Hey folks, I have question for ghost heads here into RC cars. I’m thinking of turning my AMC ecto 1 into a remote control car. Is this doable? When I was a kid I helped my firend put together a RC car kit and remember it being straight forward enough.
A quick search shows there’s different RC scales, so in theory I could get a kit that matches the AMC car’s scale and wheels that match the size of the fake ones on the bucket. Then once I have all the parts cut the bottom of the bucket out to allow room for the mechanical parts.
Were you aware there’s been a couple of radio-controlled Ectos that’ve come out in the last few years? There was one based on the 2016 car, and at least two based on the 1984 Ecto-1… One of those might be easier to source than cutting up your popcorn container?
The possibilities are numerous when it comes to your project. If you could send me some dimensions I could narrow it down to some suitable candidates. The dimensions I would need from the AMC bucket are:
Wheel base (center of front to center or rear axle)
Track width (center of tire to center of tire) of front( and rear if different )
Tire and wheel diameters
Some pics of the bottom
Weight of the bucket w/any “payload” you want to drive around with
Hobby grade R/C cars generally fit into certain sizes based on scale……1/18, 1/16, 1/14, 1/10, 1/8th etc. The wheel and tire packages for those scales will vary considerably as well. If you want something functional vs sporty & performance that will also change what’s available.
The wheelbase would fit a typical 1/10 on road or touring car chassis. But the width is more akin to a 1/18ish. Your best bet might be to find a toy-grade RWD car like this one on Amazon.com and disassemble it to tuck it under your bucket. By the looks of it the bucket may come apart allowing you to build a platform to attach the the running gear from a donor R/C toy. That way you might be able to completely preserve the bucket should you want to revert to it’s original state. It won’t be a high performance popcorn bucket but it should be able to get around the kitchen and other hard surfaces.
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