Hi all,
Not an owner yet but am very much wanting to begin a build project here in the New Forest in the near future BUT as usual I have several million questions/misconceptions/gaps of knowledge!
My main requirement is low budget but I'm not totally on the no frills, and I have time on my hands. I am leaning at the moment therefore for the Sumo (sierra based) but I am up for a RV8, partly swayed by the V8 soundtrack, but also the abundance of bits and resale value versus initial cost.
I have done a lot of forum dredging but still have some q's.
1. I am up for the build, am not a mechanic as such but have done a fair bit on old golf's a over the years, from bodywork to mechanicals in my spare time. Is a 'from scratch' build a bit optimistic for an amateur? I get the feeling it is perfectly feasible with the right frame of mind BUT from the posts I realise that sorting some of the Sumo shortcomings is best done during the build and requires a bit of initiative and I'm a bit nervous about the talk of altering anchor points/suspension etc. Presume I can pay people to do these bits but would really like to do it myself. Wow this is a long first post.
2. I am getting a bit confused with the costs here and there and I'll keep coming back to these but can anyone give me a rough cost for an 3.5 RV8 (with/without gbox) and how much for recon as well. I feel the pinto would be a false economy in the long run.
3. A lot of cost seems to be with the 'extras', can u get it running right (SVA etc.) and then add/upgrade these without too much hassle in the future?
Lots more to come, many thanks for the patience with another newbie!
Jon