This is the Build Thread for Ultimatum. Reply below.

Well... I bought a second DSM. This time it's a 2G and it's AWD.

No engine, no transmission. It hasn't run in probably over a decade or two. Got it for a good price along with a heap of parts to put on it, so this should be fun!

My Eclipse is mostly sorted and doing good, so I figured it would be fun to buy a project/weekend car. The Eclipse is my daily, so...

Just cleaned the car up a bunch and gave it a quick wash before sundown. She's honestly looking really good. The paint is in better condition than I thought. It's not without damages, dents, dings, and whatever. But it's certainly a lot better than I originally expected!

Super pleased with it, and I'm super excited to start working on it

Dude I don't even know where to start.

I have enough knowledge on cars to get me in and out of trouble, but not much more than that. I did the exhaust manifold on my Eclipse, the battery, and other small shit... but electrical stuff and wiring is completely beyond my scope of knowledge. My engine bay is almost completely bare except for the motor mounts, a radiator, misc. plumbing, and what I think is a wiring harness? (Admittedly, never really took the time to figure out what that was. Again, I hate wiring )

It's not as simple as just "oh throw an engine in it" and I know that, but genuinely where do I start? I'm in over my head, and it's sink or swim. I've always liked learning that way

But seriously, any advice, resources, or anything like that would be IMMENSELY appreciated!

First place to start. What do you want the car to do? At a bare minimum since you don't need the car I'd buy a gallon of simple green, a bunch of brushes and just go to town. No better time to make an engine bay look new than when there is nothing in it.

It all depends on your goals. Just want the car to run and drive as easily as possible? Or is this a long term rebuild, replace, repair project? Is this car going to be a daily driver, weekend cruiser, street/strip, show car, or auto cross build? All have unique pathways and differing amounts of effort, time, money and skill. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when you have 1000 pieces of a car laying around. I’ve found it best to focus on a few specific tasks in one section at a time to ease that stressful mess . Let’s say your first plan is to knock out front suspension. If this is just a simple driver rebuild, you might not splurge for expensive coilovers, aftermarket sway bar, or poly bushings and only replace what is worn with OEM equivalent parts. If this is a show car, you might take the time to pull every single nut and bolt have the subframe painted, fancy billet arms, nice coilovers, etc. So just really dial in on what you expect out of the car and the effort and budget you’re willing to put in. From there it becomes easy to prioritize where to start and get a plan of attack going.

I started with no engine as well. Replace the wires in the engine bay, even getting a brand new engine wire harness.I replaced everything else and regretted not doing that because I've had problems mostly with bad wires and connectors. Next thing, replace all rubber. Rubber was another crazy issue. Put some rust sealant in the engine bay also. These will bite you once you get it running if not.