what do you guys do first build the motor and work on the body as you go ??? or do you build the body and use whatever you have for a motor to start with???? cant do both at 1 time ( i cant anyway)lol...ive got my duster up for sell to try and buy a car thats about ready for what i would like to do, also have alot of the parts to build the motor to what i want so im kinda stuck.....

I am in the process of building a pretty serious street/strip charger..... I have always done chassis/breaks/tires first before I even think about horsepower. In my opinion this is the safest & in the end least expensive way to do things. Just my opinion though, you know what they say about those.

Paint is dead last for me. Although you really don't receive any appreciation until the very end from others when that's the way it's done.

I prefer to build them both multiple times, over and over I guess you will have that when you have messed with the same car for over 20 years..

I'm building my Rampage right now... I have the chassis
done but lacking a few mounting tabs for the brake
and fuel lines and wiring... I have all the parts for
the engine and have mocked up the engine... I dont like
doing body work and engine work at the same time...
to much dust...paint is last... even after the car is
running, in case I need to pull the engine back out...
if its nice out I'll roll the car outside to do some
body work while building the engine in my office area

I'm finding it much more fun to skip around. Automotive ADD...

Stripped the interior
Started body work
Putting the interior back together...all but front door panels. (Haven't found a "deal" yet)

Then I see it going as:
Get the springs moved in and frame connectors in
Original /6 and trans out
Back to finishing up body work
All the while collecting motor/trans parts...

Get it painted and finish the rear end, new shocks, wheels/tires, fuel system etc...

Build/install new drivetrain.

How's that for a bass-ackwards build.

when you say body ..your not meaning chassis?

i do chassis first..you can see alot of et drop as you start to get the chassis right..
(with a pig motor)
then get it all good,,cage,brakes,driveline..
get the suspension working...watch the et drop even with a pig motor..
then drop in a real motor..and youve got a good platform to go with...

we saw a car (duster) with a junk 360 go from 8.60s in stock drive line and chassis..
to 7.70s with a good converter rear axle and suspension working properly..
60fts from 2.1 all the way down to 1.78 with just suspension and driveline...hooking..
cheapst

I'm doing it all at the same time. Being that I've built everything (with friends help) it's taken a while. The cost savings as been substantial. I've had the motor mocked up and machine work completed, Trans assembled and fit,rear axle narrowed and set-up. All are apart now for paint. the body will get sprayed this weekend. Then assembly. Hopefully mocking everything up during trial means it will be a smooth build. I think it's easier to finish it once.
Doug

Build the best chassis you can first, then whatever horsepower comes later you'll have the foundation.

I would do motor and drivetrain first. Last time I had my car painted then did the other stuff. I found that it is a PITA to do a motor and chassis around fresh paint.

Body and paint is dead last for me…..that’s why my car is a 20 footer, going on 50 feet .

I built my 340 before I had a car to put it in, it took two years to find a good body. The car has evolved from pretty docile 7.60 street/strip 1/8 miler to the high 6.50 street/strip car it is now. The only thing the car needs now is paint. I have a itch to build another bullet but I'm not sure what direction I want to go. R-block Indy headed small block or a new Hemi

i have to work back and forth as time and money dictate but i do save the engine bay paint for last.

Body/chassis first, unless you want to go in stages, or have plans for horsepower that can be handled by pretty much stock suspension. You can do a lot if you are planning on staying in the elevens and up. Example; hot small block, A body, get some good shocks, clam the rear springs as needed, slicks that can be run with the stock springs. Bigblock, same thing, just keep in mind that past about 11.0, it will get tough to get it hooked up.

Not that I've ever finished anything................

but, I work from the "rear of the car forward" approach.

If the chassis can't handle the HP it's inconsistent and unreliable.

So, body stiffening (cage/frame ties) first, chassis/suspension second, fuel system, front suspenion/brakes, engine/trans, then appearance aka body/paint.