What order did you do your restore

[Ryunker]

So my journey had no good plan. Started with engine, then brakes and transmission and rear diff. Many years later found, that is the cheap easy parts. Decades later body work, and soon to get to the paint shop. Only to follow up with interior and trim installs along with whatever money pits coincide with that part of the journey.

Advise to offer, do body, and paint first, followed by chassis (brakes, suspension and steering) and the least important (money wise) drive train last.

 

[Sheriff41]

I've never restored my Mustang, just maintained it and repaired as needed through the last 46 years. So, no rhyme or reason other than necessity. Maybe I'll restore it one of these years!

 

[giantpune]

With the power of hindsight, I now see a very huge error in the order that I decided to restore my car in.

I got the car as a roller body, that needed some body work. I had interior, but nothing under the hood, no transmission, no brakes.
My plan was to get it running first. Then worry about the paint and body later. And I stuck with that.

I think there are 2 big downsides to that approach. The obvious one is if you do all the mechanical and then want to do the body work, you will have to pull the car back apart and you end up putting it together twice.

The bigger one that I never considered until it was too late is that the number of competent body guys gets less and less every year. The number of original spare body parts goes down over time. The guys who know how to work on steel bodies are retiring and dying off. Cost to repair the body has gone up exponentially compared to the cost to fix or replace the mechanical stuff.