I can not emphasize enough the importance of planning your project before you start.
I think you have to write it down. Be realistic about what you want in the car. Ask yourself, "What can this car be?", "What do I want to do with it? "How much am I really willing to spend on it?
Be absolutely prepared to walk away BUT do it early. Take the car apart and do a reality check. Once we sand blasted the body on this car we should have junked it and found another. Staying with the one we had made it into a MUCH bigger project than it needed to be.
Ask your self early on.
1. Is this a daily driver or a trailer queen?
2. Is this going to be a perfect restoration?
3 Am I starting with a matching numbers car? If not you need to be fully aware of the limited value of the finished car.
3. Is it going to be a resto-mod? This is what I did.
4. Will I show it?
A project like this will cost twice what you think, TRUST me! It will also take far longer than you think. The amount of time we have spent waiting for someone else or returning parts that were shipped wrong or delivered damaged is amazing.
Some parts are VERY expensive, in the Chevelle the radio will break your heart if you want a working original AM/FM. I installed a modern radio that has a dummy face place. I will keep the original AM radio that works. I installed A/C because I live in the desert, but it required major surgery to the dash to make this happen. The seatbelts were a surprise. You can find them but they are expensive. The point here is the list goes on and on. My friend Don pointed out that everything you buy will be out of warranty before you ever use it :-) at least as a do it yourself project.
Settle quickly on what you are doing to the drive train. I should have bought a high performance crate motor rather then do it piece meal. I thought I didn't want to spend the money on it. I am certain it would have been cheaper.
Mine has turned out to be a nut and bolt resto-mod driver that I will casually show here in town.
I HAVE NO REGRETS! I have had a great time having this done and I am pretty sure my friend who is doing the work is enjoying it. I have not done this my self and I shudder to think what it would have cost had I paid for all the work. My friend Don has put countless hours in it. If you want a low cost car go to Barrett-Jackson :-) Many cars there are sold for less than restoration costs..