Ghostbusters Ecto-1 Project: The Largest Ever
- Thread starter Ultimate Badass
- Start date
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- car ecto ghostbusters
MichaelEC1
New Member
Wow! This is just amazing!
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jackdoud
Sr Member
The movie siren was dubbed in. The car is going to have a a sound system installed to play the siren along with whatever else needs to be broadcast to the public. :thumbsup
rorschach999
Sr Member
WOW - your attention to detail is outstanding and its great your pointing out all the faults on the "offical" one on display as us Newbees to vehicle mods would not know - thanks for that, watching this with great antisipassion
well done
well done
Ultimate Badass
Well-Known Member
Alright guys,
Another update to my build thread. A lot of this is old news to those who have followed the project on Facebook or GBfans, but so what? Back to talking about the roof...
See the corner lights on the roof? Well, these were a tough thing to tackle as well...at least somewhat. The front 'deck lights' as we call them are actually Dietz 9-51 par 46 light housings. A lot of people opt for the newer Grote par 46 light housings, BUT, you all know by now that I'm going for replicating the movie car itself as it was in 1984. I have, over the course of time, purchased 7 of these Dietz 9-51 housings. Here is one of mine (it will need to be restored/re-chromed of course)...
Now, the rear deck lights on the movie car are stock light housings that came on that particular Miller Meteor when it was produced for use in 1959 - you cannot source the rear deck light housings and I have never figured out how I could have them replicated. For this reason, I'm using 4 of the Dietz 9-51's. Obviously, I don't need 7 of them (yet...), but when you find nice ones you can't really pass them up (hence why I have a few extras).
Now, the deck lights have blue par 46 bulbs in the movie - they are GE 4001B par 46 bulbs. These have not been made for over 20 years and were made very difficult to purchase for non-emergency personnel. Long story short, most people buy clear GE 4001 par 46 bulbs and paint them blue. I, on the other hand, found twelve BRAND NEW OLD STOCK true GE 4001B's...it took years. All twelve of them are safe and sound in my garage just waiting to be used...yeah, no painted GE 4001's for this guy - this is one of the little things that will set my car apart from all of the other attempted Ecto projects.
Now, take a look at this photo:
See that long antenna attached to the side? Well, there was one in that location and another attached on the front passenger fender. These are 102" whip antennas. The mounts that the antennas attach to are made by Antenna Specialists, model ASP-633. These are virtually impossible to source at this point. After I got my pair I have never seen another set for sale in essentially 3 years. Here is one of the ASP-633 antenna mounts:
My buddy (the guy I mentioned with the currently most-accurate Ecto replica) does not have these babies...he opted for a newer ball mount that looks almost the same but is not textured like this particular vintage mount has. Most people will never notice these things, but I do, and I want people to appreciate how every single little part of the movie car has been accounted for, and also appreciate how I've put incredible amounts of effort into finding this stuff (it's sickening).
I wish I had a photo of the actual whip antennas to share, but they're packed away:
You can see them laying there on top of my Force 4 XL lightbars. You'll also see a bunch of other lightbars. I literally had to buy about 8 lightbars to get just two fully movie-accurate ones for my car just to make sure the internal components are correct (yes, I'm that insane).
Ok, I'll be back shortly guys!
Another update to my build thread. A lot of this is old news to those who have followed the project on Facebook or GBfans, but so what? Back to talking about the roof...
See the corner lights on the roof? Well, these were a tough thing to tackle as well...at least somewhat. The front 'deck lights' as we call them are actually Dietz 9-51 par 46 light housings. A lot of people opt for the newer Grote par 46 light housings, BUT, you all know by now that I'm going for replicating the movie car itself as it was in 1984. I have, over the course of time, purchased 7 of these Dietz 9-51 housings. Here is one of mine (it will need to be restored/re-chromed of course)...
Now, the rear deck lights on the movie car are stock light housings that came on that particular Miller Meteor when it was produced for use in 1959 - you cannot source the rear deck light housings and I have never figured out how I could have them replicated. For this reason, I'm using 4 of the Dietz 9-51's. Obviously, I don't need 7 of them (yet...), but when you find nice ones you can't really pass them up (hence why I have a few extras).
Now, the deck lights have blue par 46 bulbs in the movie - they are GE 4001B par 46 bulbs. These have not been made for over 20 years and were made very difficult to purchase for non-emergency personnel. Long story short, most people buy clear GE 4001 par 46 bulbs and paint them blue. I, on the other hand, found twelve BRAND NEW OLD STOCK true GE 4001B's...it took years. All twelve of them are safe and sound in my garage just waiting to be used...yeah, no painted GE 4001's for this guy - this is one of the little things that will set my car apart from all of the other attempted Ecto projects.
Now, take a look at this photo:
See that long antenna attached to the side? Well, there was one in that location and another attached on the front passenger fender. These are 102" whip antennas. The mounts that the antennas attach to are made by Antenna Specialists, model ASP-633. These are virtually impossible to source at this point. After I got my pair I have never seen another set for sale in essentially 3 years. Here is one of the ASP-633 antenna mounts:
My buddy (the guy I mentioned with the currently most-accurate Ecto replica) does not have these babies...he opted for a newer ball mount that looks almost the same but is not textured like this particular vintage mount has. Most people will never notice these things, but I do, and I want people to appreciate how every single little part of the movie car has been accounted for, and also appreciate how I've put incredible amounts of effort into finding this stuff (it's sickening).
I wish I had a photo of the actual whip antennas to share, but they're packed away:
You can see them laying there on top of my Force 4 XL lightbars. You'll also see a bunch of other lightbars. I literally had to buy about 8 lightbars to get just two fully movie-accurate ones for my car just to make sure the internal components are correct (yes, I'm that insane).
Ok, I'll be back shortly guys!
OldSkoolEffects
Well-Known Member
If I'm not mistaken, the new antenna bases also have a regular hex-head bolt instead of the socket head.
Ultimate Badass
Well-Known Member
I believe you are correct about that, OldSkool.
ShermanTank
Member
I am loving every step of this! My heart hurts though when thinking about the cost involved! Make sure that you get compensated for appearances! I am sure you will be fair!
Tank
Tank
Ultimate Badass
Well-Known Member
No sweats Tank. When I started this I refused to limit myself to a budget, which is why I think my Ecto will be the best one ever...it already will be the most dependable and truly valuable one (as it's the only one that will be fully restored inside and out - everything being gone over). That said, I've already passed the 6-figure mark on this project with all related expenses (yeah, I could actually own an Aston Martin right now if it wasn't for the Ecto build...oh well).
TheBlur
Member
I'd prefer the Ecto to an Aston anyway. Great work!
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cannibal869
Well-Known Member
OMG this build is so unbelievably full of WIN!! This is absolutely going to be an Ecto-1 build for the ages....
OldSkoolEffects
Well-Known Member
I don't think monetary compensation is desired; I think having people love the car is compensation enough. It's my feeling the people that just want to make money from showing off a car cut corners and don't appreciate the vehicle as they should.
Badass, did you source the stock shorty antenna yet?
CVWcreations
Active Member
Ecto is coming along beautifully, as a lifelong ghostbusters fan do you mind if I ask how much it costs to do something like this?
OldSkoolEffects
Well-Known Member
It's cost a lot so far.
Ultimate Badass
Well-Known Member
Ultimate Badass
Well-Known Member
I found what I am 95% sure is the exact same "stock" antenna that is in the Ecto-1 as it exists currently. It's likely not the same of the actual stock antenna, but NOBODY has that antenna unless they have an all-original 59 that is complete. Some people don't even know about the stock antenna...but yeah, I gots it! I used the photos we got in California of that antenna close up (about 20 photos) to get this specific one and all of the others that are available online are actually a bit different, but this has the appropriate construction.
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