Here are just some of my suggestions.  Note that I have been building for 10
years (1900 hours) and am still one year away from first flight.

1)  Decide early whether you are building a show plane or not.  You can build
a nice plane without undue effort, but if you want a show-winning plane,
expect to spend three times as long.  I am not building a show plane -- I just
didn't spend any time building for almost the first five years...

2)  Put 200 watt light bulbs in the ceiling of your shop.  If you don't have
800-1000 watts of light, you will miss the little details.

3)  Get the CG as far forward as possible.  Moving the hydraulic pump to the
area behind the seats is fine, but I'd rather keep the baggage volume.  Attach
the pump to the firewall instead.  Do what Marv did and cut a chunk out of
the header tank and make a little access door in the top of the forward deck.  
Don't do what I did and shoehorn the pump between the instrument panel and the
header tank.  (Although it's really cool!)

4)  Get the long engine mount.

5)  If you have the instrument panel that is not flat, give it away.  (Or
sell it to me.  I'd like to do mine over but I'm already committed to this
version.)  Only use the flat panel since it makes attaching your radio stack much
simpler.  Use aluminum inserts -- don't mount your stuff to the fiberglass
panel.  Don't even think of not paying someone to CNC the holes for you.  This
falls into the category of "I tried to save money but I was wrong..."

6)  Make a jackstand that you can easily stick the plane on and cycle the
gear.  Keep the plane on the jackstand rather than the tires -- it's more stable.

7)  Buy every fast-build or preassembled option there is.  Not to say that
you should add all the bells and whistles -- more that paying for someone else's
labor will save you years.

8)  If you don't have a nice cutting table, cut lots of fiberglass into 1x2
foot pieces (at 45 degree angles, of course!) and store them in a plastic bag.  
That way you just grab a piece of glass and get to work, rather than fussing
with the big roll of cloth.  Saves time.

9)  If you make the starboard part, make the portside part immediately after.
 I made one flap and one aileron, then waited 18 months to do the others.  I
forgot what I did.  (This may sound stupid, but when your garage is only big
enough to attach one wing at a time, that's what you do...)

10)  Get the battery forward for CG reasons.

11)  Run cables through your adjustable rudder pedals and have turnbuckles
swaged on.  That way you can remove the pedals without cutting the cables.

12)  Paint the bottom of the cockpit with one coat of Jeffco fuel tank
sealer.  You WILL have hydraulic spills.

13)  Run as much as you can through the wheel wells before attaching the top
skins.

14)  Attach the rear windows last.

15)  Install all antennas in the tailcone before attaching the vertical tail.

16)  Get the old LML on CD and read every issue.  Do this periodically since
the stuff you will do two years from now won't make any sense to read about
until then.

17)  When you mount your cowling, build in two washers worth of sag.  When
the mounts really sag, take out the washers.  Happens within the first 50 hours,
I'm told.

- Rob Wolf
LNC2 70%