mynamesdivad

How much would it cost be to modify a trans am into Kitt, Knight riders car? And where would i get it and what year should i get or does it have to be a 1982?

FruityOne

http://www.knightregistries.com - Contact them for info. They focus on Knight Rider exclusively. Some purists will say you need a 82 Recaro Trans-Am but any formula or base bird will be best as they didn't have ground effects. Earlier TransAms 82-84 didn't come with ground effects I think, so they are also Ideal. But you'd be better off getting a new model and leaving the prime examples of an early T/A for the collectors to find.

PM TAmatt27 for more info as he is on his way to a full conversion I believe.

SC82TA

Well KITT was an 82, however any trans am would do you'd just have to make it look like an 82. Also if you want a better engine I'd go with a later car. Get a formula over a GTA or TA since you'd have to remove the groundeffects...where as a Fomrula would already come with the correct hood an no ground effects. Although you'd need early style flat tail lights. You'd also need PMD seats, 15" turbo cast rims the ones the fit the "bowling ball hubcaps" a tan interior...medium doeskin to be exact, but any tan would do only a die hard fan would know. Correct rear bumper, correct spoiler, trans am front fenders and T-Tops. That is all you need alone on the car without any KITT conversion parts. Next you'll need the conversion parts, which would be a dash, dash electronics, nose, scanning light, upper console, lower console, steering wheel, pod units and I think that s it. You're looking at about $6000-$10000 on just Knight Rider parts depending how and who you get them from, if you want a complete set. Out of mold is always a couple hundred bucks cheaper for parts instead of fully completed....factor in the car and what you'll need to make the car look like an 82-84 Trans Am.....you're looking at anywhere from $8,000 to well over $20,000 depending on what car you have, how accurate you want your replica and how functional you want your replica. If you jsut want a black Firebird with a Knight RIder nose and the scanning light then that would only be about $1200 to do. Just so you get an idea. Head over to Knight Registries where you'll find more info...Knight Registries Best guy who makes parts at the moment is Don Colie over at Advanced Auto Technology Hope that helps

SC82TA

FruityOne KITT was not a Recaro Trans Am...Recaro T/As had Recaro seats and not the correct PMD seats.

FruityOne

That would be an oppsie by me then. I'm tired, and I have no idea why I wrote recaro. I remember something similar along the lines.

87WS6

iTrader: (1)

KITT was originally a black and gold 1982 Trans-AM. With a tan interior and cloth PMD seats.

In the last season KITT was clearly an 1985 TA made to look like an 1982. The rear split back seats would support this. As does the size of the vents in the fender. They mysteriously shrunk. Also if you look at the close ups the shifter stopped being a click shift around that time and shifted like a 700R4.

The TH350's had the "click" shift if I am not mistaken.

On the conversions themselves I have noticed that some companies make some great exterior components while others do better inside the car. http://www.markscustomkits.com seems to do the best of everything except the noses. They are horribly long and innaccurate. However they don't have the glowing LED gas pedal. so you'd have to get that somewhere else. Theres another company called Diamondback automotive that does the ignition sequencing so that the lights step on in sequence like they do in the show. However there workmanship and quality from what I can see on the web page (which I can't find the link for) was pretty bad for the most part.

92Transam

Here take a look at this scanner Im going to get one as soon as I can http://www.knightlight.co.uk/pr-ks01.htm

92Transam

forgot this kewl pic

1bad91Z

iTrader: (1)

Yea, the knight-rider firebird would have looked sweet with a 3 in. cowl hood, slammed with some huge tucked MT slicks in the back and skinnies in the front.

bravdawg

i am building a kitt out of a 90 firebird. i have extra poarts if u want email i got many extra because of trades i have made with people

SC82TA

Mark at the moment might have the most accurate 3rd and 4th season interior parts...but by far Don Colie at http://www.adiautotech.com has the best 1 and 2 season parts with the two tv dash...his looks identical to the show. Even better because the show had prop parts that only had to look good on camera and not necessarily in person. However Don Colie is retooling his 3rd and 4th season dash to make it more accutate. His nose is by far the most accurate and best fitting as well. All you have to do is ask about him at Knight Registries and everyone weill tell you how good his stuff is. As for Daimondback they are no more they turned into Wild Copper, however the guy who runs it is a guy Erick Shave, and he just seemed to dissapear and left a lot of people hanging with no parts and no money. His parts were also sub par to Mark's and Don's. Also stay awa from Erick Nagy at knighton-line.com he is a flake as well and doesn't deliver his parts. Stick with Mark or Don, they're professionals and have never stiffed people, they do it for a living and are real stand up guys, especially Don, he'll e-mail back promply and even be on the phone with you if you have an concerns about his parts.

I also forgot in my first post about the tail light blackout....Don has the only one that is a one piece that mounts with hidden screws so you don't say any on the surface. Actually Knights of England is located in the UK has one similar blackout I believe and their scanning light is the only light with the all on effect when you first turn on the scanner, just like in the show. They're at Knights of England They'll ship to the US...however you can get Knights of England parts through their US importer Black Kngiht Automotive at BKAUTO . He also sells a nose molded from an original nose, however the orignal nose is not known to fit too well and takes some wiggling around of fenders and the hood and the nose to get it to line up just rigth. Like I stated earlier it was a TV car only had to look good on TV. As for the pedal KNT2000 customs is the only one that sells it at the moment over at this link right here and it isn't exactly accurate....I think it lights up all at once instead of in a sequence like in the show. However KITT did not have that pedal in the first two seasons.

Gendo

how about with the RAII hood?

Depending on how complete you want to go with this conversion, you can easlily spend upwards of $20k-$30k. If you have money to spend and just want the car, you could always do the turnkey option at Marks for a measly $50k!!! The next thing i'm working on is the engine, i need some more umph with this car... bone stock lo3 but it LOOKS fast. after that i may look into doing a dash conversion, but i'd be buying bits and pieces and assembling it myself, i'm not paying somone 5-10 grand for a drop in dash kit.... anyway, keep us updated on what you decide to do

trans_am_ta_84

why doesn't your hood shut all the way mine does that with my aftermarket hood

SC82TA

Hey Gendo is that a Rober Yancy nose? If so I think that is why the hood doesn't seem to close all the way trans_am_ta_84. The noses molded off orignals are somewhat of a tricky fit and don't always line up exactly right as your stock nose, plus he has an aftermarket hood, so I think that is why there is a gap...because the hood seems to line up just right on the headlights.

icebird_1981

y would u even want to!

Gendo

the nose is the $400 ebay bargin and the hood was ordered from hawks, when they were still using the gtauto stuff... another thing that doesn't help the front alighnment is the fact that you have to remove the upper impact bar, that ties the fenders to the front nose, causing them to sag a bit. I'm going to work on adjusting it later this summer when i get some time off from school and engine work done

Boosted GTA

Why do people make General Lee's? Or Elanor's from Gone in 60 Seconds? Or DeLoreans from BTTF? Or the A-Team Van? Because they are fans.

Growing up in the early 80's, we were given adventure shows and movies that strayed from the booring ones of the 70's.
There is a guy who has both a KITT and KARR and drives them regularly to car shows. You know what? He gets a hell of alot of attention because other fans can associate with the cars, and it makes people stop and think back to 20 years ago when the show first came out.
Some people always wondered what it would be like to be a Michael Knight of a Duke Boy.

It's all good.

Agent13

iTrader: (6)

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87WS6

iTrader: (1)

SC82TA your right on the money. I agree totally. I couldn't think of the guys name who did the other good conversion stuff.

tamatt27

OMG Gendo, your car looks BAD ***!! I was actually thinking of getting a ram air hood for my Kitt w/a twist. I was afraid that the RAII hood was too tall to see over, though. Since my Kitt's my daily driver, i think i'm going to make him KARR, since an amber scanner is legal (I think). I drive with the scanner on, so I want it to be legal though. Mine's a Robert Yancey nose too. BTW, who's 'scanner' do you have Gendo? I was thinking of one from Knight Online Conversions, i think. I want one where all the lights come on when you turn it on, then it starts to 'scan'.

tamatt27

OMG Gendo, your car looks BAD ***!! I was actually thinking of getting a ram air hood for my Kitt w/a twist. I was afraid that the RAII hood was too tall to see over, though. Since my Kitt's my daily driver, i think i'm going to make him KARR, since an amber scanner is legal (I think). I drive with the scanner on, so I want it to be legal though. Mine's a Robert Yancey nose too. BTW, who's 'scanner' do you have Gendo? I was thinking of one from Knight Online Conversions, i think. I want one where all the lights come on when you turn it on, then it starts to 'scan'.

tamatt27

Whoops, sorry for the double post.

Diggler86

i dont know about TX but i looked it up in the CA vehicle code.

you cant have any red lights installed further up than 16" from the read of the car.

you CAN have amber lights installed. however, they must be used to SIGNAL your direction of turn.

summary: its legal to have it there, but not to use as a scanner. im still going to get one from knightlite.uk and take my chances, its pretty hidden too.

note: i also doubt the cops are going to pull over a complete kitt conversion since they understand why the scanner is there.

mynamesdivad

ok well i dont have a lot of money to spend and im only 16 (probably like under 1500) but i dont know where to get a car. If I find a broken i know how to rebuild it thats no prob its just i dont know where to get one for cheap?

jbcmyk

one question about the Knight rider thing ---


WHY ?????????????????????????????????????

91DropTopTA

Just a little FYI, there is a set of the PMD seats on Ebay right now, but they need reupolstering bad. Just though you guys might want to know.

Boosted GTA

One answer... 10 posts up