By 69428scj
#329235
Hello all, your friendly local subject matter expert dropping in here to provide you, the Ecto fan, a public service announcement regarding your (and my) dream car. In all honesty, this whole thread would work better as a flow chart, but I'd just rather type it out instead of drawing boxes. So, you say you want to build an Ectomobile? GREAT! Now where do you start? Well first you need to do is ask yourself, "Can I afford to build the most expensive prop in all of Ghostbusters?" If the answer is either "I don't know" or "I think I can" then I will tell you STOP! Do not proceed to go, do not collect $200. Building an Ectomobile is the MOST time consuming, labor intensive process most of you would go through and is nothing like building a proton pack, trap, slime blower or any other prop. So let's say you understand that and have the money, ask yourself if you have the time? Again, if no then do not proceed. I will caveat that statement though by saying a fool and his money are soon parted.

You've decided that you do have both the time and money, awesome. Thankfully ALL of the legwork in acquiring the semi-/correct parts and procurement places has been identified for you. You can have every single screen-used part but what good are they if you don't have the car? This is another juncture where you need to do some soul searching and asking introspective questions. Everyone obviously defaults to wanting a professional car. Let me make this clear as the sky is blue on a sunny day, Not every professional car makes a good Ecto! Let's say you're one of the privileged ones who finds a pro-car. Here comes a question, "What condition is it in and can I do the work myself?" Rust is bad and you better be good with a cutting wheel and welder. If not, then you better have plenty of that money you said you have. The next question is "Do these body lines jive with the Holy Grail?" If not then DO NOT BUY!. Or you could go with a more modern car, but we'll discuss that in the paragraph after the following one.

Super, you have some knowledge of how to restore a car and the money/time. Did you factor in how to find the missing parts and other incidentals of car restoration to that old beast? If not then don't start something you can't finish. Older cars are finicky and will have issues. If you're someone that becomes frustrated easily by lack of progress or the overwhelming amount of work it would take to get the car into showable condition then don't bite off more than you can chew. It's at this point you realize that perhaps a newer, more modern car would best suit your Ectomobiling aspirations.

Ah, modern cars. So much less work to put into, but no less of a decision as to which car to use. The modern car used the most is either the Chevrolet HHR or the (now out of production) Dodge Magnum. I will say this and leave it alone, if you didn't have first-mover advantage in this arena, then refrain from being a copycat. You will need to find a vehicle that will work. Understand that the original reason why a pro-car was chosen for the movie was because it was large enough to fit all the packs and equipment into the car. For that reason, I would suggest looking into a mid-size Essuvee. "But 69428scj, I can't put fins on a truck, they would look silly!" DUH! This is where your imagination needs to come into play. There are several examples of the red stripe being subtle yet pronounced. You do not need to paint fins on the car but you should take into account how painting a red stripe would ACCENT the feature lines of your vehicle.

Speaking of putting things on the car, the quintessential pieces of the car are A) the lights and B ) the roof rack. I will address the lights first. When selecting lightbars, you must be observant of your statements laws. Don't post a thread here titled "What are the Timbuktu light bar laws?" SEARCH FOR YOUR STATE'S LAWS YOURSELF! Also, when selecting the bars, take into account the size of your car and the bar. Proportionality is key. Don't throw a Code 3 MX 7000 up on a focus wagon and for the love of Dan Aykroyd, don't mount it 3 feet above your roof in order to make it appear better. Use real filters too, translucent drinking cups does not a light filter make.

You've come all this way, you have the car...you have the lights, now it's time for the roof rack. Like there are many ways to skin a cat, there are many ways to approach a rack. I could an enitrely different thread on this topic, but for the sake of this one I will keep it short. DON'T EFF THIS UP! It's so easy to do it though. There are really only a few parts to the rack so remember that less is more. To sum it up here is what you do; post up a sketch here and get feedback from the community. You will not be able to please everyone, but you will not be steered wrong by the opinions here.

So, in summary I'd like to remind everyone that if you don't have the money or time or imagination and wherewithal to make an Ectomobile let alone a proper one, perhaps you best stick to flight suits and proton packs. Thanks!
redfive1973 liked this
By EctoSpasms
#4886450
I gotta call you out something about your persective on building a Ghostbusters car. Here it is,...."I will say this and leave it alone, if you didn't have first-mover advantage in this arena, then refrain from being a copycat.".......Now I am NOT being a jerk, but those words are 100% hypocritial. If those words are valid, then what would that make the "first-mover"? Wouldn't said person be copycatting as well, you know, since they didn't come up with the idea of the Ghostbusters Ecto-1 in the first place. By the way, I just acquired a white 2008 Dodge Magnum RT can't wait to start building my own Ecto-1M. And to all my fellow ghostheads out there who are thinking about building an Ecto out of a Dodge Magnum, do it to the fullest and don't worry about what anyone thinks about you, ever! :cool:
Ecto96 liked this
User avatar
By Chace
#4886485
As the first person to build an ecto out of a magnum I'll weigh in on what he means here.

I did mine then Boomerjinks did his. Both were very different. Mine was more custom featuring gb2 logos, vertical doors and airbag suspension.

The issue is people didn't just build other magnum ectos they specifically ripped off things we designed for our cars. My top of the door stripes, my lower light bar choice but the ripoff of boomers car was even worse.

See his custom rack had an I intentional error. Two of the beams were inverted. There are at least two other ecto magnums running around with the same inversion, meaning they didn't look at the movie car, they didn't do the work of figuringg out what scale would be best....they just built a copy of another guy's car.

And I know these guys, they're not bad guys, but the cars are just more of the same.
Doing another magnum is just more of the same. You're not being creative or breaking new ground which aside from budget limitations is the whole reason to do a custom ecto.
By EctoSpasms
#4886515
Thanks but its crystal clear in plain english type what he means lol. Dont worry mine is going to be quite different right from the start because I'm replacing the dog house with a 300C dog house. I have yet to see an Ecto Magnum with a 300C front clip on it, so please everyone refrain from being a copycat. Lol just kidding, I'm more than happy to share my ideas with everybody. Plus those ugly side moldings will be removed. My no ghost logos will be centered like they're supposed to be lol. It is gonna be rad. I already have everything except for the hood. As soon as I get the hood, I will begin the build thread.
By ECTO P71
#4889770
I thought that forums were to trade information? Whole review sections dedicated to reviewing parts/ sellers who produce quality pieces. If I know of a part that will work through reading forum threads why would I go rogue and try an 'untested' part? If you have a good idea aesthetically and it can be replicated isn't that the biggest tip of the cap? Whole industries are supported by the "See this awesome cool part? Do you want one? You have to talk to me." Whether it is buying it or building an idea around the basic premise of what you have isn't that the point of modifying cars?

Less we be too narcissistic and remember that our fathers fathers were chopping/ modding/ customizing cars. There have always been people that want to keep the info for themselves and people that are open books and want to help share the knowledge as much as possible.

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