Too many sidetracks in the clone effort

[oldcarnut]

I was wondering what kind of plan of action some of the clone builders are taking / took to build their cars.  I intended on just getting my RR drivable and safe but keep doing things like a complete rebuild before I even get to the birdy stuff.  Did you do the clone stuff first and then get the car restored or the other way?  I intended to be able to drive and work on it as I went but the driving is causing me to find and do more restoration than cloning. Just as an example, I had the headlight dimming and loss of power at idle problem when I drove it to work at night. So I do the headlight relay upgrade and decide to check out all the wiring harnesses and clean them too. I pulled out the dash gauge assy. to check everything behind it and to see why there was an aftermarket amp gauge installed under the dash.  I'm thinking while I got it out I may as well restore the gauge assy and then I thought about the disconnected heater box smoking from trash and heater core leak when I first bought so out it comes to to be restored.  Waiting on parts and have an almost empty firewall  .  Now the brain is ticking and wondering if now is the time to go ahead change the color over to black while everything is out  . but I also may as well.... The hole keeps getting deeper.  I like to complete things in steps and not have everything tore down at once although this stuff isn't a big deal but it keeps throwing back time I want to start on the hood, nose, and fenders. At least the wing is on and getting plenty of stares on the road. So how did you do it?  Restore and then clone or clone then go back and restore? This pic is what I have now starting from a simple light upgrade last week. I know the front end is next and I'll end up redoing the whole thing instead of just a couple control arm bushings.

[moparstuart]

just keep pressing on , every cars is different and needs different stages .   MY birdible was so bad it just needed everything at once (fulll on restoration ).   My daytona clone is now driveable and is getting things as time and money can afford .

[hotrod98]

It really depends on the condition of the donor and to what level you want to take the car to. My 69 Charger was pretty much a driver except for a few items so I just made the Daytona alterations and kept it in drivable condition during the build. It was nice being able to move it by driving it from the back shop which is our body shop to the front shop that we use for storing our cars. Of course it will still be just a driver quality car except now it will look like a Daytona driver. I sometimes wish that I had rotisseried the car but it wouldn't be this close to being completed if I had done that.

Our Superbird clone project is another story. The car needs a complete resto so it will have to go on the rotisserie. That is unless we find a real Superbird project first. I would much rather use the time, energy and money on a real bird. We'll see.

I'm looking forward to following your build. We want lots of pics. 

[aussiemuscle]

Sounds like you're pretty fastidious and the car has some issues worth looking at, so i'd suggest follow your heart and strip it down rather than banging your head on the wall 

[unrulyprocuda]

I say the same thing redoing everything under the dash is a major undertaking especially wiring and heater core at that point your mind should be made up tear it all a part and do the whole thing .shure its nice to keep a car going and drive it while your building it it keeps you motivated ive done them both ways with a car that you drive as soon as you do one project say take the motor out and paint the engine compartment its going to look terrible if you dont paint the motor while its out and you just dont want to clean the motor and paint it you may want to freshen it up with a valve job new rings and gaskets so it will last a long time and you dont want to put ugly old wiring on your new firewall. the problem is is that it snowballs at least thats the way i am. A new part on a dirty engine compartment stands out like a sore thumb the problem with a total teardown unless you have thousands of dollars to throw at it it takes time between 2 to 6 years usually that allows for so much money and time a year  but you know every problem will be adressed and brand new and if done right it will last the rest of your life.In a basic mopar build tear down and catalogging parts is easy getting ready for paint by stripping or sandblasting is easy as long as you are not deviating from a stock build like special mock up of aftermarket parts all of it is a straight forward process  just maximize your time by building your front end,  transmission, rearend,dash and electrical,and motor while tore down and at the paint shop i like to switch up if im painting the car i send the front end to be builtand the motor to be freshend up and the dash to be done .if i send the car to be painted then i build the components that will maximize your time.right now all of my parts are done and im still waiting on the painter