EM65cobra, I've now built 2 BDRs for myself. The first I actually crashed and the second I sold to a great guy in FL who actually paid me more than what I had in it. I'll list a few things that I learned along the way.
#1 At least 5 speeds with
not a crazy overdrive.
#2 Fuel injection, the difference is hard to even quantify it's so much better and I'm actually pretty good with carbs.
#3 Power steering as long as it's not over boosted. At speed it doesn't matter, everywhere else it does.
#4 Tonneau cover. On my first one I hardly ever used it and it scuffed the body paint when I did. The second one I installed once just to see if it fit. Then I took it off and never used it again.
#5 Limited slip diff. Get it. I skipped that on the first one and it bit me in the ass - literally. The bimmer open diff is not to bad, will hold the power, and put it down pretty evenly
in a straight line but around corners it is quite unpredictable in engagement. Not what you need on a road or autocross course. It is even better on the street.
#6 Solid mounts for the diff, subframe and the engine especially if you're going north of 500hp.
#7 That brings us to the engine. I used an FE in both of mine, stroked and bored with good parts. They made great power 500/500 but were never totally
oil tight. My next engine will likely be a Coyote (maybe with a blower) because I'm going to drive the wheels off the thing and want the ease and reliability. Not as pretty or vintage looking under the hood but then I may dress it out with 427SOHC valve covers...
#8 As others have mentioned, talk to Jay! If you need someone else to work on it once you have it, then you'd be better off shipping it north rather than driving 10 hours south. JMHO but backed by many others.
Welcome to VINTAGE Motorsports
Steve BTW, I'm in south GA