Ecto-1 Engine Replacement

Hello and welcome to my GoFundMe campaign.  My name is Andy and I own a replica of the Ecto-1 from the classic movie, Ghostbusters.

I purchased the car, unrestored, from a private owner in Missouri in 2012.  Since then, I've been working on restoring the car and converting it to the iconic Ghostbusters' Ecto-1.

Over the years, I've had numerous problems with the engine, which unfortunately isn't the original.  The previous owner removed the original 429 and replaced it with a 472 for unknown reasons.  It has caused nothing but frustration over the years.

I plan on using the money from this campaign to help fund the replacement of the engine.  I plan on putting a rebuilt 429 back into the car before the end of April.

The reason I've created this campaign is because I'm not able to afford the costly repairs on my own.  I've already spent nearly $20,000 of my own funds since 2012.

If this was a normal project car, that wouldn't be an issue, I'd continue to plug away at funding it myself.  But as you can imagine, the Ecto-1 receives a lot of attention and has been requested for numerous events this summer - not surprising since the new movie is being released in July.  You can check the Wisconsin Ghostbusters facebook page and/or website for upcoming public events the Ecto has been requested for.

Aside from the public events, the last couple of years I've also attended birthday parties for local children who have recently recovered from cancer treatments.  For one event, the car had to be hauled on a trailer and while en route to another, the car broke down and had to return to the shop.

I'd love to do more charitable events, children's hospital visits, and birthday parties such as the ones above, but the Ecto has been too unreliable to make long-distance trips.  It can be inconvenient for friends and family to haul it places on a trailer and it gets expensive to have it towed when it breaks down en route to an event.

If I raise more than what is needed to cover the cost of the engine replacement, there is still plenty of other work to be done.  The electronics (lights, sirens, radios, etc) still need to be wired, there is plenty of "battle damage" that occurrs during events and the paint needs to be touched up, and eventually the car will need to be entirely repainted as there are a couple areas of surface rust that have appeared.

Aside from that, I would be grateful to raise enough money to donate to The Children's Miracle Network and/or Make-A-Wish Foundation.  My group has helped raise over $3500 for those charities since 2012 and I would like to donate even more if my campaign is successful enough.

Thanks for your consideration and contributions.