Niel - Welcome to the forum.
Top 3 Things:
- Decide how much money you want to spend in total.
- Decide how much time you have available for the project.
- Decide how much work you want to do yourself vs. getting others to help you with.
As your kit choices are directly related to the answers to these questions.
I'm certainly no expert, but here is my very simplistic take on it…
These days kit cars fall into two broad categories:
Those that will require an IVA (Individual Vehicle Approval) test at the end and those that do not.
IVA kit cars include all the Lotus 7 inspired models such as Caterham, Westfield, etc.
There is certainly a lot to be said for building one of these kits as every part is supplied new.
They will be supplied with a comprehensive instruction manual, a bit like a big Airfix model.
The only down side is that they are not cheap.
Kit cars that to not require an IVA tend to be either panel kits or a "re-body" which requires a donor car.
Again, just to keep things simple, the donor cars can be either old, or modern.
Tribute Automotive produce a range of "panel" kits based on a BMW Z3, including these SWB 250s.
Tribute also use an MX5 for their MX250, seen here next to Tribute's Z3 based Kobra.
The use of replacement panels
can lead to a much faster build time.
The "rebody" route also allows for a radical transformation, from something like this.
To something like this.
Now this can require a LOT of work, especially if the donor car needs major repair/restoration.
I'd highly recomend reading
Mister Towed's fantastic build tread here:
http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/foru...ead.php?t=3113
As it covers all the work he took on himself to transform a rusty donor car into this.
However, both Tribute and Sammio offer kits for Triumph Spitfires that keep most of the original car underneath.
( Which
should reduce the build time, provided you have a good donor car to begin with. )
A352
"New" Sammio Spyder
Sorry I haven't got time to go though any more points today.
But I would suggest you have a good look around the forum and read lots of build threads.
These will give you an idea of how the various different kits go together.
Hope that helps, good luck, Paul.
