In this video I’m going through the installation of my new radio, the inside, as well as engine bay speakers and how I connected the radio with the scanner control box together using a sound mixer. In short, the sound system. Check it out! 🙂
In this video I’m going through the body and paintwork that went into my KITT Trans Am. It’s not one of my typical how to videos, but more like the story of how everything came together, what to pay attention to and what to look for when searching the right body and paintshop. I’m also giving you some tips regarding the installation of new T-Top seals.
You’re building your KITT replica and you’re looking to get the correct, screen accurate wheels? Or maybe you’re open for something not completely screen accurate but similar?
Worry no more, episode 16 of my KITT Trans Am restoration covers all of that and a lot more. I’ll even show you how I restored my rims. This episode is jam packed with wheel information with the respective sources. Watch it now! 🙂
In this time of global Corona / Covid-19 pandemic, many people are asked to stay at home. You might be busy, you might be scared, you might also be a little bit bored and if you are a car person, just waiting for the day you can enjoy your freedom again and take your car out for a drive and to your next car meeting.
Therefore I’ve made this little montage of some footage we’ve taken over the past year of KITT driving around. For everyone who has to stay at home and misses the freedom of just going for a drive. Hang in there and stay safe everybody!
Here we go! After I went through how to remove the seats, seatbelts and interior plastics in Part 1 back in June, it’s now time to show you how to gut the rest of the interior, namely the steering wheel, the dashpad, the gauge cluster, the center console, as well as the carpets.
That’s about as far as most people will have to go if your car is not damaged in a certain way that you might have to go any further. Anyway, if you clear all of that stuff out of your way you can take care of the inner foundations of your third gen F-Body. For my Firebird that meant: sound deadening, new speakers, new carpets, new seat belts, painting the plastics tan and having the seats, door panels and headliner reupholstered and in some cases strenghtened. But that will come in a few later episodes. Enjoy this part for now! 🙂
As KITT is already back from the body and paint shop and the enterior is almost finished as well, it’s time to remind myself that I haven’t showed much about the entire restoration process so far and that I should start at the beginning. Hence, here is a video about the basic maintenance I did on my 1990 Pontiac Firebird with the 305 V8 engine, the L03 TBI version. This would apply for most thirdgen Pontiac Firebird or Chevrolet Camaro, as they were basically the same cars with the exception of the front and the rear design. Enjoy the video!
The brick buildings in which “Autobau” is located today belonged originally to the Federal Alcohol Administration in Romanshorn, Switzerland. In 1996, the Federation lost the exclusive right and a couple of years later the buildings were assigned to the town of Romanshorn. Fredy Lienhard, a Swiss entrepreneur as well as race car driver bought the landmarked buildings in 2007 and transformed them into this huge garage and event facility it has been since 2009. As a matter of fact, the 30’000 m2 area not only offers the exhilarating presence of around 85 cars, there is also a huge repair shop called “Factory” and a small circuit. Private events on the premises can also be booked, given the fact that Autobau offers a complete catering team in order to meet any need.
It cost the creators 12 million Swiss Francs (CHF) to renovate and transform the building to what it is today. The German word “Erlebniswelt” effectively means “a world to experience”. The building itself accentuates to the distinctive character of the whole experience: its history, the shape and materials (bricks and glass). Inside it’s even better; nice clean columns, track road imitations, model cars embedded in display windows in the floor, etc.
In total, there are seven guides available to answer any question regarding the museum and the cars. Others take care of the cars when the collection is not open to the public. In addition to them, an event manager makes sure the venue is booked regularly. I was talking to one of the guides, and he said that Autobau is more of a rolling private collection than a museum. All of the cars are in mint condition; running and road legal – with the exception of the race cars, obviously.
This collection might not be as big and as prestigious as Jay Leno’s. But that’s like saying the view from the Empire State Building is not as spectucal as from One World Trade Center. The collection is jaw dropping and unique in its whole. Furthermore, the fact that the public can access it on Wednesdays and Sundays from 4 to 8 PM for an entrance fee of 15.- CHF is just amazing. The cars are not protected in anyway. Obviously, there are a few surveillance cameras. But there you have a private collection worth millions of francs or euros or dollars (whichever you prefer) and anyone is allowed to enter, get close to the cars, touch them and even open a few of them! In a time where respect and civic engagement are about as rare as rain in Los Angeles, who else in their right mind would do that these days?! And yet here it is, ready for everybody to enjoy it! Kudos to Autobau for giving the gearheads some food.
The collection is segmented in three areas: European Supercars and Classic Cars (with a strong emphasis on Ferrari and Porsche) in the left wing of the building, Americana and British cars on the lower right wing, as well as race cars on the upper right wing.