[910dohead]

Hi, Guys! The Southland Ghostbusters will be purchasing a Ford Flex for our group Ectomobile later this month. We're reaching out to the community asking if anyone can aid us in locating some of the more rare parts. We're looking to get our roof rack as close to the movie as possible.

This picture was taken from one of the other forums that someone put together in photoshop. This is roughly our goal for our Ecto-1. We had looked into purchasing a '59 Miller Meteor or a similar classic car, but we've leaned towards a modern conversion after talking with a few actual Ecto owners.

We've already been on the lookout for the parts for quite some time now. Mainly the more rare electrical parts are what we're after (lights, raydome, federal siren, etc). Basically, whatever we can't completely fabricate is what we're looking for. Anyone have a contact of a great supplier? Really don't wish to pay some of these eBay prices. Also, maybe some suggestions on a modern day equivalent?

On a side note, anyone in California have any trouble putting ECTO on a personalized license plate? The DMV seems to reject everything we send their way. Just curious...

[69428scj]

Perhaps I can be of assistance. Let's discuss over PMs.

[dKiD Clue]

should make a nice ecto

[Rodimus]

im looking forward to this.

[910dohead]

Thanks guys! We're looking forward to it as well. We also think its going to be a fantastic build. We are at the stage right now where we're trying to get the car for the price we would like to pay. We are almost there. I believe the plan is to have the car by the end of the month. Obviously, we are at an early stage of trying to locate most of the roof rack parts. We've located a few of the parts by some of the awesome members here, but we're still on the lookout for a lot more. So if anyone can help us out by locating some of the parts, we would greatly appreciate it.

We're mainly only looking for the exterior parts. We have 5 members (possibly 6) in our group who will be using the car to go to events, so we're not looking to replicate any of the interior features. However, we will be building a system to house and secure our proton packs inside of the vehicle. That's about as much that we'll do to the interior though. We're going to need the extra room. Also, if any of you guys have any suggestions on our build, we would like to hear them.

Once we get the car, I think the first thing we're going to do is compare measurements of our roof to the actual Ecto-1 roof. We will need to figure out how much room we're going to have/need to have if we're using real parts without making the build look cluttered if we have to build in a smaller scale. Once we have the measurements we need, we will have the rack fabricated, built and then go from there.

[Heroic35]

Awesome

[c05ta]

I cant wait to see how this turns out.
Im a huge fan of FORD and have always liked the flex but never thought of making it an ecto.

[910dohead]

This will essentially be our build thread for the car, but it's also going to be a while before you see any progress. We haven't bought the car yet because the group wants it properly insured. The ins. company is having a problem with how to go about insuring the vehicle. They know exactly what our plans going to be for the car and they're looking into it. We want to make sure we don't get screwed over by the insurance co. if the car were ever in an accident. With some of the horror stories we've heard from other Ecto owners, people will do some pretty stupid things to get a picture and crash into the car. We want to make sure we have full coverage on the vehicle. Once we have our policy, the Flex will be purchased.

Ecto owners: What was your experience with insurance companies? Were you able to have the car fully covered? If so, what type of policy did you end up with? Was your car registered as commercial or personal?

[ramcuda]

you INS will let you put full coverage on it .. I would tell you to have it covered as a collector / show car and then you can do an agreed upon value... and this is often cheaper that standard full coverage INS ....and you dont pic what its reg as commercial or passenger that is all DMV ... and your flex would be passenger any how ...As for commercial vs personal .. you not a business are you ? ....so it would be personal as one of you would be the owner far as DVM concerned...

[charlesbaby2001]

Ramcuda, thanks for the info...that really helps. I have an insurance broker that I have worked with for many years and she is looking in this for me. I will differently send her an email about collector / show car insurance. I so excited to get this build started and can't wait to show the progress.

Thanks everybody for the help, it is greatly appreciated.

[ramcuda]

no prob... i built in a smaller scale to fit the car so remember that when part hunting and sizing the rack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5-10K-NRN4

[charlesbaby2001]

It looks good. Did you have issue with the ECTO plate in CA? I keep getting rejected for anything with Ecto

[Darthdono74]

Charles, what type of plates are you trying to obtain for your ECTO?

Are you trying to get commercial plates, or personal auto plates?

Just logged out of CA DMV and was able to select many different custom ECTO designation plates under personal auto.

If your group is trying to get commercial plates, that could be the issue.

Was able to get and still own ECTOHHR for my Ecto in CA with no issue at all.

[Darthdono74]

As far as insurance,
My Ecto has full coverage as a personal auto with no issues at all.

My wife and I share the policy on our cars and can basically add and remove anyone we want to the policy at any time.

Can't see why you couldn't designate a member of your group as a primary policy holder, then add anyone else who plans to drive the vehicle to the policy as a dependent or co driver.

Just be prepared that they will most likely prorate you based on everyone's driving records, age and so on. So having 5/6 of you insured on the car could be rather pricy.

Good luck to you all and your future group Ecto

[ramcuda]

Darthdono74 last two post are right on with the info ....

And you can get a vanity plate on a commercial truck ...I have them on my truck ...

[charlesbaby2001]

I have been trying to get as a personal car not commercial on my personal vehicle and have been rejected by the DMV. The DMV online site lets me go through the whole process for the personalized plates and when I am ready to pay it denys it. Maybe I have to go to the DMV?

[charlesbaby2001]

Parts are being purchased.....this is a challenging and pretty educational

[ramcuda]

what part are you buying ?

[910dohead]

Here is what we've found for the car so far.

- 2x Code 3 Force 4 XL lightbars w/ blue domes
- Federal Beacon Model 19 Propelloray (still need outer red lense)
- Federal Coaster Siren #C5GB
- 4x par 46 deck lights
- Unity s6 spot light w/ rear view / blue lense
- Electri-flex Liquatite grey hose
- Quick Drain RV Hose / Blue hoses
- Wink Rear View Mirror
- Crix Ecto-1 Soundkit
- Ecto-1 1:1 stickers/labels

I think that's what we've found / purchased for the car so far. We're very lucky to have found some of the more rare parts right up front. Now we're looking very hard for the Whelen and Grimes strobes, whip antennas, & an accurate mandrel.

If anyone knows of a good place to find the A-6 oxygen tanks for a decent price, please let us know. Also, does anyone know any info on the right heatsinks? Having trouble trying to figure these out.

I want to also thank everyone who have been able to help us in our search for parts.

[ramcuda]

wow .. sounds like your spending a ton of cash .... so your going for a movie correct rack on a new car .... bold move

[Darthdono74]

Nothing wrong with a close to screen accurate roof rack on a modern car. That's what we did and continue to work on for my HHR.

That will look great on the flex.
Looking forward to seeing when you all lock down the car and start fabricating

[910dohead]

We managed to find and purchased the two A-6 oxygen tanks, but now it looks like we'll need a 3rd to make the radome (there's another thread that I made where I posted my findings about this). I found the mandrel for the radar dish but we haven't purchased it yet. Also, I may have located one of the heatsinks (driver side), but I am still doing more research on them. The smaller heatsinks has a TO-3 hole for a resistor, so it sort of gives itself away. The larger heatsink next to the radar appears to be 2 large heatsinks that are bolted together. The holes in them are either for TO-3 resistors or possibly TR-3 (due to the size?). I think it may have come off of a radio or amplifier system. Still trying to locate those.

At this point, i'm trying very hard to locate the strobe lights. We've just about found everything except these. Anyone out there willing to sell us the Whelen strobe or the two Grimes strobes?

[Ecto-1 fan]

The Whelen strobes show up on eBay occasionally. I have seen the exact ones on airplane salvage websites (?), but I don't remember exactly where I saw one last.

But are you sure about the Grimes'? The front bumper on the Flex does not stick out far enough to support them, and you wouldn't want them just blobbed onto the grille. That seems to be one item that I'd either ignore, or find a more appropriately sized/shaped (e.g. modern) equivalent for.

Perhaps someone who is more familiar with emergency lighting could give a suggestion? Strobes from a cruiser's pushbar?

[69428scj]

If you REALLY want the Grimes strobes, I have a friend in Atlanta who works for an aviation parts company where I got the lens for my HRDF. He can sell them for I think $400 a PIECE, so your best bet is to wait until they pop up online to get them cheaper.

[o0Ecto1A0o]

But are you sure about the Grimes'? The front bumper on the Flex does not stick out far enough to support them, and you wouldn't want them just blobbed onto the grille. That seems to be one item that I'd either ignore, or find a more appropriately sized/shaped (e.g. modern) equivalent for.

Hey, thought I might jump in here, I am already working with a shop that is going to help us with the customization of the vehicle. I have been talking to the guy about mounting all of this on the car including the front strobes.

[Ecto-1 fan]

I have been talking to the guy about mounting all of this on the car including the front strobes.

Cool. I'd love to see what you come up with. I love the Flex, and think it would make great Ecto.

Edit- found a (single) cheap, working one one on eBay.
EBAY LINK REMOVED
Also look for arizonaairsalvage and flyingfishaircraftparts3216226944. There are some used, junk ones that may possibly be good templates or shells? Building an Ecto is an exercise in patience, and you collected a LOT of stuff in a short time!

Also - this place looks like they had several: http://www.krn.com/

[charlesbaby2001]

Thanks for finding these.....I will look into buying these.

[RPMs]

We managed to find and purchased the two A-6 oxygen tanks...

Where did you find them? All of my searches turned up empty, whether it be broken links, they'd already been sold, or people who weren't willing to sell.

[charlesbaby2001]

We bought them all on ebay

[910dohead]

Here's somewhat of an update. I guess we've gone on a spending spree for the roof rack because we've found almost every part we need. Yay! Besides what we've already purchased, some more items that we located and secured are the following:
- Outer red lense for the Propelloray (both original and a replica)
- Blue Force 4 XL endcaps for the light bars
- Replacement lense for Whelen HRDF-200 strobe
- Saw Mandrel
- 16 pin circular plastic connectors (pre-restoration piece)
- NMO antenna's with hole plug for raydome tower (modified / also pre-restoration piece)
- Damn close blower motor for fan box
- Accurate fan blades (very excited to find this)
- Braided ground strap cable
- Midland 77-859 CB Radio (another exciting find!)
- 3rd oxygen tank (not going to get into this)

Need to find accurate louvers for the wood rack and fan box, which I am sure I will locate once I get to researching them. Also, going through a company that will make the dome for the bubble radar. However, going to pm a few Ecto owners to ask where they sourced theirs. The company we contacted doesn't sound too sure they can make it properly.

Now, i'm going to talk mainly about the heatsinks and get into some details about it. Like we stated before, we believe we found one of smaller ones but we don't have accurate measurements yet for them. We have to hold off on these for now. The one w/ 11 fins could be taken from a larger size one and cut it down to the correct size (will retain the flange). That now leaves the big heatsink. We received some great information about the heatsink. As you know, they are two identical heatsinks that are bolted back-to-back to each other. We had an expert take a look at the heatsink on the car and got some solid details that will help us locate it.

We were told that it's possibly an aircraft radar heatsink, but obviously couldn't identify it just from that. The initial shape indicates that it belongs on a unit that needs to dissipate a large volume of heat (obviously). The estimated size being 18" x 10" x 6" would mean it can dissipate heat at a rate of circa 0.25 kw. The device that is radiated by the gizmo (a heat exchanger or a compressor), that possibly have a nominal surface temperature circa 150 to 250 degrees F (65.6C to 121.1C), and would need to dissipate heat sufficient to boiling a cup of water in 120 seconds. We also know that the holes are for TO-3 transistors so it definitely had to cool an industrial device rather large. However due to the odd shape of the heatsink, pinpointing its exact origin would be tough and could very well be manufacturer specific. Based on this information given to us, we are yielding better search results and actually getting closer to locating one very similar (hopefully identifying).

The search for the strobes continues (whip antenna's too). We have located these parts but they are direct from places that want unreasonable prices for them. We can wait to source them on the used market for what we would consider a decent price. Also, parts have been starting to arrive to all of our excitement! After every part is located, we are going to revisit the car and identify the system which rotates the sniffer and the bubble radar. There is a metal bar that appears from underneath the wooden top that goes to a opening at the base of the sniffer tower. It rotates back and forth making the sniffer spin. The same system (or possibly a separate device) also spins a rubber belt that connects to the bottom of the mandrel which also rotates the bubble radar. Luckily for us, after the car was restored, the wooden bottom cover was removed exposing this system. Why not build it if we can figure out what it is?

Also, anyone know the right power supply needed for the Whelen Strobe?