Order of assembling kit tips

[Chrisg00]

Anyone want to share some insight as to the order in which you assembled your 33 Hot Rod? Is going in the order the manual specifies good enough?
With the garage temperature getting comfortable enough to work in and backordered parts have mostly all arrived, I'm getting the itch to start building again. Been a long winter of looking at boxes and a frame sitting on jack stands in my garage. Basically only have the front suspension and pedal box in place. Trying to avoid having to disassemble something to gain access to install something else.

[edwardb]

Haven't built the 33 Hot Rod. But about 80% complete and on the very similar 35 Truck. Nothing wrong with the assembly sequence in the build manual. Especially if this is your first time around.

[cob427sc]

The manual is your best bet to at least get started. Depending upon back ordered parts you may have to jump around a little, but caution not to install something that will prevent you from finishing something else. The exception might be if you plan to powdercoat or paint the aluminum panels you may want to drill and temp install all the panels then remove for finish. Otherwise, if this is your first build, stick with the book.

[RoadRacer]

If you're buying stage 1 and stage 2 separately (as I did) you may need to jump around a little - I wanted to go-kart and start shaking down as soon as possible. But some necessary pieces only come in stage 2. I don't recommend buying in stages unless finances dictate it.

The biggest "problem" for me is that as you get to know the car and put miles on it, you want to change things.. nothing you can really do about that (it's a big part of the fun for me) but you do end up undoing things :D

FWIW, my biggest regret was not following my gut and making a much bigger fuel tank (or adding a supplemental tank). Harder to fix now.

[33fromSD]

No matter how you progress (I jumped around a bit but followed the manual for the most part) find a way to mark the manual for the stuff you completed.

When I was doing mine someone suggested cutting the sheet corner off of the page in the manual that has been completed so you can visibly see what is left. I did this also and it worked great. I tried dog-earing the pages first before cutting them and it didn't work the best.

There is no right or wrong way to build these things, some owners started with the body work before the mechanical stuff. You're build, your choice, the most important thing is to enjoy the build and have a blast doing it.

Jim

[e36m3]

Like every one has told you so far, I've followed the manual. The best advice I can give is anthing you need to rivet or rivet/glue in place think about what that item may be blocking access to. If you are not sure post questions, everyone on this forum is very helpful. My experience on this forum has been all positive. There are no dumb questions! Take your time and enjoy the process.

thanks,

Andy

[Chrisg00]

Thank you for the help! I did purchase the kit in stages and am finding that I'll have to jump around a bit or take some parts off to get through a step to another system. Cannot wait to pick up stage 2 in the next few weeks.
It's getting close to a rolling chassis...if I could only decide on wheels and tires.
But I am SO happy that I chose to build vs buy!

[33fromSD]

Thank you for the help! I did purchase the kit in stages and am finding that I'll have to jump around a bit or take some parts off to get through a step to another system. Cannot wait to pick up stage 2 in the next few weeks.
It's getting close to a rolling chassis...if I could only decide on wheels and tires.
But I am SO happy that I chose to build vs buy!

Any one can buy, but "building" (whether a kit or a complete restoration) provides an unexplainable pride that people don't understand unless they do it.

Glad to hear things are coming along well. If you haven't, start a build thread and share pics, we all love pics. ;)

Jim

[peterh226]

I did a lot of bodywork pretty early on. I think that helped me be able to switch around and work on a lot of different parts. If you are adding some stuff to the car, then you will no doubt come across some unintended consequences of your actions. There can be a lot of stuff to cram into small areas, so the better you understand all of the packaging before you lock everything down the better. I did put the floor on before all of the suspension. That way I could put the frame on its side and drill horizontally instead of trying to drill and rivet while upside down.

[Brastic]

I like to keep lots of notes. Especially when you jump around. My build manual is full of notes that have really helped be debug stuff in the future. It is also a good idea to read through the manual before getting started. This way you can add notes for extras you are doing. Stuff like, if you are going to have a radio, running the wires when you do the dash wiring harness. If you are going to build a coupe, I would run the back up camera wire while the body is off. Then if you do install one in the future, it is just a plug in task. I would put those notes in the section where the work is done.

[FF33rod]

If I were to do it again, I'd do just enough on the chassis to be able to mount the various body parts. Cutting the fiberglass parts to fit, mounting, etc is messy work AND a pain the arse! Due to the mess and patience needed, it can be better for some to do earlier in the build. You can't necessarily gap the panels but just getting them to fit and get the doors functional etc is a big step...

However, if you only have stage 1 this might not work for you in which case, just follow the manual order. That's what I did....

Good luck!
Steve