I'd leave the vinyl top off otherwise sounds great! Keep the pic's coming.
If it were me, I'd leave the vinyl top off as well, especially after seeing firsthand the horrendous amount of rust that will form eventually, due to trapped moisture under the vinyl. But, build it however you want!
If you don't like vinyl tops, then by all means leave them off, but saying it's gonna rust is a bit of a red herring IMO.
If you're going to rotiserie restore a car, prime the roof, throw a vinyl top on and park it outside for 40 years, then yeah it's going to rust!
I doubt very much that rust will ever be a problem with this car's top again. My car had zero rust under the vinyl when I took it off and the factory had very poor paint coverage. Full paint coverage plus the fact that we take care of our collector cars, store them inside etc. and I seriously doubt the top will ever rust again. Mine certainly won't.
If it were me, I'd leave the vinyl top off as well, especially after seeing firsthand the horrendous amount of rust that will form eventually, due to trapped moisture under the vinyl. But, build it however you want! 
