My approach to this would be to design everything up front, mainly the front suspension in a middie, and mock it up fully, probably with light gauge scrap material. Then design everything at the back, engine, drive train and suspension, then mock that up fully as well. Wheel diameter, hub height, ground clearance, control arm lengths and angles, roll centres, all fundamental stuff. Next try to fit yourself and all the controls in between, and that will establish the wheelbase.
When you have a very good idea of all the major dimensions, and the exact locations of all the chassis hard points, and know where there is room for bracing, and where you need free open space, only then can you start thinking about designing a simple efficient structure to hold everything together.
It is not going to be a simple straightforward linear step by step do it once process. A lot of trial fitting, dismantling, and moving things around that can go on seemingly forever.
A CAD drawing might look great on the screen, but there is absolutely nothing like having a full scale mock up you can actually sit in, and walk around, and take direct measurements off.
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