[zeta otaku]

So, about 3 years ago I picked up a used 2008 Magnum... here she is.



I had plans for her. Still do. She's my daily driver, my work car, and the most expensive prop I'll ever have. About a week after getting her, I bought some magnetic door logos.



Not bad, right? KINDA plain though. I had ideas that I wanted to take care of, but work slowed down and funds needed to be used more wisely... like food and such.

Fast forward to the shit winter the east coast of the USA had. After sliding into a couple snow banks and finally hitting some black ice and slamming into a guard rail (seriously, black ice SUCKS)... it was time and my tax return made it possible.





Front bumper was pulled, sanded, primed, and repainted.



The rear bumper needed a little love too...



While the bumpers were off, I changed the front struts and decided to add on a few things. Namely a tow hitch and a push bumper. I was NOT prepared to how big of a pain in the ass these two items were going to be to install, but in the end, so worth it.







I plan to get pics with the logos on sometime this week when the weather isn't awful. Later this summer, I'll be adding on a roof rack and this:



Not sure if I'll be leaving it black or wrapping it in red or yellow caution tape. I'll also be borrowing a page out of Boomer's book and running a red pin stripe under the rear windows. (with full permission of course... asked him a year ago. lol)

Anyway, just wanted to share my car with you guys. Thanks for reading

[venkman30]

Nice start. Can't wait to see more.

[Alan Hawkins]

Love the push bar. I would keep the Nerf bars black. jmho

[Spengs]

Hey zeta, I'm not sure if I realized you were in Jersey or not. If you're building an ECTO surely you want to join your fellow Jersey 'bustas.

Ghostbusters NJ

http://ghostbustersnj.wordpress.com

Our GB Fans discussion thread:

http://www.gbfans.com/community/viewtop ... &start=150

I love that Jersey ghostheads have or are building Ectos!

[Heroic35]

I am glad that someone is doing the conversion that I have been rolling about in my head. i am looking at a new car and wondering how to make a daily driver into a weekend warrior.

What are your plans for the top box and lights?

[Boomerjinks]

I am glad that someone is doing the conversion that I have been rolling about in my head.?

Umm... lol

[Heroic35]

I am glad that someone is doing the conversion that I have been rolling about in my head.?

Umm... lol

In terms of an every day driver. Isn't yours full time ECTO?

[zeta otaku]

What are your plans for the top box and lights?

Not 100% sure yet. I have three plans.1) Fully removable lights and gear that mounts on the roof rack. 2) Fake lights and minimal roof gear that I can remove easily. 3) Nothing on the roof.

And after tonight's freak snow shower (seriously Mother Nature... stop it, you senile old bitch!), I'm leaning towards options 3...

[kurisu7885]

What are your plans for the top box and lights?

Not 100% sure yet. I have three plans.1) Fully removable lights and gear that mounts on the roof rack. 2) Fake lights and minimal roof gear that I can remove easily. 3) Nothing on the roof.

And after tonight's freak snow shower (seriously Mother Nature... stop it, you senile old bitch!), I'm leaning towards options 3...

Had a Snowstorm here in Michigan yesterday, sadly the tarp was blown off of my trike, AGAIN.

[zeta otaku]

Obligatory Firehouse shots (would've gotten a few more, but a few cops told us to move it along)

[syckotheklown]

Booooo, cops are no fun. Awesome ecto though. Because of your thread iv convinced my wife to trade in our car for a model kinda like yours Lmao

[kurisu7885]

I kind of wish I could logo up my family's Outlook

[Chace]

I am glad that someone is doing the conversion that I have been rolling about in my head.?

Umm... lol

In terms of an every day driver. Isn't yours full time ECTO?[/quote]


Both Kevin's and Mine are full time Ectos AND every day drivers....though to be honest I do own two cars....so when I drive to work I am either in this....



or in this.....



My Ecto has 16 holes in the roof, because I'm committed to the art. (it'll be paid off in November). The B-17 Tribute has well over 1,000 rivets drilled into the perfectly fine body work....and again...it's different....it's probably not practical...but it's not illegal, and it's a Hell of a lot of fun!

And that's really what it's all about! Act within your laws.....but have as much fun as you can! (You never know when your time is up!)

And if you're worried about your workplace not accepting it...try. You'll be surprised.....I am an on Air news reporter for both a FOX and ABC affiliate....if they don't care, I doubt too many other establishments would! (if anything t draws attention to your parking lot and then the company brand!)

[kurisu7885]

Not everyone gets to walk out of their house and go "hmm, do I want to take my bomber to work, or my Ectomobile?"

[DefenderDarko]

Chace, you'd have more trouble with the army hearse than your Ecto in my town. It's an AF/army town, and they tend to confront and mess with people who use faux army designs on their clothing or cars.

I wear a lot of army surplus jackets, but I'm always sure to strip off every patch before I wear it. I even strip the fake patches off the faux army junk I buy at retail stores because they'll seriously bully or shame you over it.

[kurisu7885]

Chace, you'd have more trouble with the army hearse than your Ecto in my town. It's an AF/army town, and they tend to confront and mess with people who use faux army designs on their clothing or cars.

I wear a lot of army surplus jackets, but I'm always sure to strip off every patch before I wear it. I even strip the fake patches off the faux army junk I buy at retail stores because they'll seriously bully or shame you over it.

I hate it when freedoms go out the window for some people like that.

[69428scj]

Chace, you'd have more trouble with the army hearse than your Ecto in my town. It's an AF/army town, and they tend to confront and mess with people who use faux army designs on their clothing or cars.

I wear a lot of army surplus jackets, but I'm always sure to strip off every patch before I wear it. I even strip the fake patches off the faux army junk I buy at retail stores because they'll seriously bully or shame you over it.

I hate it when freedoms go out the window for some people like that.

Look at it this way...if you're part of a "club" that you've had to earn your way into and your club has a design that you wear and see someone not in the club wearing, you'd be upset that someone is wearing willy nilly a design you EARNED the right to wear. That is why that occurs. Not only that but people that wear military paraphernalia but don't comply with our grooming standards may cause other civilians to think poorly of the military because of the simple "oh, they're wearing camouflage pants and boots so they must be in the military" thought process.

[kurisu7885]

Eh, fair enough, it's easy to forget how much people judge on appearance alone.

[Boomerjinks]

Chace, you'd have more trouble with the army hearse than your Ecto in my town. It's an AF/army town, and they tend to confront and mess with people who use faux army designs on their clothing or cars.

Which is why it's good to not live in towns that are shitholes fill with goddamn assholes.

Also the whole "I fought for your freedom, but only the freedoms I want you to have" thing is dumb and really defines the divide between between servicemen who deserve respect and halfwitted military meatheads.

[DefenderDarko]

Look at it this way...if you're part of a "club" that you've had to earn your way into and your club has a design that you wear and see someone not in the club wearing, you'd be upset that someone is wearing willy nilly a design you EARNED the right to wear. That is why that occurs. Not only that but people that wear military paraphernalia but don't comply with our grooming standards may cause other civilians to think poorly of the military because of the simple "oh, they're wearing camouflage pants and boots so they must be in the military" thought process.

Yeah, but some of these same people come home and join secessionist militia groups. Don't wear surplus fatigues while I campaign to destroy the very Union of our nation.

I honestly saw a guy with a bumper sticker that said "If you're going to burn our flag, at least wrap yourself in it first" and opposite side a Texas "SECEDE" sticker.

[kurisu7885]

Look at it this way...if you're part of a "club" that you've had to earn your way into and your club has a design that you wear and see someone not in the club wearing, you'd be upset that someone is wearing willy nilly a design you EARNED the right to wear. That is why that occurs. Not only that but people that wear military paraphernalia but don't comply with our grooming standards may cause other civilians to think poorly of the military because of the simple "oh, they're wearing camouflage pants and boots so they must be in the military" thought process.

Yeah, but some of these same people come home and join secessionist militia groups. Don't wear surplus fatigues while I campaign to destroy the very Union of our nation.

I honestly saw a guy with a bumper sticker that said "If you're going to burn our flag, at least wrap yourself in it first" and opposite side a Texas "SECEDE" sticker.

So on one side a bumper sticker that nationalist, sorry, "patriotic", and on the other side saying he doesn't want to be part of the nation anyway.

[DefenderDarko]

My understanding was that he felt it was a worse offense to burn the flag, than to actually destroy the very nation that the flag represents.

But yeah, sorry for the thread derail.

[kurisu7885]

Good thing I stopped trying to understand people.

Anyway, yeah, awesome badass car paint jobs.

[Chace]

Chace, you'd have more trouble with the army hearse than your Ecto in my town. It's an AF/army town, and they tend to confront and mess with people who use faux army designs on their clothing or cars.

I live about 15 minutes from the largest Air Force Base in the state, and have never had a problem....but then again I guess it's pretty obvious that it's a tribute to the B-17 (and bombers in general) and not trying to look official.

The base has a museum of aviation on it and they LOVE it when I visit in Thelma.


Also apologies to zeta otaku for the thread hijack!

[Boomerjinks]

I'm curious to hear about your experience putting the hitch on the Magnum. I am considering putting a temporary hitch on mine so I can use one of those luggage platforms to take the Vespa to Los Angeles in July. Tell me about your ordeal!

[zeta otaku]

This post may contain an affiliate link that helps support GBFans.com when you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

I'm curious to hear about your experience putting the hitch on the Magnum. I am considering putting a temporary hitch on mine so I can use one of those luggage platforms to take the Vespa to Los Angeles in July. Tell me about your ordeal!

First, here's the installation sheet:

http://www.vtowing.com/ISHEETS/65300.pdf

The tow hitch... was a medium level pain in the ass. There are 6 bolts that hold this in place: 3 carriage bolts and 3 regular bolts. The passenger side is the side you have to really worry about. To get that thing on there, you need to loop one side over the exhaust pipe and I honestly can't see that happening without completely removing the exhaust and reattaching it or pulling off the rear bumper so you can push/pull the pipe out of the way after loosening it. There is NO WAY you can access the mounting points on the passenger side without moving the exhaust out of the way. Thankfully, the rear bumper comes off pretty easily.

But wait, there's more.

The Magnums have HALF the locking points built in in the form of welded nuts inside the channel the tow bar attaches to. Do yourself a favor... get WD-40 or SOMETHING to clean these out as after years of being exposed, they're going to be gunked up and unless you have an air ratchet, you're in for some major work. We managed to tighten these by sliding a 5 foot pipe over our wrench for extra leverage.

As I said, that's HALF of the locking points. The other half are carriage bolts. I can't think of a SINGLE tool that will help you here. You need a person with thin, long, fingers to help you out, so... find the scrawny guy with the girlfriend who is always smiling. You need to first slide these metal plate inside the the channel, line up the holes, then get the bolt in the channel, then through the metal plate and down the hole in the channel and bolt it on. The one on the passenger side closest to the bumper isn't bad since you can attack it from two sides with the way the holes are set up, but the ones closest to the wheel you can only get one finger in there (giggity!).

We had 3 people working on this and it took us maybe an hour and a half total to get this on and locked in. I also recommend grabbing one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Curt-Manufacturin ... hitch+lock

You never know when someone's gonna be a dick and swipe your hitch pin.

[zeta otaku]

So, MINOR update:

That rear bumper bar I got? It literally sat UNDER the bumper. It was basically useless aside from nearly breaking my ankle on it twice.... so, yeah, no bueno.

Thankfully, I'm in a sheet metal union and I know a few talented welders. One of which cut the lock shaft off, angled on an 8 inch piece of square pipe and welded everything back together flawlessly. So, now I have this: