convert ECTO-1A to a non-curbside?

[brodie_83]

I got the AMT Ghostbusters ECTO-1A for Christmas and I was a bit disappointed that the kit was a curbside. Has anyone cut the hood open and put an engine in these kits? If so, I'd love to see how you achieved this. I know Revell-Monogram has a few 1/25 '59 Eldorado kits...wonder if you could kit bash these two to achieve it?

Edited January 9, 2015 by brodie_83

[62rebel]

there's a good Cadillac engine in the AMT '59 El Camino; to get stock exhaust you might need to source the heads used for the Cadillac engine in the AMT '49 ford; they're log style and crammed tight to the head. there's headers in the AMT '58 Impala kit that aren't too bad considering they're made for the 348-409 engine. Revell's parts-pac engine is pretty nice but can be hard to find.

[brodie_83]

No i"m not worried about the correct engine. I just want to know if anyone has done the curbside to non-curbside with this kit? I wanted to put an LS engine in it. Lol

[Drake69]

If they did it for the Batmobile, I'm sure they can do it for Ecto.

[Tom Geiger]

A few quick and dirty photos to give you your answer. Above is the AMT Ghostbusters chassis on the left, and Revell Caddy convertible one on the right. They are quite different. Your question is doable, but you will need TWO Revell chassis to accomplish this. The Revell chassis is also 8 scale inches more narrow. You can add plastic on each edge to fix that and it wouldn't look any different than the AMT chassis at that point.

The 26" in length was done on the center section of the X Frame. Measuring it off, if you cut one Revell chassis at the tail end of that straight section, then cut the other one near the beginning of that same member, you should be able to get that extra length into the chassis. That center section is 30" long. You may have to fiddle with what the chassis will actually look like since you have those seat buckets in the section you will be adding. Depends on how accurate you need to be.

I work in scale, so I will tell you that the ambulance is 26 scale inches longer as you can see in the above picture.

[Ace-Garageguy]

My guess is that the Ecto wagon would have started life as a custom stretch-job in real life. Independent coachbuilders used to do limo and ambulance conversions of the big Caddys. You can stretch ONE chassis like Tom shows with cleanly-done sheet styrene parts and achieve an effect very similar to what a coachbuilt stretch job might look like underneath.

Edited January 11, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[LDO]

If you want to try stretching a Monogram Caddy, I may have parts. I threw away two incomplete kits last weekend while cleaning the garage. I don't remember if I took that bag to the curb.

Let me know. I can check when I get home.

[brodie_83]

LDO I am interested if you can come up with the parts!!! Thanks man!

[Art Anderson]

My guess is that the Ecto wagon would have started life as a custom stretch-job in real life. Independent coachbuilders used to do limo and ambulance conversions of the big Caddys. You can stretch ONE chassis like Tom shows with cleanly-done sheet styrene parts and achieve an effect very similar to what a coachbuilt stretch job might look like underneath.

Cadillac actually offered a "commercial chassis" for years aimed at ambulance and hearse builders, before the rise of commercially built "stretched limousines". Ecto-1 (and -1a) started out as Miller Meteor Limousine Ambulances, M-M using 1959 Cadillac commercial chassis, standard Cadillac firewalls and front end sheet metal, and Cadillac provided 4dr sedan front doors. The firewall/windshield frame assemblies were, I believe, made by Fisher Body Division for the low-production, but prestigious Cadillac Series 75 Sedan Limousine, as more than likely were the front doors. M-M, as with other professional car builders, had to create their own rear side doors, roofs, extended floor pans back door, and perform such modifications to the otherwise standard Cadillac rear quarter panels.

In the case of the '59 Cadillac "Hourglass" frame, the stretch done by GM for commercial use would have been done in the center "box", the front and rear ends being left standard. This can be done, I am pretty sure, by using two Revell-Monogram '59 Cadillac chassis. I seem to recall a lot of discussion in that other magazine when both the Ecto and Eldorado kits were first on the shelves, and guys discovered that some of the front end trim from the Monogram kit would fit pretty easily into the Ecto body, if one wants to get rid of the strobe lights in the Ecto grille.

The AMT Ecto-1a kit comes with a step bumper in the rear, but if you want a more stock looking rear bumper, the Polar Lights Ecto-1 has that, and it's a clean fit into the AMT body.

Art

[GLMFAA1]

Here is my project from a long timeago that now sits in a plastic tub with a few other projects

You be the judge if you want to tackle this type of project, It can be done with work, The big difference is width or the two bodies

good luck!

greg

[LDO]

I'm sorry, but that bag did make it to the curb.

[brodie_83]

Ah nuts...thanks anyways.