My K.I.T.T. is finally completed! Lots of photos and videos!

[GrandmasterA]

I joined the board in January, so I will not post everything, I´ve already done on my car in the past. Everyone who´s interested can find a lot of information on my website:
http://www.mykitt.de/galerie_umbau.php?lang=eng


So I will start posting about what´s going on NOW

My car exterior is finished and has gone to the paint shop last friday:



More photos:
http://www.mykitt.de/galerie_umbau_20070302.php

There is quite a lot to do, before it will be repainted... so the job will need about 2 months now. I hope to receive it back for the season opening on May, 1st.

In the meantime, I will work on my upper and lower console.
I just ordered the buttons and hope to start with everything at the end of this week.

My upper console will not be functional. I only want it to look good. The buttons will be illuminated, but they can not be pressed because of 2 reasons:
1) Real buttons are to deep. I want the console to fit perfectly on the headliner without any gaps
2) I don´t have that many functions on the car. Most of them will be controlled by the lower console

There will only be a LED-voltmeter on the front side of the upper console which will tell me the voltage of the second battery in the trunk.

That´s how the upper console will look like:



As you can see, there are some differences to the original one. The voltmeter and I want to have my buttons not that mixed-up in colors.

I will use the upper console from Knight Passions:




My lower console will also not be authentic. I will keep my 1988 center console. That´s why I only have 5x6" of space (12x15 cm) for buttons. I´ve already bought a housing and all what´s left is 3.5x4.3" of space (9x11 cm)




There will be 14 illuminated buttons and 2 new buttons for the power windows:




I want to control Brennon´s scannerbox with my lower console. Hope, this will work
I also plan to build in some LEDs that show the working of the scanner, but I don´t know if there will be enough room on my tiny lower console

[BoMcD]

Looking good...

[Skyknight]

That does look good so far indeed!

It's too bad you guys have to have that front license plate though....I could never get past that when looking at cars with them.....just can't get used to it. It looks so awkward.

However, it looks like your project is well on it's way and I'm sure it will look sweet when it's done.

[ivirscar]

Nice job!

About the scanner...
If you haven't ordered yet, please order in advance to allow enough time for build before the bumble bees start swarmin and the car shows begin
I can easily add remote LEDs for a separate display and extend the buttons on remote wires for your console, for a small added fee.


Brenon

[GrandmasterA]

@Brenon: your scanner was the first item, I ever got for my project. I bought it from you in 2005
It is installed, but there is a blackout in front of it, because in Germany there must not be a red light in front of a car, even if it is turned off!

And yes, I also hate the front license plate, but it is not allowed to drive without it...

[rusty]

your car is looking great....how much is the ticket for not haveing a front plate.....in the us most cops would cut you some slack just becase its ..kitt.....i have been running hazzard tags on my general for over two years...been stoped by the cops many times but they never said anything just wanted there pic taken......me i would just pay the ticket....my dad allways said .. what are they going to do.. they cant eat you....

[GrandmasterA]

There is no way of not having a front plate in Germany. All radar speed traps work from the front.

If the cops caught you without having a front license plate it will not only be expensive, we also have a point-system here where you collect points for every traffic law violation. Once you have 18 points you´ll lose your driver´s license.

So it´s not worth to risk getting caught

[Skyknight]

@Brenon: your scanner was the first item, I ever got for my project. I bought it from you in 2005
It is installed, but there is a blackout in front of it, because in Germany there must not be a red light in front of a car, even if it is turned off!

And yes, I also hate the front license plate, but it is not allowed to drive without it...

As for the scanner, we have the same law here, but if it isn't turned on, the cops won't hassle you.
As for the front license plate, they dropped that requirement for a front license plate here 15 years ago. There really is no need for a front plate really. When a cop pulls you over, they are usually behind you and not in front. Having a front plate is unnessasary redundance in my opinion...

[GrandmasterA]

As for the scanner, we have the same law here, but if it isn't turned on, the cops won't hassle you.

No way here. There MUST NOT be any light color in front of a car besides white and yellow. Even if it´s not turned on. Other peoples light could be reflected in red. So it is not allowed in any way. A friend of mine used to have 2 blue LEDs which hardly could be seen. $100 ticket plus 1 point.

There really is no need for a front plate really. When a cop pulls you over, they are usually behind you and not in front. Having a front plate is unnessasary redundance in my opinion...

Most radar speed traps here work from the front. Normally you won´t be stopped by cops that are behind you. There are teams. The first one measures your speed from the front and tells another team some yards later. They will take you out...
Plus there are also solid installed radar speed traps, which also work from the front. They only make a photo of you and you will receive the ticket via post some days later.

As I said... unfortunately there really is no way for not having a front plate here. There even are rules where the plate has to be installed. We have rules for everything. There are many more things which are not allowed: gullwings, taillight blackout, everything which has been altered on a car has to be licensed by the technical checkup (and costs money of course). That´s Germany...

The only good thing is: They also don´t really know, what has been altered to a Firebird and what has always been there. Firebirds are quite rare... so there are a lot of things which are "original parts" of course

[Guillaume]

We have rules for everything. There are many more things which are not allowed: gullwings, taillight blackout, everything which has been altered on a car has to be licensed by the technical checkup (and costs money of course). That´s Germany...

The only good thing is: They also don´t really know, what has been altered to a Firebird and what has always been there. Firebirds are quite rare... so there are a lot of things which are "original parts" of course

You are not alone same in France.

And just to show our friends in the USA / Canada why now a front license plate must be on our cars :



This baby is just 3 kms from my home. It was the first speed trap installed in France back in 2003. This one flashes from behind, some others flash from the front (so legally, your license plate allows you to be known).

They work this way. They are calibrated according to the speed limits of the portion of the road where they are installed. So if you are above the speed, you get a nice flash in your head (easily noticeable at night...) and the radar sends immediately a pic of your car to some kind of headquarters, with policemen paid to analyze the pics and see if the vehicles can be traced thanks to their license plates (front or rear, depending of how the radar is intalled).
Then, when the cars are traced and that the license numbers can be read without a doubt, a nice ticket is sent to your home automatically in less than one week...

I don't know if in Germany it is the same, but that's how things go in France...

That's all, I don't want to hijack the thread of GrandMasterA

[GrandmasterA]

I don't know if in Germany it is the same, but that's how things go in France...

Exactly the same here... Nowadays you also receive a nice picture of yourself driving the car. So if you claim not to be the person, driving the car, it can easily be checked at a police office of your choice (especially if there is an expensive bill plus points to be expected)...

I guess this procedure is quite common in Europe. The first radar speed trap in Germany has been installed in 1959!
On my way home there are 3 solid installed ones of them on 1 road! All of them work from the front.

I´m sure they also exist in the states, don´t they?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_camera


Result: no way to legally remove the front plate in Germany.

[Davey Benson]

Man... I'm glad I live in a backwards area, where there aren't those on every street corner. In fact... I don't know if there are even any of those in the county.

BTW.... very cool grandmaster. I need to do some neat computer sketches of my overhead and lower consol and switch pods, so I can make an "operators Manual" out of my car's specific consols.

[Guillaume]

It happens frequently that some people damage or destroy the radars



Too bad, it doesn't take a long time before they are repaired or replaced...

[GrandmasterA]

I could easily post a lot of funny pictures now, but I´d say, let´s get back to topic

[ivirscar]

In the states, they have stop light cams... If you run a red light, you're on candid camera I've never seen the doppler or laser stationed radar system except at construction sites to monitor speeds where there is a healthy fine for speeding