KITT Replica Question...

[BlackMagic84]

Question:

I am interested in knowing more about building a K.I.T.T. Replica.

However, what bothers and confuses me is that; as you well know, in the original Knight Rider series, they changed many things about the car quite frequently….

Examples:

Fog Lights: In some episodes, it looked as if KITT only had two fogs, where as some show 3.

Interior Dash: From the beginning until the series was over, there were various changes in the Dash/Console areas of KITT. Not just the voice modulator screen, but different buttons changed as well.

Lighted Gas Pedal: This was not in season one, but came later.

And there are several more…

Anyhow, when it comes to truly dedicating oneself to building an accurate replica, you want to get it as accurate and original as possible, therefore I wouldn’t want to have certain parts and/or features on a car that wasn’t on that car at the same time when the show originally aired.

How do I find a guide for what was on KITT and at what particular time in the show?

Please help, thanks,

[Newcastle knight]

Well first off you should decide which dash you like best, then take it from there.

season 1/2 had the 2 tv setup, then it changed to the 1 tv dash in season 3 to the end of the series. Also the front nose changed in season 4 to the more square looking one.

check out http://www.knightreplicas.com for more info and pictures in the guide section

also you should join http://www.knightfoundation.net, the forum is specifically for replica builders.

However many fog lights you want is upto you, KITT had 3 fogs during most of the 1st season then it changed to 2 on each side for the rest of the series.

I can answer questions all day long on replicas though so if your still looking for answers give me a shout

[Victor Kros]

The Knight Registries is also an outstanding site for replica questions of this nature as well as a hub for good reference information for replica builders. They're the world's first Knight Replica Organization.

You can find them here:

http://knightregistries.com/

=VK=

[GarthKnight08]

The best & only way to get to know the car is to watch the series & pay close attention from start to finish before even starting a replica.

[BlackMagic84]

Newcastle, Victor, Garth,

You are all right and have very good points. Thanks for the help!

[MJknight]

The attention to detail on the KITT conversion replicas on knightreplicas.com is just staggering.

They look as good as the original cars used in the series if not better.

[Army_F_Body]

Do what you want. It's your car, and there will always be the fanboys that have nothing better to do than point out inconsistencies with your car, but you built and paid for it so screw them.

I liked the season 1/2 nose with 4 fog lights and later season interior. Because of this I decided to go with an early 3rd season car. I also have a hard-top, but oh, well. I decided to add some things that I personally liked, like leather seats, and leather wrapped interior panels and center console. I figure this makes my car a little more unique and suits my tastes better.

Watch the show and see what appeals to you. There are no rules as you pointed out the main issue with KR, car inconsistencies. Since a lot of stock footage was reused for season 4, it was common to see the season 1/2 car show up, so use that for ammunition if you want a season 4 car but want the turn signal black-outs or do things totally different if it strikes your fancy. Mike Ott (KITT-X at the Registries) has an awesome replica that uses the stock 91/92 ground effects with all the standard KITT parts and it looks great. Don't let anyone tell you how to build your car. Those replica sites mentioned are OK, but the politics may burn you out before you take out your first bolt.

[Judd]

I think the K.I.T.T. replicas are really neat. I have a question for someone who's ever driven one of them. Is it hard to drive one with that steering wheel? I would think it would be difficult to drive a car with a K.I.T.T. steering wheel instead of a normal round wheel.

[sheltonw3]

I think the K.I.T.T. replicas are really neat. I have a question for someone who's ever driven one of them. Is it hard to drive one with that steering wheel? I would think it would be difficult to drive a car with a K.I.T.T. steering wheel instead of a normal round wheel.

When I first installed the gullwing back in 06' it was far better than a round wheel and no more knee busting when gettin in the car too with a round wheel!....but you gotta remember to keep the wheel straight when climbing in and out because you can still bust your knee with the gullwing if its in the way and its hard as cold steel!...but as far as driving its better and allows me to reach the controls better and see the dash functions more clear and if you ever get an shoulder or arm injury its pretty easy to stair with one hand and hit the turn signals and maintain control!....and its REAL BLAST to drive with,and I love the funny looks I get from people in traffic who never saw a wheel like this before and especially from KR fans who never saw a full conversion before!

[TurbomanKnight]

Build it as you wish. It's not a crime to take different things form each season and install them. There's guys that build by season which is a tad harder to do. Because you have to evaluate which features you want to put into the Replica. Some will have to be made custom from other vendors or yourself. But the best thing to do is, acquire a mechanically intact donor car and if possible, with stock parts you need. Or if you're after Fuel injection, snag a TPI car from the later years. But you will have a lot more body parts to swap if you want it to look like an 82.