I do think, looking back, that there would be value in something (software or otherwise) that would help me plan a ground-up restoration (or in my case a buildup). I made the same mistake that many noobs do in tearing everything apart and then attempting to attack it piece-meal. The end result was a scattering of stuff from hell~to~breakfast and a project that has taken years!
I'm not an engineer, so I have relied on the illustrations gleaned from the Internet (thank you 'Bolters!) to give me a sense as to how (for example) a bracket should be located or the best routing for a fuel line.
I do use Excel for spreadsheets - I built one to compare the offerings of different manufacturers of aftermarket front suspensions. I was finding myself stymied by the apples vs. oranges advertisements of these guys, so I created a matrix to give me a clearer picture. I'm working on a similar one for wiring kits right now (I'm still in the planning stages so haven't ventured into that jungle yet!).
My brother is a machinist and is very anal about record keeping. He advised me to start a "diary" to keep track of my time. I did so, but only use it to mark significant benchmarks. I'm not so caught up in marking every hour I spend on my hobby.
