installed is the trademark "scanner" that allows the series car to "see". This scanner was commercially purchased and modified to more closely resemble that of the series car. It is wired to a custom control box inside the car that allows the driver to control the scanning speed as well as monitor the scanner’s operation.

With the scanner in place, the hood was closed and a new Knightrider hit the streets. We wish Matt the best of luck with his new 4-wheeled sidekick.