View new posts | View your posts The Ecto-4 A.T.A.C. - Kaput

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In the craze that was the 2010 Dragoncon - Halloween - Toys for tots season, we put about 15,000 miles on the Ecto4. The truck is still moving right along, but deserves a little re-boot for 2011.

Here the truck is in it's current state.


Excuse the dried on blood. It was zombie happy hour and we got a little overzealous.


We're looking to add and change a few things, and I would love to have some community feedback.
-Replace the magnetic caution stripe with vinyl, move it down to the plastic trim, and increase size by 25%
-Replace rear amber minibar with blue/amber code3 xs8000

-Paint center hubs of wheels gloss black, leaving wheel gunmetal grey/silver color
-Tint back windows
-New spare tire cover with new NJGB logo.
-Adding second 105AH marine battery wired in parallel to run the bigger bar and supplement our current system.
-Apply for Vanity plates once my registration needs renewal.

Any other ideas or suggestions?
We're a bit limited financially as I close on a new house next week, but short of a complete overhaul almost anything is possible.

My girlfriend (who is from Jersey) and I both like your unorthodox take on ghostbusting vehicles. It's nice to see people occasionally break the mold and make something other than an attempted ecto-1 clone.

It was one of my favorite things about Boomer's Subaru when I first saw it on SomethingAwful years ago, which brought me to these boards.

Georgia's Ecto ERV and the Ecto-Truck are other great examples of alternate Ectos.

That said, I do still really love the Magnums and HHRs and wagons/suvs of the GBfans Ghostbusting fleet.

I would say tinting the ENORMOUS windows would be a top priority.

Thanks Tankhammer.

Boomer, agreed, now I'm just trying to decide on a tint %.

Limo tint, just make sure you homage it with the 3.5" gap centered....

Well, the Ecto-4 A.T.A.C. is kaput.
The truck is still running strong, but 2 years of weathing have taken their toll on the aluminum roof rack and wooden box.
Pictures soon of roof rack carnage, and re-birth as I'm in the middle of salvaging wire and electonics.

Things I learned from taking apart the rack:
-Use stainless steel or aluminum hardware only, even weatherproof zinc will break down over time from exposure to road salt.
-"Aluminum" box tubing can and will rust on the inside. Something tells me that the manufacturers are using ferrous metal aluminum alloys with a protective coating on the outside only.
-Silicone gaskets are great as long as they are not exposed to UV from sunlight.
-No matter how water tight your radome, blue tubes, or side tanks may appear to be, water will get into them. Put a drain in, you will thank yourself after a couple years,
-UV resistant clearcoat really does make a difference, on everything.
-If a small crack in wood gets wet and freezes, it will expand, more than you can imagine.
-Stainless steel Nylock nuts are a must, they held up to weathering very well.

The craziest thing of all, ever since I removed the roof rack, I've been getting a much more positive overall response from the public. At first I was confused, but now I understrand.

-With roof rack, everyone notices the vehicle, hence whay so many people ask if we're storm chasers, ghost hunters, a TV crew, or batman..?
-Without the roof rack, only ghostbusters fans notice and respond to the vehicle vinyl graphics package.
-One catch on the open highway, I have noticed cars slowing down around me more than normal. Apparantly the vinyls at distance in a rearview mirror, read a lot like a police vehicle.

In conclusion, our new roof rack will be lower profile, movie inacurrate, and 100% functional parts.

We can rebuild him.. make him stronger .....chchchchchchch... better ..........chchchchchch......... but probably not faster.

Upside is you'll get better milage for a while.

I hope you don't think I'm a jerk for saying this, because I'm really not trying to be a jerk, but I think you might be learning the wrong lessons from this.

I agree, going non movie accurate and low profile on a black suv is a horrible idea for the franchise. The thing is, the NJ franchise has been steadily dissolving since this spring. With the 25 year pr blitz long gone, and gb3 doubtful, the demand for gb's is down, yes we're still out there doing small events, but the past several have been just me, the ecto, and stay puft.
Kids still love it, but that's not sustanable.

The new mix is going to be a bit more of my own concept, something that's a mix of ghostbusters, umbrella corp, and a hint of alexi/mad max. It should stil fit at our events, but also be useful for my dj business.

Granted I still plan to upgrade to a nissan xterra, just waiting for the newer model years to drop in price.