Beginner builder repairing a damaged aiircraft

[E28POWERM20]

I recently acquired a Zenith 601HD, that was flying since 2004. Last year, the builder had an engine failure(suspect bad carb) under 100ft off the deck. It went down in a field, damaged both main landing gear, the firewall, the left wing, twisted the back of the tail, and tweaked the center spar:depressed.

I got the whole thing so cheap, that even with all the replacement parts, I will have less than half of the kit cost from Zenith. Plus all the other good parts that it came with(Hooker harnesses, Matco wheels/brakes, instruments, etc.

I am a BMW Master technician, so I know my way around hand/power tools and mechanical things. I'm also involved with my EAA chapter RV-12 build that's starting soon, and have finished all the practice projects.

Normally, when I get a new project, I kinda just dig in, and explore, without much regard for documentation. What I'm looking for, is advice on how I should start, what areas are most important to document, how I should log all the work, and anything I may not be thinking about, since I'm new to this.

I also have all the original plans, manuals, "POH", weight balance, pretty much everything that the previous owner had for the aircraft.

I am rather excited about the project, but I am definitely conscious about doing it right.

Thanks,
Ian

 

[BBerson]

 

[tralika]

 

[BoKu]

 

[TFF]

 

[E28POWERM20]

 

[E28POWERM20]

 

[Victor Bravo]

 

[tralika]

 

[E28POWERM20]

 

[Pops]

 

[E28POWERM20]

 

[user 4289]

 

[E28POWERM20]

 

[Dan Thomas]

 

[E28POWERM20]

 

[Twodeaddogs]