How Do You Plan A Project / Build

Just wondering how others do it.  Do you lay it all out in advance and then execute a plan or wing it and let the project take on a life of its own and have it tell you where it is going. 

I usually have an goal.  I seem to be more successful in completing a project / build if I have a defined goal.  There are exceptions and you have to be flexible as sometimes you hit road blocks but having the goal tends to keep me on track and focus on what I was originally wanting to do.  When I have the lost in the forest trying to find a tree feeling I can step back and ask my self what was my original goal for this project and that will almost always get me back on track.  I have seen so many projects start as a simple alternator replacement and the next thing you know the whole car is getting re wired and converted to LED and stand alone engin management.

I take everything apart (to a reasonable level) and clean it, then reassemble and assess what it needs before I work on what I want

I usually have a ton of research involved before I start.  My research involves the broad strokes.  For instance, my current project 67 LeMans, I knew I wanted an LS/T56 so I researched things like oil pans, motor mounts, etc, but I didn't make a spreadsheet of which head studs to use and what color I would paint the valve covers.  I just knew LS/T56.  I viewed the engine/trans as a separate project, knowing that whatever LS and T56 I chose would bolt in the same.  It wouldn't matter if I ended up with a 5.3, 5.7, or 6.0L, the mounts would work.  I ended up with an LQ9 with CNC ported LS6 heads.

In that way, every step of the build can be its own project.  The only thing I have to be careful of is compatibility between the individual projects.  For instance if I had chosen a Detroit 60-series diesel instead of the LS and I don't take into consideration the fact that my frame would turn into spaghetti the first time I hit the starter, that's a problem.  But once I determine that the chassis gets N, the body gets X, the driveline gets Y, and the interior gets Z, I make sure that N X Y and Z will all work together and I can start tackling each one as an individual project.

At this point in the build I have rebuilt the T56 and the LS longblock is built.  I need to figure out (open up the big wallet) for chassis, and I'm now researching interior.  This will be a quasi-pro-touring rig, so I think it might be a nice nod to use a late-model GTO dash, but there is a ton of measuring to see if its even viable, or if it would look right.  Fortunately, the neighbor has a GTO so I can spend some time with a laser and a tape measure.

I spent many years working in custom/hotrod shops.  Many times I see the design aspect take precedence and it causes headaches.  Often times the shop owner is the designer and hires the fab talent.  That way he/she can draw a pretty picture and hand it off to us.  We get a sexy rendering and an unrealistic set of goals and have to work 5 times as hard to make it happen.  The owner wants a Nailhead in a 50 Merc?  Great.  That means a completely hand-built custom oil pan and modifying the firewall.  They want a 4-speed floor shift instead of the 3-on-the-tree?  Custom floorpan it is.  I lean toward research first to avoid that unnecessary work.  If the designer/owner had the in-the-trenches experience and could have steered them toward a more common 5-speed that would fit the tunnel, or maybe a Caddy 500 with multiple oil pan configurations still available, it might achieve the same goal with far fewer headaches.

I focus on the engineering first.  THEN design the appearance.

Poorly 

Plans are worthless but planning is indispensible.

 - Nikita Khrushchev  [edited - got the wrong Soviet]

Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows.

 - Sun Tzu

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Plans are worthless but planning is indispensible.

 - Josef Stalin

Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows.

 - Sun Tzu

Both incredibly wise things.

I usually just pour money on it then light it on fire. Usually.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth- Mike Tyson

Similar to you - I tend to have a specific goal in mind.  Sometimes that will evolve, and the goal can change during the project, but as long as I have an idea of what the car needs to do, I'm usually able to get it there (with some major exceptions, all challenge cars).  Earlier in my car days, I've had projects without specific goals, and they never got finished, and were sold at a massive loss.

My S10 is kind of kicking my ass right now, because I don't have too specific of a vision for it, I just want something outrageously overpowered, and different from every other S10 I see.

I usually do an outline in WORD for the basic items of a project. For more detailed projects like the front disc brake swap on my 55 Ford I have my research results (parts specs, numbers, etc) on Excel.

Then, when reality rears its ugly head.

“Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”  

Usually I just...

Buy car.  Let car take up space for a few years while collecting parts.  Dive in, change direction partway through, buy a bunch more parts

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

Buy car.  Let car take up space for a few years while collecting parts.  Dive in, change direction partway through, buy a bunch more parts

Then advertise for 30% of your total investment not to mention hundreds of hours of your spare time. That's how mine usually go. 

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Plans are worthless but planning is indispensible.

 - Josef Stalin

Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows.

 - Sun Tzu

If I were not retiring at the end of the month, I would engrave those words on my desk, Like with a router.

My guiding principle on all things project has been :Eyes on the prize, not the plan" The plan can change at any time to suit realities that you run into, but if you know what you want for a result and never quit when plans change, you will get there.

Plan?  I don't understand this word.

I usually start with simple goals and let things spiral out of control because I can't leave well enough alone until everything's fully disassembled while I wait on the next batch of parts/supplies/fluids/etc.

Case in point: a couple of months ago I decided I was finally going to install the MR2 lip spoiler I had laying around for years. It's like eight bolts.  I was going to be done in 15 minutes.  30 if I took my time and had a beer or two while I stared at the thing.

The car is still on jack stands without a lip spoiler, grill vents, or lower valence.  The valence and attachment hardware has been stripped of paint, bent back into shape, and bondo'd where necessary.  Paint is supposed to happen on Sunday, but I suspect I'll find yet another place that I could sand down smoother and spend my time doing that instead.

I focus more on the Vision if what I am trying to accomplish.  I will do preliminary planning to make sure that the Vision in my head will have a high likelihood of physically working and the physical execution will match the vision.  Depending on project this planning will take the appropriate means to evaluate if the project will meet its goals.  This may be a detailed budget spreadsheet if budget is important.  It may be a shell 3D model if it's a question of finished aesthetics, or a more detailed model to determine that everything fits/works.  It may be a physical mockup if parts are on hand.  It may be a detailed timeline if execution date is the most important. 

Sometimes this planning kills a project before it gets started simply because the goals are not achievable.  I probably have 15 projects that are at this stage of planning with little to no parts on hand.  

Once a project physically begins planning is generally more the rough outline of how work is going to progress.  I try to plan in "build days" and let my plan be 2-4 build days ahead so I can order or purchase any supplies required. 

An example is the The LMP360.  Prebuild I put together a pretty detailed budget, and did a lot of 3D modeling.  Building a swapped Subaru 360 would of been easy and not required much pre-planning.  The LMP360 is trying to look like a vision so I had to do a lot of modeling to make sure the vision was achievable.  Since budget is a big part of the challenge a fairly detailed budget had to be made to make sure I could accomplish the goals and maintain the $$.  Timeline is a bit more flexible so I didn't put much focus on that as there is a challenge every year.   I have a build order I'm following, and I have the "what I'm doing" the next 3 times I'm in the shop planned, but beyond that I don't try to say "It will take 10 hours to build the front fenders" type timeline.  

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

Buy car.  Let car take up space for a few years while collecting parts.  Dive in, change direction partway through, buy a bunch more parts

Hmm.... so, you're saying you collect parts AFTER buying the car, not before?

(Planning...)

Buy car now, think later.

My plan starts with visually inspectIng everything. 

The next thing I do is get the engine running so I can asses the rest of the systems. From there I order the needed parts and go through the project system by system.

On the subject of systems I never have two systems apart at the same time. Read if I have the engine apart I don't take apart the brakes or suspension etc.

The reason why I get them running is so I can also assess the things that may need upgrading. From there I prioritize what systems need upgrading first. 

There's usually a fair amount of alcohol and dilutions of grandeur involved.  

Sonic said:

There's usually a fair amount of alcohol and dilutions of grandeur involved.  

I like your spelling, I think it may be more accurate.

In reply to lotusseven7 (Forum Supporter) :

Did u get my pm? 

chandler said:

Sonic said:

There's usually a fair amount of alcohol and dilutions of grandeur involved.  

I like your spelling, I think it may be more accurate.

Indeed.