Boomer, I'm looking at you, hon.

My car needs to be shamelessly Ecto-riced. It's a 1994 Dodge Shadow, and looks exactly like this -



- only it's rusty as hell, has no wheel covers, and is pretty much a pile of moving crap. The engine, however, was recently rebuilt by close friends of the family before coming into my posession just recently. I'm pretty much planning to transfer the roof rack to whatever my next car is, using my current car as a test bed.

It needs a name, and it needs suggestions. Obviously I'm not going for a serious “HOLY CRAP THAT'S AN AWESOME ECTO” look. If I paint the thing, we're talking KRYLON.

My main inquiries are:

1: Mounting hardware and methods concerning the roof rack.

2: Best way to fake the movie siren on a next-to-nothing budget.

3: Am I an idiot? I'm pretty sure I am, but I need some feedback.

She also needs a name, and I'm open to ideas for the vanity plates. I was thinking along the lines of
ECTO1somethingorother.

Well, it's a smaller car, so you don't want to go nuts with roof equipment. Personally, I'd go for a small light bar and some random roof kibble, small and light. Put some equipment in the backseat… either filling the entire thing or just one side (don't block the windows too much… no need making extra blind spots).

First rule of Ghostbusting is never go in alone… so make it so you can seat yourself and at least one other person comfortably… and a third not-so comfortably in a pinch.

Leave the trunk empty to store your GB equipment (packs, traps, or the roof gear when/if you want to take it off) or every day stuff

After mine was hit by a semi… we called it the Wrecktomobile.

Boomerjinks
After mine was hit by a semi… we called it the Wrecktomobile.

Haha! Brilliant!

Thanks for the suggestions, zeta. This one is more or less just the test bed, so I only plan to modify the outside. The lights will probably be only thing that reach inside the car, you know, wiring and whatnot.

I don't plan to go too nuts on the rack, considering she's only a SOHC 2.2. Since she's my daily driver, I think the only permanent modification will be the caution stripes and possibly white spraypaint. The logos will be magnets (assuming I can locate them) and the rack removable, so I can avoid questions and photo ops and whatnot on days I'm in a rush. (*janine)

WRECKTO 1. I think that could work. :p

Using money on such a car would be useless… And the result might (or mostly will) be ugly.
I don't get the point of having an ugly copy of Ecto 1.
And don't use caps for titles :@

Yehome
Using money on such a car would be useless… And the result might (or mostly will) be ugly.
I don't get the point of having an ugly copy of Ecto 1.
And don't use caps for titles :@

Well arent you a stick in the mud?

Yehome
Using money on such a car would be useless… And the result might (or mostly will) be ugly.
I don't get the point of having an ugly copy of Ecto 1.
And don't use caps for titles :@

I've seen far uglier cars then Addie's Dodge Shadow become quite reasonable looking Ectomobiles.

If you need a beer or a cool soda to calm down, then please go get one from the fridge.

Addie, I haven't tried this myself but I've read a few accounts of people playing a mp3 of Ecto-1's siren using a MP3 player and presumably a PA speaker.

As for lights, whilst the light laws vary from state to state you'll likely only be able to use yellow lights in New York state. However, you may wish to consult the local givernment for further info. Signing up to Proptopia/GBProps may also be of invaluable help.


As for a name?

Ecto-Shade (or simply ‘SHADE’ for vanity plates) given it's called a ‘Shadow’.

Of course, it could be a name based on the vehicle's personality, my brother used to own a car that spiders loved to cobweb, and so he christened it “Arachne”.

Addiemonster
The logos will be magnets (assuming I can locate them) and the rack removable, so I can avoid questions and photo ops and whatnot on days I'm in a rush. (*janine)

WRECKTO 1. I think that could work. :p

As for the logos, try your luck on eBay–there's usually a few magnetic logos floating around there.

Yehome
Using money on such a car would be useless… And the result might (or mostly will) be ugly.
I don't get the point of having an ugly copy of Ecto 1.
And don't use caps for titles :@

Owning an Ecto is useless no matter what kind of car it is. It's heavy, uses an absurd amount of power, and serves no purpose other than to make people (mainly yourself) smile.

The point is that I'm using my car to test my fabricating/welding/wiring skills, and in the end, it's a spoof car. It isn't meant to be cool. It's meant to be a big rolling joke.

As for the caps in the title, I meant for it to be like some big dramatic shout.

While I'm eBaying for magnetic logos, I'll see if I can find you a reasonably priced sense of humor.

Thanks, Kingpin, I was thinking about the MP3 idea, myself. Shade, that's a neat idea, but frankly too slick a name for my car. :-)

Magnets are usually unbelievably expensive in comparison to just getting a set of vinyl graphics printed at your local FastSigns, plus they can be stolen.

On my original ecto we just tucked computer speakers behind the lightbars and ran our sound from a cd player. It sucked because of all the cables and inverters we needed to power the speakers (including sub in the back).

My current set-up has a pair of waterproof 6-inch marine speakers mounted in the rack, hidden behind the side tanks. Speaker wire runs from there through the rear hatch and into my rear bed storage compartment, where the amp is mounted. From there, we have a power cable running to the battery and a power switch in the dash, and another cable tucked under the carpet that emerges next to the front console, which we plug into a discman or mp3 player.

The sound is fantastic.