[DefenderDarko]

So I've lost my flipping mind and I want to drive an Ecto-1 homage vehicle. I want to be one with the cool kids.

I've seen one at Dallas conventions a few times which was built from a Dodge Nitro, I believe. It was pretty cool.

I've had my Jeep for about 5 years. The paint is a little rough, needs a new windshield and headlight covers. I'm on the fence as to whether I want to pay $1300 to have it painted and given a new windshield, or buy one off a neighbor that is the exact model and already white for about the same price.

Anyhow, I bought my front lightbar today from a guy in town that visits police auctions. It is an MX7000. It had red and blue lenses in it, but I removed them completely. It's going to run white with amber in the rear, as specified by the Highway Patrol Major I sent my questions to.

The only problem with the lightbar was that it was pretty yellowed from sitting in a salvage yard for a couple of years. The guy I bought it from actually invested some time and money putting new motors and rotators in it, so inside, its all brand new. It works perfectly. I just had to clean up the lenses.

I took some soft grit paper and wet sanded it down to an even roughness, then I polished it up and also used some Pledge Future on it to give it more clarity.



Before I took it apart and cleaned it up...

[Rodimus]

Looking forward to this.

[DefenderDarko]

Update!

I finished the body work on my Jeep. Took a lot of filler to take the cracks out of the bumper guard. She's going into the shop early tomorrow morning for a new windshield and white paintjob w/red striping on the sides...

In the meanwhile, I built the Sniffer. It is made from several PVC connector parts all bolted together. I won't mess with glue and all that, I'm just going straight in with nuts and bolts to hold it together.

The best part is that the unit telescopes. I can raise and lower it for road travel. The top bracket is made from an industrial steel power box with 3/4 holes..I used threaded pressure PVC for the barrels...



I have it fully extended further than I plan to display it so the paint can dry.




I have also started the freon tanks. They're made of three pieces of PVC fitting, and will be held together by bolts hidden in the back and bottom. The gauge is bolted in the top. It's a replacement for an air compressor tank.

[drcaron]

This is a very cool start I like your sniffer tower ,I will fallow your project .

Martin

[DefenderDarko]

Here are some pics of the two yellow tanks, the helium tank, and the sniffer. I described how the tanks were built in the above post.

I know some of you swear up and down that the Helium tank is supposed to be yellow. While it isn't the olive drab that the restored car used, it definitely isn't the same yellow as the freon tanks. What I used here is an avocado flat spray. It is somewhere between mustard and olive.

[Ecto-1 fan]

I was just looking at some "avocado" paint tonight and thinking that same thing. It looks great.
Mine is a brighter (apple) green, but I like the look of being slightly too bright green.

[DefenderDarko]

Gray no more!



Sniffer with labels applied.

[DefenderDarko]

New headlight kit!

Test-fitting the cage and some of the components. I'm going to build the inside box this weekend.

[

[Boomerjinks]

Tasteful decisions. I started out apprehensive, but this is a good thread to watch. That sniffer tower looks great!

[DefenderDarko]

Boomer, your car inspired mine, so I appreciate that.

Any advice on safe rack mounting? I'm bolting to the luggage rails so far.

[ChapterMasterTu'Shan]

Boomer, your car inspired mine, so I appreciate that.

Any advice on safe rack mounting? I'm bolting to the luggage rails so far.

That's probably your best bet; You could probably pop some holes in the roof, but the luggage rails are the same thing, already sealed, and won't affect resale.

I gotta admit too, I like the sniffer tower; I think it's the steps and angles and stuff that make it look like an assembly of purposeful parts (beyond that fact that they are).

[DefenderDarko]

So to those of you who have done this, how much did your roof rack weight? Mine is about 65 lbs.

I used U-bolts to attach it to the cross-rails, but I just don't trust them. They're supposed to be able to support 150 lbs total and my box is not even half that much.

Any suggestions?

[DefenderDarko]

So I decided the roof rack was too big. It looks proportional to the vehicle at a distance, but it's just too large to have up there, safely. I've taken the best parts of it and I've basically downsized it. It's now lighter and looks more modern and sleek. I'll have pics of it by the weekend. I'm building it inside of an existing off-road rack, and it's looking pretty incredible so far. I've taken the shield on the front of the rack, sanded the logos off, and replaced it with some custom decal work.

I'm keeping the same basic idea, just making it a bit shorter since it has to surf on top of my rails. I'm taking a few inches from the height of the whole thing and changing the radome a bit.

I'm adding some functionality to it. The box at the rear is used for storage. I'll probably keep tools in it to unload the rack if necessary, and maybe my extra 'out of service' lenses for the lightbar.

I'm trying to get one of those old army jeep gascans to repaint white and keep up there too. It'll look cool and also serve a purpose, because I'm great at not putting gas in my vehicles.

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[Boomerjinks]

Drill a drainhole or two in the bottom of that rack. Thank me later.

[DefenderDarko]

Man, looking at that box I made. It's cool, but it's 90 lbs of functionless crap shoved onto a tall SUV. It couldn't stay that way

I've recycled it and changed it up. Went with something more sleek, but able to maintain the Ghostbusters charm. I should have pictures tomorrow.

[DefenderDarko]

New pics!

I rebuilt the box around a Highland roof basket, using bolts and metal plates to attach the components to the cage floor. For now, I'm not going to cover the floor because I don't want a giant bathtub on top of my car(Boomer had the right idea, giving it a roof instead). In time, I may give it a PVC floor or top, but I'm fine with it for now. I haven't attached the bug shield that goes on the front of the rack yet. I'm going to apply the decal first.

I took it out for highway speeds today and it did great. Lots of pictures were taken. One family followed me home and asked to take pics. They were pretty cool about it and their kids were excited. I ran the siren for them.

Lightbar is going up tomorrow!

Here's a fun story from Thursday night. A hail storm hit right before midnight here in the Texoma region. Tornados and all that fun stuff. This is the first time i've owned a vehicle with a decent paint job, so I darted out to go park my Ecto under a car wash down the block. Unfortunately, my neighbor's car is really small and dark blue and he recently started parking it behind my driveway.

Yeah, I backed into it. The hail and rain were so bad, I didn't realize it until a little voice in my head reminded me that he's been parking there. I look back to see a giant white mass of paint stuck on his car.

This sucks. Heart-attack mode. He's at work in his work truck and has no idea.

I turn around and go back and check his car. The paint is wiping off, but there's a 4 inch scuff on his car body and headlight.

On my jeep, there's a patch of white paint the size of a softball now missing from my bumper

I decide to wait up for him to get home from work and let him know. In the meantime, the hail has stopped but the rain is hitting my bumper and knocking off more loose pieces of paint. I decide to go ahead and wet sand it right there with various grit auto paper. So in the rain, I manage to smooth out the paint damage so it can be repainted later.

The neighbor comes home, I tell him what happened and offer to fix it however I can. He's okay with it. Blames himself for parking behind my driveway. Says he appreciates my honesty and that he'll get it taken care of, no worries. Wow.

Next morning, I get up and hit my bumper with some bright white GMC auto spray. Good as new.

Jump forward two days, I'm working on my roof rack outside. Neighbor, who's name is Thaddeus, decides to bring me a rack of ribs he cooked outside. Awesome guy.

[DefenderDarko]

Uh oh!

It's mostly complete now. I'll be gradually adding more decals and lights to the top over time.

[DefenderDarko]

Here we go!

Over the weekend, I built an added a directional antenna and the control box on the passenger side. The control box has several throw switches on it that activate lights and vibration in the box, for those who dare to touch the car. The directional antenna is a bit different than the movie version. Instead of the red arrow, it has more of a radar transceiver with a 3d silver GB logo on the back. I also added a silver 3d logo to the front of the hood in place of the old "JEEP" lettering. I added two CB antennas to the top also. The red stripes and caution stripes are new, of course. I need to post closeups of some of the decals at some point.

My gf took various pics of the SRV around town today...

These are mostly by our old downtown apartment, near the abandoned railroad district. It's pretty cool down here...





These photos are in the driveway of the original post office in town. It was also used as a firehouse at one point, and also a restaurant/loft. My gf dreams of buying this old building and converting it into a home.









Here we are parked in front of the original turn-of-the-century Railroad depot. The building is deserted now...








I have no clue what this building was. It was across from the old train depot and some tire shop. Maybe an office building?



They're tearing down the old hospital, but they're having to clean the debris as they go due to asbestos...







This is what's left of Bridge Street on the Wichita River. The bridge is completely blocked and falling apart. It's been converted into part of the Hotter N Hell bike trail in this area. It looks really creepy from below...





Parked underneath the overpass next to the Wichita River. I'm in there with my dog...





Claire and the Wichita waterfall

[slaysghosts]

Pretty awesome jeep conversion

[AJ Quick]

I like it!

[Michael Scott]

Very cool pictures. One question, though. Why does TexasBuster have Oklahoma plates?

[DefenderDarko]

The previous owner of this jeep was a redneck drug dealer who was chased by the Sheriffs dept and ran it through a farmer's fence(hence all the denting on the front end). It cracked up the windshield. It had deep scratches all over the bumper guard and roof from the barbed wire fence. The headlights were also busted up, as you can tell in the older pictures. He also apparently removed the cat converter.

So basically, I live in Texas and have for 3 years, but the vehicle wouldn't pass inspection, so I kept the OK plates when I moved here. I've repaired everything but the cat converter, which I didn't realize he removed until I installed new 02 sensors. I plan to tag it in Texas when my current tag expires. I'll probably give it a vanity plate.

So lesson is...Redneck Okie drug dealers do stupid things to cars, much like regular Redneck Okie non-drug dealers.

So I'm currently talking to some Craigslist guys about getting an Arrowstick to install on the back. I want it above a second Mx7000. I'm also considering blue lenses for shows. I've spoken to some cops here and they honestly don't care. Apparently I'm 'free' to put whatever I want up there, as long as I'm not using the lights on the road.

[DarkSpectre]

Dude, I'm loving this. Makes me wish my Jeep Commander was white! Outstanding work!

[DefenderDarko]

New pics! First up is the Directional Antenna. Yes, I deviated from the movie version. It's made from some crayola toy dome I found at a thrift store, mixed with some PVC. The logo is from those matty toy stands...Looks cool in person.



Here's the other ornament on the front of the vehicle..



Here's the control box for the Light bar. The small toggle switches on the roof speaker. I made it look similar to a ghost trap. I've modified it a bit since this photo...





Here's how I'm modifying the colors in the dash. This model of Grand Cherokee featured some nasty wood/turtle shell style trim to appeal who whoever they may be. I popped it all off, sanded it, and painted it with silver auto paint. I also removed various knobs and switches and painted them red or blue to give it a toyish scifi look. It also has red stripes in the door panels and I painted the fuse box cover like the containment unit. I've also added a hacked cruz tablet that runs the siren ap I created. It mounts on the center console(no pics yet). I'll have updated pictures of the interior tomorrow hopefully...



I even painted the air freshener!






This is the bug shield on the front of the Highland rack I used for the frame. I put some decals on it and painted it white...



More pics tomorrow!

[DefenderDarko]

Outtakes!

[69428scj]

I like your pictures, I'm always a big fan of old buildings as backgrounds for vehicles. Your tiny details are also well thought out. You get my stamp of approval!

[DefenderDarko]

THANK YOU!

I dream of owning your car. I don't mean that figuratively. I mean literally. It sucks.

So I took ESRV on her first Oklahoma tour around Ft. Sill and Medicine Park(a little native community resort/niche town on the Medicine river near the comanche reservation). It was pretty cool. The roof rack all held up to high speeds and it was REALLY windy yesterday. I did pull the radome and directional dome off for the highway just in case.

While in Lawton, I met up with a Sheriff's deputy who was selling some gear on Craigslist. That's where I picked up this....



ARRROOOOOOOOOOWSTIIIIIIK.

I love it. It was kinda tough to install, but it's awesome. The deputy was a cool guy and gave me some ideas on what to do with the car. I'll be buying more gear from him later on. Also, right from his mouth "As long as the lights aren't on, you can have them there. Amber is always okay. Just not red/blue."

After that, I drove to Medicine Park to let my dog swim in the river and cool off. It was pretty fun. People were taking pictures of the car all day.

Then it finally happened. I got pulled over. The officer in town pulled me over and blocked me in with his monstrous SUV. Then got out with a camera to 'arrest the Ghostbusters'. That drew a bunch of people out and people were taking pictures and having fun. The officer also reiterated that amber is perfectly fine, just no red/blue and don't run them on the highway.

Then I headed home. Dozens of pictures taken on the highway.

Today, I installed the Arrowstik and took it out for a drive. LOTS of pictures taken locally. We had a car show and my repainted jeep was getting as much attention as some beautiful classic hotrods. I also think 12 Braums employees came out to take pics of the ESRV.

You'd think it was a Cadillac or something. Loren must have a REAL blast with his car.

Anyhow, testing all the lights out. It has the Mx7000 with intersection lights, alleys, takedowns, and full rotation. I've also mounted a blinking strobe on the back, and the Arrowstik. Here it is all at once with my hazard lights and driving lights also on. I've started nicknaming it "the Amber Avenger" because of how many amber lights i'm putting on it. Even with everything on, the Jeep shows no signs of losing power or anything. It has a big alternator.










[Youtube]http://youtu.be/QON1Mz8Jnl4[/Youtube]

Siren was low because of noise ordinance.

[69428scj]

Code 3 AS-8, very close to the AS-10 that was used on the 1A. that's a nice addition as I was thinking the rear was a little devoid of lighting.

[DefenderDarko]

Oh, definitely. It was bugging me. Originally, I had planned to set the rack back further, but when I moved it, the front end stuck up too high. Thus, it had a voided backside.(HEH).

I plan to put a couple of deck lights under it or something later. It's a constant WIP. I know a guy with an LP6000 for $100 w/box, but its red/blue lensed and I can't really track down any ambers on ebay. Might not be worth the money if I have to reshell it from factory.

[DefenderDarko]

Added two small trailer lights beneath the Arrowstik. The L-brackets I used to mount it to the frame hung down just enough to mount more lights. That's the key, more lights. I want this thing to light up like a french night club.