Ground up for me with assistance from some shops along the way. While mine started as a stock running car it has been transformed over 15 years. Now it did have a year plus downtime from the stock blow thru set up to the fully built motor, cage, and race trans..

I did a lot of things myself but do not have the ability nor time to build a motor, weld in a cage, etc.. So this is when I go to the people I know to do this. But even with my motor I was involved in every aspect of it and purchased everything for it. It was not a call me when it is done thing.

Take your time with it and get involved.