View new posts | View your posts ECTO-2K: Dry Dock Refurb 2010

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I have spent the last few weeks working on a super top-secret project that everyone knows about. In April of this year I set about converting a 2008 Dodge Magnum SXT into an Ecto-1 replica.




It really all started in January. Richie, Kris, and I had resolved ourselves to build a new roof box for the Outback since two years in the elements hadn't been terribly kind to it. The paint had faded, the wood on the rear corner was starting to rot, and it just didn't have the same look it used to. This problem was only exacerbated by my favoritism for the jeep, which ate up precious maintenance time for the Ecto.

It was a cold, snowy morning when we left to drive up to Fort Collins and build a new box in my buddy's garage. He had more wood-working tools than I did, so this was the best option. It was Sunday and all the car dealerships were closed, and we just happened upon a Dodge dealership after grabbing chow at Breakfast King. At this point I was still a huge critic of the Magnum conversion. I thought the car was too short (as in, not very tall), I felt the sloping roof would make a rack look goofy, the lack of running bars on the roof would make it difficult to mount a rack, and more than anything it was a dyed-in-the-wool city car; it couldn't handle snow drifts and icy roads, would bottom-out easily, pretty much the exact opposite of the Outback. At the insistence of the guys, we pulled into the dealership "just to look." There was a white Magnum sitting there, all by itself. There were no pushy salesmen around, no one to pester us about trade-ins or credit checks, so we could really investigate the important questions. To our surprise, it was unlocked.

Within the hour we had returned with a lightbar and measuring tape. We were taking pictures, crawling around inside, and getting a feel for the roominess of the car. In the end, that's what really sold me on it. In our group almost everyone, except for the girls, is 6'1" or taller, and cramming five tall people into a Subaru just wasn't fun anymore. With a Magnum we could get all the guys, and then squeeze in all the girls, too. It was all downhill from here.

So I started researching. I gradually learned the difference between the trim packages, I studied the factory color options as well as interiors. I checked for removable and permanent racks. The whole shebang. I test-drove maybe half a dozen cars, ranging from SEs to AWD R/Ts. Here is one of them, sitting next to an actual 59 MM during a video shoot with Zach Helm.


That was fun to compare the two/realize how the two could never compare.

Eventually I found one, it was in Arizona and it was being sold for much less than comparable cars here.


The original plan was for me to buy it, spend $60 to fly down and get it, then make the drive back into a cool little road trip during which I learn all the neat little things about the car and become adjusted to it. Maybe even meet the AZ boys for pizza or something, would have been cool. Due to a trip to San Francisco and one of Shauna's conventions, I wasn't able to go get it immediately, though. The dealer didn't like this, insisting that a sold car could not just "sit on the lot" for two weeks. So we shipped it. Funny story, they weren't able to ship it for over a month. *facepalm*

It arrived just after StarFest and a major April blizzard. Guy loaded it off a truck and I did a quick inspection, signed some forms and, holy shit did I just buy a car? Uh-oh.


I quickly discovered that one of the reasons it was being sold for so little was because the previous owner was a smoker. I had been deprived of my new car smell, bullshit! A bag of charcoal and two weeks of sitting fixed it completely, the car smells great today. I let the car sit for a few weeks, gauging how we were going to go about starting the conversion. We'd need to add a luggage rack, possibly reinforcing the roof.

We started coming up with concept drawings, here is one of my favorites, done by my roommate:


And then it began...


I bought a pair of Edge9000s super-cheap from lightbars.net, both required pretty extensive cleaning and restoration. We took a TON of pictures to help with photoshop conceptualization. One of my major gripes about the last car was how awful it was to maintain. Building a new box and restoring all the stuff on top (sanding, painting, resurfacing, polishing, reinforcing) just drove me nuts. We set out to build a rack that, while not impervious to entropy, would last far longer in the elements than wood and PVC. It was decided to use plastic for the box and welded steel for the frame. We made friends with some guys at a local plastics shop and commissioned the box.


God approved.


We had finally come to the point of no return: I had to drill into the roof in order to install the luggage rack. If I f**** this up it would be THOUSANDS of dollars to fix. We drilled through the sheet metal and mounted the rack straight to the frame inside the car. This has proven to be very very effective.


Zach welded up the frame for us in exchange for Taco Bell. Or was it Panda? I think it was Panda.

The same day, we had the vinyl work done to the car across Denver.


The frame came out looking great, with the box fitting snugly inside.


Meanwhile, Richie busted his balls to fabricate the side tanks, which came out looking fantastic!


Imagine our excitement to find out that our measurements worked perfectly to help maintain the functionality of the rear hatch!


Mounting the rack was grueling and took place in the wee hours of the morning. It was not fun, with at least one emotional outburst from me. I'm getting too old for this shit.


Lea (Fragglerocker) helped out. By being cute or... something.


As you can see, we have doubled the number of speakers we had on the last one. They are all marine speakers, so they work even when they are covered in ice. The first sound test was quite a hoot. We drove to the nearby Safeway and played some tunes from my phone. The difference was astonishing. Much much louder, with greater directional range. You get almost the same sound standing in front of the car as you do to the side, which is a huge improvement. Also, we have bass now. Very very good bass, all things considered.

Then it came time to add the greebles. Check out this f****g resistor. f****g LOOK.

Anyone want to build a 4/1-scale proton pack?


We opted for this air conditioning fan because it was a little more complex-looking than the original, which is sort of what we are going for with the car. It still works, and we mounted a chrome blade inside it. I would like to put some kind of LED in there so it can reflect off the fan blades and look totally awesome.


Split-loom on the side of the rack. I wanted the hoses to go into more than just holes in side, so we snagged a couple of plumbing nozzles and mounted them inside-out. I think it adds a lot.

Then, on the Fourth of July, we mounted the rack with about 30% of the bits on it and drove to Fort Collins. This would be our first real test with the rack and the blue lightbars on the road.
[youtube]syHU3BSx-20&fmt=18[/youtube]
Of course Travis had to ruin this moment by being gay and giving us a gay send-off. Oh well, I think it's pretty funny.

One of our major concerns has been the lightbars. I know the laws quite well, but at the same time I have seen a lot of leeway and flexibility with Colorado cops. Just as an example, Zach drives his hearse around with red lightbars, fake machine guns, and working flame-throwers. That said, I still felt it was a good idea to deactivate the bars. There are currently no bulbs, no lenses, and no reflectors inside those lightbars. The power cords lead nowhere and there isn't even a switch setup on the dash yet. Even so, let's just say many jokes about being raped "right through our pants" by state troopers were made, and that we spent the drive up at Sphincter Factor: 5 - maximum pucker. We didn't see a single cop.

Of course I had to take a picture of the car being all awesome in front of Shauna's house in the mountains...


What's that, Shauna's mom? You have a satellite internet transmitter that you're trying to get rid of? Allow me!


Good decision!


The return trip found me driving by a pond at dusk at very high speeds.

f****'.... gross.

My temp tags ran out on the ninth of July, so it was time to get the thing registered, which meant inspections and emissions tests.

(picture for Kris)

We then spent more time getting everything mounted to the rack that we could.




We do still have a way to go. Side tubes need to be added, interior wiring, wheels, bar, add some greebles to the front of the rack, and motorize the gear on top. We also have some more vinyl work to be done but for now, it'll have to do.





This weekend is Comic-Con, and we're taking the BannedWagon. Look out for us, Colorado and Utah, and Nevada and California.

East coast, we're putting you on notice...

Posting in an epic thread.

holy shit!

I loved the Ectoback. The BannedWagon looks f****g amazing! Boomer, look for a cute girl in some crazy star wars sith armor asking for pictures of the car ^_^ she's a friend of mine getting me pics as a favor since I'm stuck here in Jersey... no jokes, I'm in the good part of Jersey... we have trees.

Everything you've done is done well, but I think the end result is boring. It's just not visually exciting. It's loads better than that other one here with the goofball doors and rims - the only thing that makes that one a supposed Ecto is the stickers on the side.

Way to go Boomer.

You have inspired the masses to achieve greatness again.

It's great to see that you kept both Ectos.

Someday I will be in the presence of greatness once again.

*bows to you*

So awesome, it’s perfect.

Kudos to you Boomer. You should be proud.

Wow Boomer, definitely looks great! If you're going to run though San Fran again, I'd love to meet up with you and grab an adult beverage.

Looks great!

Easily the best non-59 replica around.

Super f****g fantastic!!!

I love it. Epic indeed.

................................WOW........................ (i think that sums it up)

Ive gotta say that that car looks amzing. Love how you used steel and plastic for the frame. Also love the wire loom everywhere. I absoutly love that look. Also, Great job on the drivers side tanks. It makes a beautiful ecto.

Looks AWESOME.

Who's Jurassic Park Jeep?

That's his as well.

As for the BannedWagon, it looks great!

I do you think you need to figure out how to fit a "No Ghost" emblem on the back hatch somewhere. Like someone else said, it does look a little plain. So my suggestion is "No Ghost" on the back and maybe the orange warning tape running above the doors on the side (i.e. like the Ecto-1A). I think with those 2 additions, it would fill out the car's design a little more. That and maybe the hosing running from the roof rack down the driver side of the car. Just whatever you do, don't put a "No Ghost" on the hood, I hate that!

Kind of like this:

I hope you don't mind I had a little fun with photoshop to get my idea across. I also extended the red strip that runs the window line down to the center line of the rear quarter panel.

Just a little constructive criticism, that's all. Like I said before, it looks good. And I know you are not done with it; for all I know you plan to do even greater things to it to really fill it out.

I will also officially take note that the East Coast is on notice. I'll let East Coast Batman know . . .

*edited* I added my crappy photoshop picture.

Haha, your end result is boring!

oh, and did you look up? its more then stickers.

Sorry, I misread that last bit

He's not talking about my car.

Only one thing bugged me in this topic... Why in God's world would you need to do an emissions test on a new car? I swear, every day that passes, I hate government more and more..

By the way, the Magnum (already and awesome looking car by itself) looks awesome, right out of the GB game concept images

Because catalytic converters go bad.

or rednecks cut them out.

I really, really think that the downturned triangle "fin" that people put on their cars is a trend that should DIE. It always ruins the lines of the car.

Awesome look! I like it. But I thought that the original ecto had a hollow, opened top and not a straight box...

It did. We changed it up for functionality reasons. Who wants a roof box filled with leaves?

We done good, fellas. Now we need to terrorize Downtown Denver with it.

That's fine, like I said, it's only a suggestion. As it is now (at least in the pictures), it is hard to even notice the current red line under the side windows. I too do not like the "downturned triangle" thing either. Some people do it to the extreme. That's why I tired to keep it in line with the lines of the car as best I could. I actually tried to do it as close as possible to how your roommate's concept art.

Anyway, it does look amazing and I'm glad to see you took everything great about your outback and added to it in this new car.

This is a masterpiece. Great work, Boomer!

Good thing I live in Florida!
My Cutlass and my Impala would NEVER pass it.
Flowmasters FTW. ^_^

Wow it looks crazy great.

You've earned it... I loved the Outback, and this is even better. Well done sir!

Still not a fan of the hazard tape (though I have it on my switch box and my air tank) or the smaller logos, but that rack kicks ass!

Good work brotha!