Dave's right, build the car and these questions will answer themselves along the way. I say start a thread here https://simplymaya.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=34 and get modeling, there's a lot of good modelers who will chime in and help along the way I'm sure.

People tend to be more inclined to help when you're working on a project, and it's easier to troubleshoot stuff. Also, practice makes perfect