Motor first.
I could afford the engine easier than the Kit/car. I figured that I could build a motor while still researching which route to go for the vehicle. That was about seven years ago after seeing my first Classic Roadsters ad in a magazine. The $12.5K was too much for me at the time for the kit, and I'm glad it was. Never buy the first kit you look at, you can't possibly know what you really want yet. Anyway, I bought an old 1972 302 from an friend and tore it down to the last nut and bold with my son. Over the next few years all I did was dream about being able to afford the kit. To buy a toy car, I had to have play money. I had no play money with kids in day care. After three annual visits to Carlisle and numerous investigations, I narrowed it down to a B&B kit and then changed my mind to a Unique Delux Pallet kit. You see, the kids were no longer in day care and my cash flow was much healthier. Then last year I learned about Backdraft Racing and realized that I couldn't finish the Unique kit for the price of the Backdraft. I just took delivery of Backdraft #101 last Friday. Patriot Blue with White stripes, two roll bars, & autometer guages.
Last August I went back to college after 20 years. I took Engines at the local community college to have access to the lab. I bored the block and balanced/blueprinted the entire engine and got an A for the four credit course! Hopefully, by the end of February I will have the engine fully assembled and attached to my T-5 and fully installed in the Backdraft.
I owe many thanks to the entire clan of the CACC, and special thanks to Scott (my lab partner) for being an endless support of information and motivation to get this whole dream back on track about one year ago. Looking forward to seeing many of you at DVSFIV with my new roadster
