Backhalving?
I actually started on my car 09/06, but since I work 6 days a week there is only one day a week to work on it. Then my wife decided I'd be happier without her and that set me back more than nine months, finding a new house and all. Plus now I have even more to do because there is no one else here to help me so I have precious little time to work on my car.
What he has now isn't important, it's what he will have and if he hasn't looked into the cost yet he certainly will, and that may be a determing factor. I still feel however if you are going to build a car it's far cheaper in the long run to just do it right the first time instead of buying stuff than buying more and better stuff later.
The whole Cal Trac setup with their springs and shocks and bushings and whatnot will still cost $1K. You can buy the rear clip with shocks, springs, brackets and rod ends for around $1500. You still have to narrow the rear and if you have good axles now you can just have them shortened. You still have to buy tires and wheels so why buy them twice? Need a cage, it will be different after it's backhalfed so why do that twice?
After having built cars in stages before I won't do that again. I've spent more time and money redoing something I should have just done the first time.