My own Ectomobile: the Ecto-84!

[thundergod124]

A few days back, DeLoreanDMC81 posted his amazing '59 Cadillac that he is in the process of converting to an Ecto-1. Given how scarce the original cars are, this is not possible for everyone.

I happened to chime in on his thread about my own custom build based off of my 2016 Toyota Rav4. While certainly not accurate, to me, there is something that felt right about converting it to an Ecto.

How it started.

After adding some parts. The logos, the blue hoses, LED police lights, and the antenna are all magnetic. The roof rack was an affordable model from Harbor Freight.

The "sirens" are bluetooth all-weather motor cycle speakers. I run their amp through a 12V spliter so I can plug in the speaker amp and the LED lights at the same time and I downloaded an hour long loop of the Ecto-1 siren. It works well enough... As I mentioned, the light bar is also magnetic. I haven't been brave enough to go out driving with the police lights... the license in a vanity plate. Sadly, I couldn't get anything spelled "ECTO" but my lovely better half suggested the "K" and that worked (she's the brains and the beauty behind this operation, clearly). Obviously, the 84 is for the release of Ghostbusters, which happens to coincide exactly with my birthday.

I do have an actual siren I can have installed but I'm not sure how legal that is in MA, plus I fear the cost. The next steps I plan to take is adding a red stripe along the doors connecting to the tail lights to simulate the fin. I had also asked a buddy of mine who does fabrication work to help me fill up the roof rack. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!


This video was from Halloween. I had a generic bluetooth speaker, but it gives you an idea.

 

[Jintosh]

What an awesome idea for a prop. Love the license plate.

 

[thundergod124]

What an awesome idea for a prop. Love the license plate.

Thanks so much! It's a ton of fun to drive by someone who gets excited to see it.

 

[Jintosh]

The siren is so unique, people would recognize it anywhere. It makes me nostalgic hearing it, again.

 

[thundergod124]

Yup. I would like to get the dedicated siren installed, as the bluetooth speakers aren't that loud. I don't think people would be able to hear it while driving on the highway.

 

[DeLoreanDMC81]

I think you've done a fine job with it so far. Really starting to come together.

The kids are definitely going to love it at Halloween time.

 

[thundergod124]

I think you've done a fine job with it so far. Really starting to come together.

The kids are definitely going to love it at Halloween time.

Thanks, man. I appreciate it. I love making peoples' days just by them seeing it! Even in it's pretty barren state, it has enough parts to make it recognizable to people, and their reactions are fantastic.

 

[thundergod124]

Ok, I got a little Ecto-update! One of the reasons I got the Rav4 was I liked the detail along the door that connects to the tail light. It was indicitive, too me, of a modern interpretation of a fin. After going back and forth on having a custom paint job versus a decal, I found a company that offered pre-made stripes for 2016 Rav4's. Could I be any luckier!? While it's the wrong color combo, here's an idea of what it looks like. I think the red stripe will give it a nice pop of color.

 

[thundergod124]

Well, this was nerve-wracking... I got my vinyl decals yesterday and it was nice enough today to put them on. I had never done anything like this before but I think it turned out pretty ok. I know some of the lines are wonky and cutting over the gas door plate accurately was impossible but I'm happy with how it turned it. It reads exactly as I had hoped.

 

[Jintosh]

Good job. Keep going.

 

[thundergod124]

Thanks! I appreciate the encouraging words!

 

[ZeroSum]

Definitely looks the part. What's next for this?

 

[thundergod124]

A buddy of mine does fabrication work, so I asked him to help me out with the roof rack. There are a few parts I definitely want included, such as the Sniffer block, Radome, Half-dome directional dish and Heat sink. And of course the freeon tanks. My big thing is safety. I want to be able to drive it on the highway without stuff falling off.

 

[thundergod124]

I also ordered a little No Ghosts decal to put onto the rear window, since I don't have room to do a full logo on the rear door.

Again, it's all about the spirit, not total accuracy.

 

[thundergod124]

So, I decided to ride around today with a few parts on. See what you guys think!

 

[PHArchivist]

LOL that is AWESOME!

 

[thundergod124]

LOL that is AWESOME!

Thank you! Since adding the red stripes, I feel like more people are noticing it. It's fum because I feel like something like seeing it can make someone's day.

 

[thundergod124]

Good evening, fellow ghost lovers! I haven't had much in the way of updates recently but I finally have a few! First, I recently had a birthday and one of my gifts was this awesome little detail for my car from Etsy.


Next, I've been devising a way to make the tanks on the driver's and passenger sides. For the passenger side, I ended up getting some 3" thinn walled PVC pipe, end caps, and a random pair of knobs I came upon in Walmart. I got them all screwed together just now. Later this week, I'm going to sand them a bit and get them painted.

And finally, I've been struggling with the two freon tanks on the driver's side. I saw some on Etsy but they were super pricey and kind of big for my little Rav4. I ended up going down a rabbot hole one night and decided to try tanks from paint ball. I just won a pair last night that at 12" long end to end and 4" wide. I THINK it should be ok on my car, and I like that the valves have gauges attached to them. Here's what I'll be working with!



I'm hoping to get a little time this weekend to get all this stuff put on. I have adjustable steel pipe clamps I'm going to paint up and use to attach everything. Thanks for taking a look at my build! If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, feel free to chime in! You've... you've... you've earned it.

 

[Cbstudios]

This is so rad. Those stripe decals really pop on the body

 

[thundergod124]

This is so rad. Those stripe decals really pop on the body

Yea, they do. It's kinda crazy, but I feel like I get more people noticing the car since putting the stripes on. I think the stripes lead people's sight to the No Ghost logos.