This is a read-only archive of the old Madabout Kitcars forum. New posts and replies are no longer possible, but every thread is still here to browse and read.
Hi, new to this forum which I came across whilst trying to decide on what to build. Totally new to the kit car game and limited if little mechanical knowledge, well I can handle a spanner and used to work on my cars in the 70's. Wife had an MR2 Roadster up until alst years and I enjoyed tweaking that and also blatting occaisionaly. I have a good sized garage and a good range of tools as well as support from management!
I have looked around and bascically it comes down to either a Quantum Xtreme or the Marlin Sportser. I believe at 6' 3" I would at least fit in either of these!!! I expect to take quite some time to build what ever kit I go for as it's the build project that really attracts me. Probably wont make a decision until after the Exeter show in October
It seems that it's a lot easier to find a BMW donor over the Sierra and obviously budget is part of the equation.
So what am I asking you guys?
Xtreme or Marlin?
Ease of build?
Budget needed if utilising as much as possible from donor?
Thanks in advance for any advice and looking forward to keeping up to date with this forum.
Hi Griggser
Welcome to the forum.
I started my Sportster in 2007 and completed it at the start of 2010 and I chose it mainly because of its looks. I can't comment on the Xtreme but the Sportster IMHO:
Cons:
Inadequate build manual.
Factory support would best be described as variable.
Costs a lot more than you think it will (though this is probably true for all kit cars!)
Presents lots of build 'challenges'
Pros:
Looks fantastic.
You can't beat a BMW engine (though make sure you do enough research to choose the right one).
Big enough for tall people (I'm 6ft 4)
Lots of invaluable support available from this forum.
But at the end of the day if you're undecided, I would recommend doing a test drive in both, as at the end of the day, its the drive that counts isn't it?
Hope this helps, good luck
Tim
I can only echo what Tim has said, parts support for BMW is good, the build is a steep learning curve but sounds like you've got a good start. As long as you're prepared to take your time and spend a lot of it problem solving it's all good. The community support since I joined up in 2005 has been superb. Pretty much everyone will have had to tackle a specific problem at some point during the build!
Thanks Tim & Patrick, just the sort of encouragement I need. The problem is I keep reading more and more and looking at build diarys etc which seems a bit daunting. Mind you I beleive you can eat an elephant if you take enough small bites!