View new posts | View your posts Aussie 1960 Miller Meteor Ecto-1

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This is my Ecto-1 project. It'll never be 100% accurate because it's not a 59 model, so my aim is to make this the best 1960 Ecto-1 that GB fandom has seen yet.



I shipped a lot of parts with it, including lightbars, deck lights, white wall tyres, etc. All the big heavy stuff that I couldn't get here in Australia.



x2 48" XL5000 lightbars with new lenses



Ferno cot, not the exact model but very similar



S-18 model spotlight (with Unity fender mount, and unity crown ornament - not pictured)



Federal Solar Ray



Lightbar brackets from Martin



Deck lights x4 with painted lamps



Whelen 28v strobe - needs a 12v power supply to work



IH right-hand fender mirror



Roof rack and C5GB siren (missing front grill off the siren)



Door logos



and last but not least, my license plate, which is on hold at the Roads & Transport Authority ("Ecto-1" was already taken)



As of right now I'm restoring the floors and lower sills which are quite rusty. I'm expecting a container to arrive in the next month or so with some new replacement panels that Daniel in Canada has fabricated for me. I've also removed the driveshaft and rear axle to repair and replace brakes, bushes, etc. And the fixed-glass windows have been removed to allow re-sealing of the trim, and to install new rubbers.

Here's what it looked like as of yesterday:

Forgot to mention I also have x2 yellow aviation oxygen tanks. These are a newer part number than what's on the screen-used car. In actual fact the bottle is the same, but the regulator is slightly different. The part number of this unit is 9000A1, and you'll find that 9000A2 and 9000A3 also use the same bottle.

That looks so FREAKING cool!

Thanks mate. I was going to get the Metal Bashers at work to build it for me, but they were snowed under with doing actual work, so I got a fabrication shop in town to make it instead. It's 1" square aluminum.

I bet it's light as a DREAM.

That really is too bad it needs to be painted.

Also, I think you should tell the story of how you managed to get that thing all the way to your island of criminals....

Im glad you dont want to add 59 caddy stuff to it.. like fins and grill

Truth be told I was chasing CrossTheStreams' 1959 MM Combo that he was selling. But he wanted more than I could afford and it eventually sold on Ebay. That's when 69428SCJ put me in touch with Reno in Mexico who was selling this 1960 MM Combo, and a 60 MM Combo is the next best thing at 1/3 of the price of a 59 MM Combo! The average punter on the street doesn't know the difference anyway.

You'd have to be nuts to buy a car sight-unseen from Mexico right? Maybe I was, but Loren vouched for him, and he had other references, too. In the end my only complaint is the car didn't run (he said it did), it had more rust than he cared to mention, and for months after buying it he was sending me photos of every random hearse and classic car that came through his yard saying "you buy!? you buy!?"

So then came the dilemma, how the hell can I get this car out of Mexico? Reno had a guy who could transport it to the border at Loredo, then it was up to me. I enlisted ex-pat Aussies, Phil and Lawrence, from http://www.usatoaus.com Imports based in Battle Ground, Washington.

(leaving Mexico)


The first border crossing attempt failed. So if it first you don't succeed, try another border crossing in the next town. So they did, and it worked. The car was on American soil.

It sat in a storage yard for a couple of weeks at the border because the guy that was supposed to pick it up had a big cry because the car didn't run. I thought it did, but apparently it didn't, and he refused to take it. So Phil wrangled another driver and eventually it found it's way from Loredo to Battle Ground, WA. This was around March/April 2010.

(at USAtoAUS Imports, Washington)


In the meantime I was over in the Middle East contributing to the war effort (and getting paid decent danger money to do it). But most importantly I still had internet access so i was able to buy up a lot of parts that I needed. Such as lightbars and tyres and other opportune stuff I found on Ebay. And I saved a bit of money in shipping by having them load all this stuff in the back of the car.

(me at a restaurant in Kandahar)


I got back from the Desert in July 2010 but my car wasn't ready to leave Battle Ground until late August, so I still had a bit of waiting to do. During this time Lawrence had spent 20 hours in total cleaning the crap out of the car, which is essential for passing Australian Quarantine (who are notoriously Nazi).

Well I waited, and finally the ship came in. But as I was to find out, the port in which it arrived is run by SCUMBAGS! Long story short, the Quarantine Service demanded that the car be re-cleaned, and that all the carpet and wood (which included the whole rear cargo floor) be removed. So another SCUMBAG company called Murrells Logistics was brought in to do this work. They must've seen dollar signs ($$$!) when they saw this car arrive.

About 2 weeks passed, a week of which was spent negotiating with these pricks over the cost of the "work" that they performed. In the end I had to cough up a chunk of cash or risk further unknowns if this car stayed in their possession for any longer. A champion tow-truck driver called Wayne came to the rescue and retrieved it for me. He was such a champ, this guy, went completely out of his way for me and his fee was 1/2 that of any of the other drivers. So stoked.

(Good job, Wayne!)


So here it is! All the heartache is a distant memory. Except now I've got all this trim that was removed in the Quarantine process and I've got no idea where it goes.

Hey hey, I've nearly got an engine and transmission A guy in VIC is potentially offloading the 429 and transmission out of his 67 Caddy. It's all dependant on him striking a deal with a guy in the US on a replacement 2008 CTS Cadillac engine.

So here's hoping that his deal for a new engine goes through, so that I can benefit from his old engine and trans.

Yay! But do you really want to deal with poor piston ring sealing and oil splatter with the 429?

The 429 in my 64 was a champion. Yeah this motor needs some head work, but it's a good motor.

I picked up some parts from Port Botany yesterday. A part-shipment of inner rockers from Daniel (the rest, I'm told, will be arriving in the next container). And the Ferno stretcher I bought last year on Ebay.

I've got no idea how the rockers weld together. I'm hoping someone's installed these before and knows some tricks to it?



Presently stored in my lounge room (until I get that "look" of disapproval from the missus, at which point I'll probably move them to my already-full garage).

Just a quick update since I haven't updated this thread in ages.

After another dash-for-cash to Afghanistan last year, when I got home I decided to spend some money on the Ecto and get a professional to do some of the major rust repairs for me. So here it is yesterday getting loaded on the truck:



And here it is after arriving at Pro Street Restorations:



Greg @ Pro Street is going to replace the inner and outer rockers, and all the rusty and missing floor sections and any other major structural rust that exists. Already having most of the repair sections from Daniel Lauzon (drcaron's metal-magician in Canada) will save a lot of time. It's not going to be cheap, but at least it'll be a professional job and it'll get done a lot quicker than I could ever do it. Greg has also done major work on two other hearses in the NSW Cadillac Club so it was an easy choice going to him.

Oh yeah, and check out my powdercoated rims and new whitewalls I intended to do the wheels and tyres last but necessity dictated that they be done now, due to the crappy old (very old) Mexican rolling stock contantly deflating. However I'm still looking for two more 59/60 wheels to replace the back wheels on this car, which are non-standard at the moment.

after reading all this; as cool as it is to be an aussie, it makes me not ever want to deal with it for importing a car. there goes my dream of owning a v8 interceptor.

I know a lot of guys in the USA that have imported Aussie coupes without any troubles. But that was back in the early-mid 2000's when Aussie muscle cars were still affordable and the American Dollar was dominating the Aussie Dollar. Now the fortunes are reversed because of the high AUD, and it's harder to find a decent affordable coupe as well.

Keep an eye on the Australian Ford Falcon Club on yahoogroups and Facebook, occasionally a coupe will go up for sale in the US if you want to chase the dream.

That's such a pretty car as is. Almost a shame to Ecto-fy it, but it's come so far for that purpose, I don't blame you for going for it. Good luck on the build!

It's a lot rustier than it looks. I'd hate to have a car with worse rust. Besides, Ecto conversions don't have to be permanent. Anything done can be easily undone when the Ecto fever wears off.

x2

Adam, have you looked at the price of a XB or XC Cobra recently? They are getting out of reach for anybody.

yeah it's an incomprehensible project car.

Hey Rick

Is a long time that I dont have news from you I am happy to find you here , I will waite to see the progress on your project .

Martin

Great car -- I'll watching this with great anticipation !

These are the inner sills that Daniel Lauzon fabricated for me:



The panel beater, Greg, tells me that he is assembling the box-beam sections outside of the car and will cut/weld them into place in sections:



I've got lots of photos of rust, but here's the latest:



The car will have to be free of all rust before I can even attempt to get it registered in my state, so a lot of money and effort is going into getting the body of this car right before I can even start on the Ecto conversion.

hey Rick That is a good job your bin doing

Martin

Sweet baby Jesus is this thing awesome!!!!

Sent from my DROID X2 using Ghostbusters Fans on Android

Wow. You weren't kidding about the rust. That's still an amazing looking car. Good luck cleaning it up!

Just a quick update with more rust woes. It appears the pillars that the rear side doors hinge to were all rusted out at the bottom, basically connected to the car by a sliver of swiss cheesed steel. The panel beater said he was surpised the side doors hadn't fallen off by now. So that had to be fixed.



The rear section of the cabin floors have also been replaced, but as you can see the giant rust hole isn't quite covered by the replacement metal and another section will have to be made up and welded in.



The left-hand rear floor has also been fixed up.



50 man hours have so far been spent by the panel shop fixing the rust in this car with probably another 150 or more to go. I'd like to think that with all this money and work that another Cadillac pro-car has been saved from the scrap heap. So if any pro-car purist gives me shit about "ruining" it by turning it into an Ecto I won't hesitate to punch them in the face.

oh ,that is verry nice job on the pillars and I see the rear seat floors pan (cabin) fit verry good Daniel Lauzon will be pride of your job .
I am original car lover but if it wont be from us all thoses car wont be save from scrap cause many of them ps member wont try to restored as we done it .

Now that I see those pictures I cant waite to finish my Superior and get back on my Miller Meteor.

Martin

Very nice work Rick! Its truly a remarkable job. Inspires me to get off my butt and get replacing the panels on my Ecto.

The goes to my panel beater, I just pay his invoices, lol. But it's worth spending money to get it done right the first time. My role doesn't begin until I have a serviceable rust-free Cadillac.

My Easter weekend project has been to build the Proton Pack rack for the back of the ambulance. I'm aalllmost there, I have all the 1" tubing welded up, tomorrow I'll finish making the other 3 tubing base plates, then throw a coat of paint over everything.



I've chosen Fifthriders method of doubling up the 1" brackets that the packs hook onto. Main reason being is that the 1-bracket method (as used on the movie car) wouldn't work with my proton pack. Second reason is my pack and the other proton packs in our group were all built individually and this method provides the most universal way of mounting the packs to the rack.

That is the best way to do it for safety handle of the pack on travelling ,in the movie is only made for little ride but us we will goin out for real good time .

Martin