ECTO-SRV! Relay for Life event photos....

[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.

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[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.

[ChapterMasterTuShan]

@TexasBuster

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 ■■■■ 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!