By transam99
#4930553
Ok posted all the videos i have. Sorry i am not a professional at taking or editing video. I have several photos i will post later. I took the whole front clip off because the bumper support was sheared off the car and had to be fixed. Also made it easier to work on the frontend. So right now its more of a dragto-1. And the exhaust is only two feet long so it is super loud. I also built my kid an ecto of her own.
By BRD 527
#4930554
transam99 wrote: January 28th, 2020, 7:15 am Ok posted all the videos i have. Sorry i am not a professional at taking or editing video. I have several photos i will post later. I took the whole front clip off because the bumper support was sheared off the car and had to be fixed. Also made it easier to work on the frontend. So right now its more of a dragto-1. And the exhaust is only two feet long so it is super loud. I also built my kid an ecto of her own.
I was going to say the vehicle in the last video doesn't quite look or sound the same as the others :mrgreen:

Awesome work, keep it up!
User avatar
By Macktacular
#4930572
Thanks for posting the vids! With the front end off it looks like the closest thing we'll ever get to seeing Ghostbusters in the Mad Max universe.
By transam99
#4930596
It looks pretty badass in person with the front end off buuuut thats not gonna last. I got the powersteering working today huge win. Next i have to figure out a safe gas tank cuz right now its a gas can in the seat next to me. I am going to pull the tranny pan and the oil pan to clean out any old gunk. Once that is done i will drive it long enough to make sure it shifts gears,stops and doesn't overheat. Oh and install seatbelts because this car doesn't even have bolts for them. Small things like power steering working keeps me excited and motivated.
By BRD 527
#4930598
Could go with a racing fuel cell :-|
By transam99
#4931894
So I found out my ecto is an early 61. So it is a modified 1960. I was able to locate a parts 1959 car. I took the front end off and put it on my ecto. I fixed the wiring gremlins so now i have working brake lights, headlights and turn signals. I will take the front end off again soon. I plan on a real test drive soon.
By transam99
#4931898
Btw if anyone wants to swap a 59 front end onto a 61 its not a direct swap but it is very close. The inner fenders needs to be trimmed 3 inches. The core support needs 4 inches hacked off and u need to cut the tabs off of the windshield wiper surround. Also the bolt holes do not line up for the bumper. The two outside holes need to be expanded and two new inner holes drilled. But overall not too hard so far.
Ecto-1 fan, dyfea liked this
By eugenepeabody
#4931900
That looks fantastic!! Great job!

I'm not too familiar with all the different models of Cadillacs. Can you use any 1959 Cadillac front bumper for this swap? Can it be from a coupe or sedan or does it have to come from a 1959 commercial chassis Cadillac?

EDIT: Reading and looking closer at your post I guess you did a complete front end swap. Can this be done with any 1959 Cadillac? If you weren't going for such close authenticity, could you have just done a front bumper/grill swap?
By transam99
#4931903
Any 59 front end will work turns out. Only thing u need to make sure is that the front bottom trim piece on the 61 bolts on and is not molded into the fender. My dash is also a 1960 dash not a 61.
dyfea liked this
By transam99
#4931904
No the 59 is different from the 61 so i had to swap the whole front end sheetmetal. I think you could swap the botten bumper onto the 61 but u would have to take the center bar and grill off
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By dyfea
#4932006
transam99 wrote: March 1st, 2020, 1:30 pm No the 59 is different from the 61 so i had to swap the whole front end sheetmetal. I think you could swap the botten bumper onto the 61 but u would have to take the center bar and grill off
actually, im very curious as to the doors on these cars, since so much of the front needs modifying to fit 1959 panels, whats the situation on the drivers doors? are they 1960 sedan doors or coupe doors or custom? its obvious that they arent 1961 sedan doors, what did they come off of?
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By lifelongfan
#4950472
Transam99, if I end up building my crusty 1961 Duplex, I'm considering converting from '61 to '59 parts (including quarter panels) and shaving the lower "skeg" fin from the door skins. I'm curious...your car has the taller doors (has the piece above the window trim), mine does not...and I've noticed some 1960 models have the tall doors and some don't. Why are some taller than others? My '61 and my '62 both have the shorter doors (they're both Duplexes). Also, I noticed you trimmed your radiator support and fender wells...if you're getting stuff off of a parts car, wouldn't it be easier to swap on the 1959 radiator support and fender wells too? You also mentioned something about your car having a 1960 dash instead of a 1961 dash, what's the difference? The dash in my 1961 and the dash in my 1962 look just like a 1959/1960 dash from what I've seen. The steering columns and steering wheels are slightly different, but the dashes look the same to me. Any advice is appreciated!
By transam99
#4950518
The suspension and frame is different on a 59 vs 61. The 61 has front strut bars that interfere w the bottom of the radiator support. U can swap out the 61 core support but i found it easier to just modify the 59s.

I know there are high and low tops. I have heard people describe limo style hearse too but i am not sure if that is the difference or not. What i find crazy is urs has the jump seats so it should be designed to have a taller roof. I kinda like the way ur roofline looks. Looks cleaner than the taller roofs.

The dash on a 61 is suppoesed to be different but i guess miller used left over 59/60 dashes for a few years. I had bought a 61 parts car (not hearse) and it had a different dash.
By 69428scj
#4950555
transam99 wrote: June 11th, 2021, 2:29 am The suspension and frame is different on a 59 vs 61. The 61 has front strut bars that interfere w the bottom of the radiator support. U can swap out the 61 core support but i found it easier to just modify the 59s.

I know there are high and low tops. I have heard people describe limo style hearse too but i am not sure if that is the difference or not. What i find crazy is urs has the jump seats so it should be designed to have a taller roof. I kinda like the way ur roofline looks. Looks cleaner than the taller roofs.

The dash on a 61 is suppoesed to be different but i guess miller used left over 59/60 dashes for a few years. I had bought a 61 parts car (not hearse) and it had a different dash.
I'm going to kindly disagree. There are very little differences between the '59 and '61 commercial X-frames. The '61 doesn't have any sort of strut bar I've seen. If you have a picture of the strut bars, I welcome you changing my belief. A high-top roof was optional. Both my '59s have jump seats, but the standard 48" roof. They were both ordered as "duplex", or combination ambulance/hearse cars instead of the standard funeral coach without jump seats. High-tops were only for ambulance-specific applications. Limo-style refers to there being windows all around instead of landau panels.
By transam99
#4950563
I am going to kindly disagree w your kindly disagree :). https://www.opgi.com/chassis-suspension ... 01433.html I have pictures of the install where u can see the strut arms going to the front bumper support. (I will try to post pics later if i can rembr how) And i dealt w it myself and it was a pain. Maybe it is not on all 61s? But it was/is on mine.

So i dont have the build sheet for my car and the body tag says 3 way. I know there was three main bodys landau, futura and sentinel and 3 way was supposedly offered in all bodies. I believe mine is a futura (wrap around glass) 3way and from every pic i have found of the original ecto mine looks to match and that was a futura duplex. Mine was not an ambulance so it is not a duplex. Sentinel had two roof heights so is mine a sentinel 3 way?

Either way i love my car regardless but it would be cool to know exactly what she is called.
By 69428scj
#4950573
Thanks for providing that link. I was mistaken, the standard coach roofline is 42". In actuality, landau, futura, and sentinel were not body styles, they were body options. Here's a small snippet of the different models for 1960 showing some of the differences (I don't have a complete 1959 brochure) Image

Here's a picture of a '61 three-way landau. Ipso facto, your car is a three-way futura.
Image
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By lifelongfan
#4950593
I wasn't actually referring to the roof height, I was referring to the door height. On some cars, the door is cut into the roof, above the aluminum window trim. The original Ecto, and all '59's that I've seen have the taller doors. Starting in 1960 (?), I've seen cars with doors that extend into the roof and some where the doors do not extend into the roof. My 1961 and my 1962 doors do not extend into the roof, but Transam99's 1961 doors DO extend into the roof. Both his and mine have the 42" roof height. I was wondering why M+M did this... Also, my '61 and '62 both have the '59 style dash, I thought that all of the '59-'64 commercial chassis cars had this dash...
By 69428scj
#4950594
For clarification, I was correcting myself where I said the standard roofline is 48". I learned though conversation with former plant workers in early/mid-60 production run they stopped having the doors open into the roof to reduce build complexity and time. The reason why transam99's doors are that way is because his car is a three-way, and would need that extra clearance for pallbearers and the casket. As far as the dash, Cadillac I'll plead ignorance if you're saying your '61 and '62 have the same dash. It's possible that was only the case for commercial chassis, but the passenger car dashes were considerably different among the three model years.
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