Almost finished cutting and welding a new Rack for my 1960 Cadillac Superior Hightop Ambulance and don’t know if you can order the tank straps or you have to build them… If you build them… How ??? What are the dimensions and how are they attached to the Rack (welded or bolted)?
My metal working skills and tools are limited but have learned to cut the metal and weld it… (Very Proud of my really ugly welds). So, I need all the help I can get. Most of you have seen my Ecto here (most posts made by kni1ght), our Oklahoma team has made the best of the hightop… Now I’m converting it to a slightly more accurate Ecto (as much as possible since it is a Hightop. Wish me Luck…
You’ll have to make the straps. The ones on Ecto are just made from 1 1/4" wide metal that is bent around the tanks and then the ends are bent to clamp down on the tanks and a bolt and nut hold it together. It attaches to the rack on 1 1/4" wide by 1/8" thick metal bars that are welded directly to the rack.
Here is the placement of those bars that the straps attach to.
Tulsa, do you have any pics of the car currently? I’ve assumed it was Mike’s car, since he’s always in the youtube videos. I’d like to see the changes you’ve made to it. Are you going to keep covering the hightop parts, or just build an accurate rack to sit on top of it?
LIke always.. You Rock Gb4ever ! THANKS for the info… I found some strap material and both extra metal to weld the vertical support plates… So hopefully I’ll have a finished rack by next week… AND one of these days you need to come to Tulsa and hangout with your fellow Oklahoma Ghostbusters. Drive around town with our Ecto…
Texasbuster, I started a post about the changes but have not updated it until I start the official installation of the new rack and the parts that will cover most of the Hightop. I’m planning on buying and installing LED Signs like the ones used on Ecto-1A. This will make my car look like a mix of 1 and 1A but most importantly will make the car look more accurate (at least 75 % of it). Also planning on swapping front bumpers to make mine look like a 1959 Caddy instead of a 1960. So, Pics will be shared soon…
And Yes everyone thinks it is Mike’s car because he talks and post so much about it… He loves my car so much sometimes it scares me… a Christine kind of situation… Most of our buddies and I picked on Mike about it to a point that I think bothered him… We were in a car show with several of our movie cars and when anyone asked who was the owner of any of the cars, we pointed at Mike. Later we were joking on how he got them all there by himself.. We claimed he drove his Jurassic Park Jeep while piloting the Back to the Future Delorean by remote control, KITT, Herbie, Mater and the Autobot are sentient so they drove themselves while the other Jurassic Park Jeep must have been in rails and computer piloted from the JP control room. We laughed so hard about it… that I think it bothered Mike. Mike is a cool guy that has devoted tons of time and effort to make my car look the way it does… I trust him with it enough that he’s got his own set of keys but that has lead to my car roaming around town enough to make people think that he is the owner… In the near future, most of the work that Mike has done is being replaced with the new stuff… the old stuff will be donated to the other Ecto Project that Mike is currently working on… I guess we’ll see what the future brings…
I’d really like to see what you came up with to accommodate the high top.
I really do need to come hang out with you guys. Hopefully sometime soon I’ll have the oppritunity. I I had planned to go to that Ray Parker Jr. Halloween concert you guys were at a while back. I just can’t get a long enough break to make it up that way. I used to be in the Tulsa area once a week to see my family in Vinita, but I work so much these days that it makes it difficult to find any free time.
Oh, I remember the thread. It got kinda nasty at the end. I didn’t quite understand what any of that was about. I guess Knight kinda considers it his car, like how you described here.
Not sure why the photos are not showing for you… but here are some:
The Etched Glass:
The way the car looked when I bought it:
About Kni1ght… He is very passionate and protective because of how much love and time he has spent making the car look the way it does right now… It has been a big team effort… I think he is taking it personally that I’m taking it upon myself to upgrade the car and I’m doing most of the work… I respect his opinion and appreciate his friendship but at the end of the day it is my car and I do with it what I want…
I personally think the high-top superior is the best looking of the various pro cars, Ecto-1 or not. The roof and built-in lights just look awesome.
You really should post some new photos.
I still think you should build a movie accurate rack and just mount it on top instead of trying to hide the original elements of the car’s roof. They look cool. You won’t be able to make the car 100% movie accurate(and that’s fine), so i’d just let the high-top parts show and make the rack as accurate as possible.
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