Ideas and suggestions for a restomod Superbird for charity?

[earlyrides]

My name is Vince and my wife and I are the co-founders of Earlyrides.org. Our simple mission at Earlyrides is to help the world one muscle car at a time. The way we accomplish our mission is to build muscle cars and raffle them off over the course of a one year period and then donate the money to other 501c3 charities. Some of you might have seen the article about us in Mopar Collector's Guide magazine or possibly met us at the Mopars at the Strip show where we were the featured charity car for that event with our first raffle car, a 1970 Plymouth Road Runner. It was a great success and the guy from Cedar City Utah that won was very happy along with the 3 charities that we donated $4000.00 each to.

This year we are raffling off a 1969 Road Runner 440+6 in our second annual raffle that as before has the 5000 ticket limit at $20.00 each for the drawing to be held on August 30th 2014 this time to benefit veterans charities. You can see us at http://earlyrides.org/ .

For our 3rd car we have a 1970 RL21 post coupe Belvedere that we would like to build as a resto-mod Superbird. We think this will be very popular for a charity raffle car.

We have rebuilt, maintained and driven many Mopars over the years including bringing an original owner Daytona back to life that was featured awhile back in MCG. But we have never undertaken a project like this so we need your help and suggestions.

So far I only have the rolling chassis 70 Belvedere post car, the 70 Coronet fenders and hood and a gen III Hemi motor lined up for the project.
Here are some pics.

Here are our questions:
-   What body kit would be best to use? Cost is a concern so if anyone knows of a cheaper way to accomplish this or anyone has pieces they could donate that would be awesome!
-   The passenger compartment floors and frame rails are good but it is going to need a trunk pan? Anyone got one lying around or a connection to get one donated?
-   What about the pop out windows and posts? Leave them in? Change them out to roll down quarter windows? Does anyone have some parts for the conversion they would be willing to donate?
-   What about power windows? Are there any aftermarket systems that work well in these cars?
-   What about interior? Modern buckets from a challenger? Sparco type seats? 5-point harnesses for seat belts?
-   What about the dash? It has a non-rallye dash currently. Is there a way to make a custom gauge pack for this dash or does someone have a rallye dash to donate?
-   What about the steering column? Stick with the stock 70 unit? Is there a good aftermarket unit out there that someone has used that works well?
-   What about adding some sort of roll cage? Too much or a good idea for a car that will be well capable of triple digit speeds?
-   What about doing the metal work? Is there anyone out there that might want to help us accomplish the conversion by donating some labor?
-   What suspension system would you most like to see on a resto-mod Superbird? Something stock but slightly updated? An Alterkation front and 4-link out back? XV motorsport stuff? QA1 tubular components? Something else?
-   What transmission will fit up to the newer style Hemi? Does anyone have something to donate?
-   What about the fuel system? Carb or fuel injection? What has anyone used on a new Hemi that works well?
-   What about ignition? What has anyone used on a new Hemi that works well?
-   What about cooling? It has a 22" support. Will that cool a new Hemi using an aluminum radiator and electric fans or should we change it out to a 26" core support and radiator due to the known under hood heat issues of a Superbird?
-   What about A/C? Put it in or leave it off? What system? Does anyone have a connection for a donation?
-   What type of braking system would be best or does anyone have some connection to get a system donated for this project.
-   What about wheels? I like the slightly bigger rims to clear bigger brakes but what style? Stock looking or something else?
-   What about color? What do you think would have the most appeal not only to the Mopar masses but also to others who might be interested in getting in on the raffle for charity?
-   What charity type do you think we should donate to for this? We were considering something Petty oriented.

The overall theme and particulars for this project are being developed in a very organic way in that we want to build it the best way we can using the kindness of our extended Mopar family.
Yet we know that in the end it will ultimately fall on us to pull it all together.
I originally asked MoparStuart most of these questions and he suggested I post here to get ideas and suggestions from you guys.
I know I have a lot of questions and a lot of requests for donations but what do you think?
Thank you so much in advance.

[Daytona R/T SE]

Asking for donations on this site usually doesn't go very well.

[earlyrides]

Well I am pretty sure that if nothing else; donations of opinions could be accomplished. It seems like there are alot of knowledgable wing-car aficionados on this site that could at least help to provide input. That doesn't cost anything.
Any opinions or advice about any of the questions?

[GOTWING]

 

[Daytona R/T SE]

Building a wing car clone is an expensive, time consuming,

frustrating pain in the ass.

You'll be upside down dollar wise on this thing before you own any parts that

make it look like a wing car.

If you want to build a car to raffle off to help people, that's great.

Realistically, I think you should choose a simpler, more basic project.

Make a Road Runner clone out of that Belvedere.

[Old Tired Rebel]

I agree. I have to scrape together $$$$ for my Charger and he is asking for donations.

[Aero426]

Building a wing car clone is an expensive, time consuming,

frustrating pain in the ass.

You'll be upside down dollar wise on this thing before you own any parts that

make it look like a wing car.

If you want to build a car to raffle off to help people, that's great.

Realistically, I think you should choose a simpler, more basic project.

Make a Road Runner clone out of that Belvedere.

You nailed it.   If the objective is to raise maximum cash for charity, this is an expensive way to go about it. 

[ws23rt]

I agree that your choice for a project will not bring what you may hope.

The public will buy into a GL project more readily because of the notoriety.   And It can even be done with a Coronet.
A charger 318 project can be had for reasonable money. And the metal needed to fix it is at hand.

[JB400]

Well, I'm not into bashing someone on asking for donations.  The best advice I can say is to get a game plan on what parts you wish to use, and then go straight to a distributor (like Year one or Classic Industries) or go to the factory itself.   As far as going to a Petty oriented charity with a Superbird restomod, it has been done already. Not saying you can't do the same, just mentioning it's been done before.
The b pillars and pop out windows are entirely up to you.  Superbirds didn't have them, but keeping them will add additional identity to your tribute car.  It's also cheaper to keep them because you have them.  Roll up windows are a pretty complex piece to deal with.  Adding aftermarket power windows may simplify things but are an additional cost.

Personally, I wouldn't add a cage.  While this car may see  limited track time, the winner of it will probably use it on the street.  Adding a cage makes it difficult for people to get in and out of it, especially the back seat.  You may want to put Recaro seats (or some other brand of bucket seat) in the back as well as the front instead of a bench.  Just an option.

As far as transmissions, anything that will bolt up to a small block mopar will bolt up to the Hemi.  I would suggest either a 5 spd manual or a 3 spd automatic with a gear vendors unit (expensive).  

Color wise, Petty blue is the best color for a Petty type of charity, especially if Petty endorses  the project and the charity.  Personally, I'd avoid orange, yellow, or the lime green.  There are quite a few of the stock Superbirds in those colors.  I would go with white, black, Plum Crazy purple, or silver.  Just some other color that most Superbirds weren't painted.  It'll add more identity to your car.

Most everything else you asked is just options.  Adding a/c will make it more enjoyable for those in warmer climates. You need to decide if you want the outside to look stock or modified.  Same applies to the inside.  Once you figure these out, it'll decide what your wheels and other options are.

Best of luck on your build and don't be afraid to share your buildup with us.  We enjoy watching cars being built.

[Redbird]

Thank you for working on projects for good causes.

Just so we understand, on your first car you donated $12,000 out of how much raised? Your second car you are hoping to raise $ 100,000, how much of that is going to charity? Are the amounts you raise and give away subject to audit by a bona fide CPA and Secretary of State in the state you are operating in and can the public view that?

The Year One/ Petty car was from all accounts very well done for charity. It has been up for sale on e-bay recently. After all the noise making when it was done as to how it was to be raced and everything else...........I have not seen anything about how the car has been an important part of history, I'd guess it pretty much has sat still since it was finished. When it was being built there was a Year One guy that was on at least one web site raving about the car, thanks to his raving I have not bought one Year One part since. It is still just a fake car, but extremely well done. I'm glad a charity got money, now go away with it, I don't want to see it any more.

That said, I do like the Watermelon car, it is well researched and thought out.

Carslile actually gave away a real Superbird years ago. Buy something like the HUB Superbird that is for sale, look for a something with a good price or better price than that and flip it for charity.

Real Car bought right, money pit. Fake car, really big money pit.

[ACUDANUT]

I'm a charity case and I too would like a donated Superchicken or Daytona. Please add me too this list.

[earlyrides]

Thanks everyone.

On our first raffle car attempt we didn't sell even half of the 5000 tickets. But when you are no one from no where it is a hard sell. We spent a ton of money to make it happen too.
There is the state (moonbeam), the feds (OBAMA), the attorney, the accountant, the webpage builder, the advertising in MCG, the insurance, the fuel and expenses of taking the car to the various shows and the list seems to go on and on. Who knew that donating an already built and outright donated car would cost so much money to give away?

We are really hoping the 1969 A12 clone Road Runner does better. (It was a 383 runner to begin with) For certain the people who have seen this car like it much better than the 70.

As far as having open books they make you do that as a 501c3. We are finalizing the raffle totals from last year right now with the accountant and the state of California.

I am actually talking with a few major sponsors so I really appreciate all of you opinions.

Please keep them coming. I will for certain post some updates as the build progresses.