A record suggestion
Most will tell you to just build and don't worry about the details. I disagree with that approach and recommend great attention to detail, strive for excellence but don't get hung up if you fall short of perfection. There is almost always an acceptable standard repair or salvage method and when the inevitable happens it is best to find the solution rather than buy new parts from Van's and start over. In a major project like this it is important to think ahead and behind but always move the project forward.
Take a photo of yourself and family members with your preview plans set, print a hard copy and write the date on the back. This one was taken of my wife Jeanine and I with our new RV-6A preview plans set on May 9 1996 (just home from work still wearing my badge and ballpoint and notebook still in my shirt pocket - I have those little pocket notebooks documenting every day at work since my boss told me to start them on my new remote assignment in order to provide him with detailed weekly reports in 1972 - and I still maintain them even though I retired in 2004):
Use that as the start photo in a photo record of the build process. I now have 5 photo volumes that fully document the build and the date each photo was taken is written on the back.
Start a builder's Log and and record every work session. Many today use volatile memory methods to keep their records but I think a personal hand written record is more valuable. I just bought my 3rd volume which I will need in the next few weeks as I continue to modify the plane for speed. I ordered it from Amazon.com:
Wilson Jones S300 Line Hardbound Account Book, 500 Pages, 35 Lines/Page, 11-3/4" x 7-1/4", Blue with Brown Trim, WS300-5R
Sold by MyOfficeInnovations
I currently have over 6,100 hours recorded in the original build and the unending continuation of the modifications (no routine maintenance is recorded there - only new build work). You can never recapture the detail of the build if you do not record it as you go. My procedure and format is I draw a line after each entry so there is a line before the current entry when I go to work. I enter the date in the left margin, then the local time of day, then I make a note about the work I plan to do in the current session. During the session I make significant entries and at the end I write down what I did and any appropriate comments and the ending time of day (even if that is into the next day like 0400, etc.) I sign the entry, determine the amount of time worked and enter the current total number of new build/Modification hours in the left margin and draw a line across the page under the entry to close it off.
I can go to my photo albums find the photo(s) of an item that I want to review pull it out and by checking the date on the back go directly to the work entry in the log. Sometime this is the only way you can study what you did as the original work is no longer visible.
When I went into the FAA office at Long Beach to apply for my Repairman Certificate with my records there was no hesitation on their part after reviewing the photo albums and written log entries.
Photo at a recent race in Llano, TX
Bob Axsom
A little background on me, I'm an Aerospace Engineering student at ISU, I love working with my hands and work on cars quite often, and I'm not afraid of a little challenge! So I do know that some of my questions are very in depth, very challenging and may be impossible, but that's what being an engineer is about. So I would love any help, sympathy or suggestions. 
