Which part of the build took you the longest?

[iconicflux]

I was wondering which part of the build tends to take people the longest.

I'm guessing it's going to be body/paint but if it's something else I'd love to hear what that part is.

[Al_C]

Wiring. I thought that task would take a weekend. I was wrong. It took a lot of weekends.

[Springboro FFR Roadster]

I was wondering which part of the build tends to take people the longest.

I'm guessing it's going to be body/paint but if it's something else I'd love to hear what that part is.

Paint for a lot of us, for some reason many of these end up in what I call pant jail. Ha.

Roy

[CaptB]

Paint.

[egchewy79]

Built in ~2 yrs, including an engine rebuild, and waited another ~2 yrs for body/paint. Drove it in gel coat for 2 seasons but painter was worth the wait.

[Dave 53]

I bought my 818 from a previous owner. Super nice guy. He had the "pile of parts that sort of looked like a car" almost go kartable. It took me an entire year of un****ing his work before I ever opened the build manual. But, I didn't have to strip down a donor car and I bought it at a huge discount to his receipts. He did have good taste in his upgrades. What he lacked in skill he made up for with his check book.

[edwardb]

Electrical is cited by many as the hardest part. Body/paint is typically cited as the hardest. Especially DIY. But even finding a shop that knows these cars and doesn't want you to surrender your first born can be challenging.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Had the car painted so it was the wiring that took me the most time. Was not especially hard just very time consuming.

[boat737]

After reading and following other's build threads (thanks Paul/edwardb) I ended up modifying, upgrading, changing, remaking, making, or optimizing dozens, maybe hundreds, of parts, pieces, and assemblies. Mechanical throttle linkage, wiring and lighting changes, license plate mount, quick jack mounts, roll bar mounting, removable panels, wheel well liners, fresh air ducting, hood latches, heater install and upgrades, exhaust hangers just to name a few. All those changes took time to contemplate, design, and make; probably adding close to a year of my two-and-a-half year build.

But to pick just one task, for me I think it was the engine install and drive train setup. There was a lot of trial and error in most of those adjustments.

Of course the California SB100 title and registration process get's an honorable mention.

[ggunter]

Took me as long to do the body and paint as it did to build the chassis. Both were three months a piece. The electrical was the least amount of fun but it all worked out well in the end.

[Blitzboy54]

Body and Paint, there was no close second for me

[Ducky2009]

Body prep by far the longest. Lots of uneven sections at the mold lines. Not the painting part. Well, I had a paint issue. Sanded through the clear (not enough applied) and repainted the PS rear quarter. The paint store mixed the paint differently the second time.... Silver vs blue metal flake. Ended up spraying it again with the correct mix.

[Scott L]

Body and paint - 2 weeks to wire the car. Two years to do all the bodywork, mods, and paint. Worth it.

[k-roy]

That is a loaded question. Are you running a straight forward build, or are you modifying the build. See Boat737 response. I have modified all sorts of things, but for me it was the A/C. I did it from scratch. Researching options, getting components, making it fit with a coyote, cutting and welding supports, Wiring, to running lines. Added months to my build. Going to send my car to Kleiner for paint/bodywork (i dislike that kind of stuff, and it probably would never get finished).

Was it worth it? Adding a month on either end of the driving season makes it worth it.

[toadster]

right now it's the engine, prior to that I'd say the wiring...

I'll say, pretty much anything that you devise from the normal build will add time for sure - as many friends have told me, you'll build this car 3x before you build it once - and they're not kidding ;)

[John Ibele]

Anything custom. I have a notoriously slow build, which is still not done. (I think it's not done if you still have cleco's holding aluminum panels in your wheel wells, right?) There are plenty of small touches that just about everyone does, but even those require plenty of internet searching, and then time to integrate into the build properly. Then there are those items where you really go off on your own.

That got me bogged down on occasion, but I'm really happy that the emergency brake just simply works and is rock solid, and that I have a similarly solid throttle linkage that I put together (although design inspiration comes from Paul B, along with a lot of other ideas). The dash I did from scratch, along with the console box and the tranny cover.

For the stock parts of the build, wiring took me a frustratingly long time to get my head around. Having done it once, I think I'd just lay out the harness, grab the soldering iron and appropriate burden items, and have it done in about 1/3 the time, using 1/3 the brain power. But that's typical of anything you do the first time, I guess.

Hats off to those who do their own body and paint. Getting the panels close and knocking down the part lines was enough for me.

Toadster's last comment ... come to think of it, how many things did I do on this car only once?? Not many!

[UpNorth]

Finding the tool I had in my hands just 2 minutes ago...

[facultyofmusic]

Probably not the answer you're looking for, but the parts of the build that took me the longest were the parts I did wrong the first time due to fatigue or frustration leading to a "quick fix" often without fully reading the required documentation.

I had to do my radiator twice because I "accidentally" nicked it with my drill and put a hole on it. I was too "lazy" to pull off the shroud.
I had to do my dash twice because the first time I thought "nahhh this is good enough" and then regretted it. In hindsight perhaps the first time gave me the experience I needed to make it better the second time.
I had to re-make all my braided-stainless steel fuel lines because I didn't know the difference between PTFE and rubber.
I redid a bunch of wiring because I didn't use proper crimping tools the first time which meant my crimps were ugly and potentially unsafe.

Oh actually, the longest part of the build is by far waiting for FFR to mail me the back-ordered parts :P. (I still don't have my passenger side roll bar.)

[OB6]

So far it's the wiring, but I opted not to use the RF harness and instead install a universal one. No regrets at all, but there's definitely more to figure out. Especially since I've never wired a car before.

[maclonchas]

I am in the facultyofmusic camp that the do overs cost the most time and for me fall into two categories. The first category is doing work late in the day. I end up hurrying and missing steps and make that part of the install much harder than it needs to be for the install. The electrical is a case in point where planning and small steps are needed to ensure the least amount of do-overs. Check your work frequently after each section of electrical wiring. Have a second source for testing the circuit. I used an old house alarm battery (small and easy to place through out the system).

The second category is the self inflicted wounds of trying to be cute in the build or going too far off the reservation from previous builders. Know your limitations and please review other builders completed build attempts. Most do not post the 2-3 times that they make a mistake before getting it correct. Ask me how I know!!!!!!

Bonus: Fittings can be a nightmare as you try and patchwork different lines together (fuel, coolant, hydraulic, power steering etc.). Amazon was a continuous try and return for me for several months and in the end Breeze and other builders documented lists are what I ended up using.

Hope this helps.

Bill

[OB6]

The first category is doing work late in the day. I end up hurrying and missing steps and make that part of the install much harder than it needs to be for the install. The electrical is a case in point where planning and small steps are needed to ensure the least amount of do-overs.

This is an excellent point. I learned a long time ago that starting something in the evening never really ends well. If I do anything late in the day, it's more about organizing, thinking, and preparing rather than things I'll need to re-do and/or regret later. I'll add one more thing that has helped me. I haven't set any arbitrary timelines for my project. The goal is to have fun, learn, and do the best work I can. The project gets done when it gets done. I've got enough timelines in my life and this doesn't need to be one of them. It's liberating actually. Heck I haven't even ordered an engine yet.

[MB750]

Inventory, but that's only because I haven't started body work and paint yet.

[RBachman]

Not only the longest, but most aggravating and costly was trusting the first painter. I busted my "A" and delayed surgery to finish my build in 6 months to meet the start date my first painter gave me. After it became apparent that he was over a year behind the reserved start date, would not return emails/texts/phone calls/forum posts, (along with other builders complaining about the same thing), I went elsewhere. Fortunately, some others having the same issues referred me to a superior body and paint company. They started on time, finished on time and kept me up to date with weekly (and often daily) texts, pictures and videos without asking. They used higher quality materials, provided superior workmanship, and completed the work before the original guy had even started on other cars that were ahead of me.