Return to the BUILD

“In this [stage], you will continue to build the front face of the Ecto-1, this time assembling and fitting the front bumper and fog lights.”

Contents

Parts

Materials: All of the parts in this stage are plastic.

Magazine – Issue 3

• Model Instructions
• Harold Ramis: Memories of Egon
• The Story of Slimer: How the Green Ghoul was Created
• Ecto-101: Saturday Night Live

Free Gift #1 – Collector’s Binder

Build

Bumper & Fog Lights

Step 01

Retrieve the Front License Plate from Stage 1. Fit the Front License Plate into the recess of the Front Bumper as shown:

The back of the Front License Plate has two posts that match the holes in the Front Bumper:

Make sure the plate is the correct way up:

Secure these together from behind with two (2) black BM screws.

This is your friendly reminder to try using 3-in-One Oil on all screws going into metal:

Step 02

NOTE: It is worth mentioning here that the fog lights supplied with our Ecto-1 will not light up without modification. The ‘bulb’ here is just part of the plastic molding:

Unfortunately, this is in direct conflict with what is shown in the Stage 1 Introduction Leaflet which clearly indicates they should work. Therefore, I don’t feel we can trust the marketing materials as they appear to reference the prototype of this build and changes have been made to the production run:

Fit the Left Fog Light Lenses into the Left Fog Light Casing (from the inside) as shown:

The Left and Right Fog Light Lenses are marked ‘L’ and ‘R’ to indicate the side:

While it may seem that you could put these in either way, be sure it matches what you see below for the best fit:

Place the Left Outer Fog Light Frame (marked L1) over the outermost lens and secure with two (2) black AP screws:

Place the Left Inner Fog Light Frame (marked L2) over the innermost lens and secure with two (2) black AP screws:

The completed fog light assembly should look like this:

Step 03

Fit the Right Fog Light Lenses into the Right Fog Light Casing (from the inside) as shown.

Again, pay attention to the orientation of these lenses in the housing below:

Place the Right Outer Fog Light Frame (marked R1) over the outermost lens and secure with two (2) black AP screws:

Place the Right Inner Fog Light Frame (marked R2) over the innermost lens and secure with two (2) black AP screws:

Step 04

Attach the Left Fog Light Casing assembly to the left end of the Front Bumper with one (1) black DP screw:

Attach the Right Fog Light Casing assembly to the right end of the Front Bumper with one (1) black DP screw:

At this point, our bumper should look like this:

Step 05

Retrieve the Front Grille assembly from the previous stage. Align the three tabs (circled below) across the bottom with the matching holes of the Front Bumper assembly we just built, and secure with three (3) black DP screws:

UPDATE Nov 5, 2020: As I mentioned back in Stage 1, my Issue 12 shipment (Packs 39-42) included a replacement Front License Plate that includes all four border lines and silver screw heads. This new plate appears to be much more accurate:

It was an easy two screw job to replace the existing plate on my front bumper assembly. Here is a before and after comparison:

Thoughts

This bumper/grille assembly is looking very nice and it is really wide! I am disappointed that the fog lights do not contain LEDs, but there has been discussion online that they would not come on with the headlights on a 1959 Cadillac anyway.

Next Up

Stage 4 – Left Front Tire, Hub Cap, Center Cap, Outer/Inner Wheel