The very best of luck with your build. I've seen many of the OZE/Coast to Coast and a couple of others - and most have been very nicely done cars. One thing does run through most of those '37 phantoms that I've talked to the owner is that they have been professionally built.

I had done a couple of cars in the past but for the most part they were an OEM restoration into a rod with a couple of years in building. My current project car is a ground up that I felt would take me 2-3 years to build. Boy was I wrong. This is the end of the 7th year. It isn't done yet, but that date is now within sight as it is ready for the upholstery to be installed (the upholstery is about 90% complete). As far as budget - that's shot completely and has been for a couple of years. Actual weekly time varies as the enthusiasm - there were some weeks that I didn't even look at it, but currently in an effort to complete in the next couple of months, probably my time on it is ~24 - 30 hours/week. The basics most of us tend to not put into the build equation is the fact that you really do have a life, and most of the time a wife, a house, your daily drivers, a job, your other children, a vacation just to mention a few. Then the level of tools you need. These are some of the reasons why there are so many unfinished projects that show up on evilBay and Craigslist. I saw several unfinished cars for sale at a swap meet this past weekend - and most - well they were ill conceived and built and with a decided lack of skills and even money. And money - these cars, are seldom built with quality parts for under $50M, and often exceed $100. And yes, there are some that can and do build nice cars and don't spend lots, but somewhere along the line, they have expensive and expansive tool boxes, a big shop and friends that help with 'donations'

Please don't take this as a pessimistic view on a car build, as these are some of what I've felt and seen as have a few people I've talked car builds with in the past