Most cars batteries and alternator should be able to run all of your electronics. My alternator is in bad condition right now, running at 10v instead of 13 or 14, and it still runs everything on top. With a generator your car is going to be noisy AS HELL. You may as well just put a lawnmower up there.
As for the THULE-type racks, that was one of my original ideas. After looking at tons and tons of pre-made rade and cargo containers, you start to realize that they sit almost 6 inches above the roof of your car. I mean, if that's what you really want, then go for it, but it is probably going to look ridiculous. Most of those cargo racks don't even span 3/4 of the width of the roof of most cars, so it is going to look very strange. Not to mention how goddamn expensive they are (lowest we could find was a piece of crap for $50) compared to $20 for all the wood and paint you'd need to make your own.
They are fine for making gigantic Photon Torpedoes, but we decided they weren't anything even close to what we wanted.
As far as the fins go, one of the reasons our car has been so successful was be cause we adapted the ecto design to the kind of car we used. We didn't try to make the car look like something it is not. Imagine how silly a ford focus would look if you added stuff to make it look like a viper…
As far as advice goes, nothing great was ever created in a rush. We did 5 months of planning and design before we ever actually got down to construction of our car. I looked all over the web and called tons of businesses to find out about lightbars, how much they cost, how I could attach them and power them, and what was legal. We spent tons of time going to second hand stores, taking measurements, weighing stuff (VERY important), and pricing items. Your expenses are likely to go through the roof, and that's even if nothing goes wrong.
Boomer's Steps To Building an ECTO-Replica.
1) Pick your car out first. If you don't have the car you want to use, then that is your biggest hurdle. Building a rack before having a car is INCREDIBLY foolish. But hey, it's your time and money. Make sure your car actually has a roof rack. Our roof has little runners on it, so we can just set our proprack up on top without worrying about scratching the hell out of our car.
2) Take measurements and do some drawings. Buy graphing paper and maybe find some side-view diagrams of your car (easily found in the owners manual). Draw out what you want the car to look like.
3) Photoshop your car, HEAVILY. Try different sizes for logos. Try different colors. Try everything.
4) Price search. Ask about hardware like wood and tubes, search on ebay for the satellite dish, don't forget wiring. The biggest hidden expense for us was actually buying tools. We didn't really have anything so much as a power drill, and we ended up spending a few hundred bucks on drills, TONS of different drill bits, saws, and dremmels.
5) Talk about the legality of modifying your car. Talk to EVERYONE. Traffic cops, judges, state troopers, firefighters, paramedics, your mayor, EVERYONE.
6) Figure out how you are going to attach everything SAFELY. If you're driving around and something flies off and punctures someone elses tire, you are likely going to get sued. Or you have an accident and the rack shoots off your car and hits another car.
7) Price check again. Go everywhere. Take pictures of stuff you find with your phone.
8) Ask some more police officers about the legality.
9) Check your budget.
10) Ask MORE cops about legality, what you are and are not allowed to do.
11) Build your rack.
How old are you and what kind of car are you thinking of using?
