The road map to a novice car build

[Poetic Justice]

So I would make no secret of the fact that I don't have any mechanical or technical know how when it comes to working on cars.

I like cars.

I like to drive cars.

I want to own a cool car... (coolness being in the eye of the beholder, surely).

So I bought a 97 Fairmont, my third of these. It's slightly modified, though not really powerful enough however the power stakes can be left to later down the track.

The body of the car is... in tact, but in bad need of a major redo.

The interior... is well, 97esque. Grey leather. A little drab, but in general presentation that I just like. Perhaps it just needs a different colour.

So what will it be?!

I guess what I am actually here to ask is this:

Is there a specific order in which you should build a car?

To this I mean, I'm not going to pull my car off the road completely to overdo it in one go because, let's face it, like many I don't have the funds to achieve all this at once.

In no short order, I'd like to achieve the following:
* Show presentable paint
* Custom show interior
* A detailed engine bay
* Decent enough ICE
* Enough power to say that my Jeep SRT isn't the outright king, but perhaps no more than the Jeep itself.

Obviously these things take time.. but in the interest of still trying to somehow manage the ability to drive the car during summer times and have it off the road where necessary it would be interesting to know which is the best order to do things.

> Do you build a motor before doing an engine bay?
> Should the body be done painted before you entertain an engine build?
> Is there a point to trying to have the body done at the same time as an interior given it has to be all a part?

What is the simplest process?

Pics for attention: