My KITT

[Army_F_Body]

Been working my butt off the last few weeks to get KITT ready for paint.

Here are the latest pics(bored and was playing aroud with a new digital camera) and don't think I've posted any pics of my car since I started over here.

I've done all this myself (except for laying the fiberglass for the nose, Rob Louisell did that). I got like a 5 dollar budget too
It ain't no KITT-X but for a dude that knows nothing about autobody I think I'm doing pretty good.

[Lost Knight]

Can't wait to see him painted!

[TurbomanKnight]

Awesome Job Rob!!!! Can we have a few shots of the interior?

[TheKnightFox]

yes, nice job indeed- and some interior shots would be cool.

[Lyn]

Those are good pics of a homemade KITT, even if I'm not a replica builder myself......

[Army_F_Body]

heres an old pic of the interior. I'll see if I can get more this weeked.

[tkr9]

Awww no, you've got seatbelts instead of passive laser restraints...

Miaow, that's a nice interior and a nice KITT. Can't wait to see it painted. Wish I could have a KITT but red flashy lights are illegal over here if they're on the front of the car. Blue is reserved for the police, green for the bomb squad, yellow for rescue services and red for emergency services 'unspecified', and KITT won't look the same scanning in pink or purple, the only two colours left to me...

[TurbomanKnight]

OOH!!! Vinyl!!!! I think some of the KITT's used in the series had some vinyl seats. I'll try to get a screenshot of it. Man, vinyl sucks in the heat. lol

[TheKnightFox]

nice!

i have to agree with TurbomanKnight though: "cloth" is a lot more comfortable than viynl-its not so sticky that way but it still works .

[K.A.R.R. Crazed]

Been working my butt off the last few weeks to get KITT ready for paint.
I've done all this myself
but for a dude that knows nothing about autobody I think I'm doing pretty good.

hmmm...

I was wondering are you painting it yourself...

An if so, do you have access to a Paint Booth?


What type of paint system are you using?
Hopefully a PPG system

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I've noticed in your pic that you used a gray oxide primer?
If you're planning to paint it Black you should be using a Dark Primer,
cause the gray primer can cause different shades of Black in the Base Coat,
an be sure to use a good Quality Sealer over the whole car Prior to the Base Coat

I've also noticed that you have a tape line on the door a some on the quarter,
where you taped off primer spray, those are very hard to feather out
an can cause a "GHOST" line in the Finished Coat

However, if you have not painted a car before, I would suggest that you pay a few extra dollars
an let a PRO do it, Because Auto Painting can turn into a complete Nightmare,
if you don't know the steps to take or have the proper equipment.

But, everything else you should be able to do right out of your garage,
to make it the COOLEST K.I.T.T. ever Good Luck

[TurbomanKnight]

He's not painting the car himself. He's just prepping the car himself. Right rob? lol

[FuzzieDice]

Army - Coming along nicely! Keep up the good work. That'll look really nice after it's painted.

I agree that cloth is not as bad as vinyl. Dryden has cloth interior and so at least on hot days (and we've had some VERY hot days lately) I can actually get in the car with shorts on and sit down without burning my arse off. When I had a pickup truck with BLACK vinyl interior, you could NOT sit in that truck if it was setting in the sun (and I had no place else to park!) I don't know how many times I've burned myself just setting down! I eventually put a cloth seat cover in there (which was grey with thin black stripes) just so I COULD sit down in it in the summer.

Also Dryden has tinted windows due to the fact he has (well, had as it's no longer working) air conditioning. The truck didn't have air conditioning or tinted windows, making matters worse.

[Army_F_Body]

Thanks guys. I started out using black primer, but eventually it was hard to find so it became a hodge podge of dayglo orange and hot rod gray in addition to the black. I went with plain old gray because that was the only color I could get in large quantities. I will have to get some black or go with a black sealer before I send him off for paint (could never do it myself).

As for the paint line I was planing on feathering that out before it left with a wet sand. Do you mean it's difficult to feather out after paint is applied or difficult to feather period? I appreciate the advice

[FuzzieDice]

I think feathering out paint at all would be a hard task. As for the black primer, I agree there. Maybe search the internet to find some? Try Dupli-Coat as they make black primer. In fact, I get that at the local AutoZone. It's not cheap but it's good stuff.

If you're going to have a pro do it, why not have them prime it and all that? Would it be that much more, though? I can imagine pro shops are quite expensive. That's why I can't afford to get my car professionally done.

[K.A.R.R. Crazed]

As for the paint line I was planing on feathering that out before it left with a wet sand. Do you mean it's difficult to feather out after paint is applied or difficult to feather period? I appreciate the advice

omg... first of all, did you use any PREP-SOL or some kind of solvent to remove silicone, tar, wax, polish, grease, and weathered finish before sanding???:o

Yeah, they're jus difficult to remove them period with out wet sanding to far into the old finish an then hitting the substrate, all of that over sanding can cause a wave effect in the panel, that you won't see until the finished coat is cured, so be careful, try to avoid tape line as much as you can, it's best not to put a tape line in the middle of a panel, unless you're Appling stripes or graphics, it's much easier to jus to shoot primer onto the whole panel or you may tape off at a seem, so it's not noticeable, the idea is to keep the panel as smooth as you possibility can, so that you can achieve a "Glass Like" finish coat, an if you are not painting it yourself, an you think that you're jus preparing the car for someone else to paint, an you don't have to be that Exact, then that's not true, preparing a vehicle for paint is very Critical for a successful result.

What I recommended is for you to feather the edge out to the best as you can, then re-apply primer to the whole panel, wet sand or block the entire panel, then wet down the panel so that it's wet an glossy, then step back an look at it hard from different angles, that will kinda give you the idea of what the finish clear will look like, an show up any Imperfections (you may need to do this a few times)

Try Dupli-Coat as they make black primer

Just be careful, when using all kinds of different products, different manufactures use different chemical compounds with can cause chemical reactions with one another, it's best to stay with jus one paint system like PPG, from start to finish cause they're designed to work together.

Well, I don't really recommend Aerosol cans, they do not apply product evenly over a large surface, do you have an air-compressor an a paint gun? if not, you might want to buy them, consumer brands are not that expensive, or you could go with some used equipment to help cut cost, it will make your world sooo much better, I Guarantee it

Check out this site for paint systems, an for some tips an a location near you
PPG Auto Refinish

Please, I'm not tryin' to Discourage you, it's Awesome what you are doing an keep it up, cause I know what was like before I went to school to learn this stuff, I jus want you to Achieve Successful

Because one day, I'm gonna build my own K.A.R.R. so I'm kinda fascinate with your project, do you plan on completing the Interior as well.

If you how any questions, feel free to ask them

[FuzzieDice]

I live in an apartment complex with cars right next to me and NO garage. I only can spray paint. As for Rob, I think he might be able to do the spray gun thing. I would, if I had the room and the money. But it's not possible in the area I have to work in, unfortunately.

I'm just trying to keep Dryden from getting too many holes/rust and keep him looking neat. Wish I had more time though.

I agree though, spray gun is the way to go, and I do know all too well how spray can stuff doesn't go on very evenly. That's one of the reasons I chose flat black. Flat works better than gloss.

If I was rich, I'd take Dryden to a body shop and have him redone. I think Rob is on the right track here with that idea.

KARR Crazed - I'd love to see your KARR replica some day if you make one. I love KARR as much as I love KITT! There aren't too many that build KARR so it's rare and pretty cool to see them around. I wish I could see one of KARR and one of KITT up close some day...