Newbie Mk4 builder in Annapolis

[dmoran]

Hey Everybody,

I just got back from Factory Five School in MI and boy am I pumped! I went with with my dad and my son for a little 3 generation hot rod building action.

The instructors, Charles and Scott were awesome. I think it was well worth it to get the chance to see and try every part of the build including what options are available and where you can/should deviate from the book. The years worth of advice and possible gotchas was invaluable.

I'm in the pre-order and planning stage at the moment and so far I'm thinking about going with the Mk4 Roadster base Kit. I think I want to do a partial donor, meaning new suspension parts, brakes and driver pedal setup from Factory Five and most of the other stuff from a donor car.

I'm still researching engines but I don't want anything huge. Probably a small block in the 302 range. I'll look locally to see what's available used or as a donor. I've also looked online at crate engines and read about some of the popular builders. I keep going back and forth as all the options makes my head spin.

I'm simultaneously trying to talk myself out of just getting a full engine/trans package from Roush. Their 331 SRXE at 350HP looks perfect for what I want to end up with. I guess I need to decide if I want to spend the budget on HP or Paint?


I'm open to all advice at this point (although I do prefer the good kind). I'm also interested in meeting builders/owners in the Annapolis/South Baltimore area.

Thanks for letting me hang out with you'se guys,
Doug

[bil1024]

I would go with a Fortes engine package, you really don't need a lot of horses on these cars, save the money for paint

[MVRight]

Welcome aboard! If you go north of Baltimore, I know of at least 3 builders. Me, close to first start after 4 years, another completed, another pretty far along. At least one more in the area as well that has a completed Roadster. I learned a lot from them and both the forums. Have fun, happy to help anyway I can even if it is giving examples of what not to do!

[gtaroger]

Welcome to the forum. Roger

[Mtnest]

Congrats!!

[grluisi150]

Welcome, I'm building a coyote w/T56 into a base kit. I'm 20 minutes outside of Annapolis. PM me and we can talk about our builds.

Gary

[Turbroe]

Did you consider a Coyote? Just a thought but they are special of you like the less vibration and gas oil in you face feel.

[carlewms]

Doug,

Welcome aboard the merry go round ...

One question you have to answer first is how are you going to use the car ... It can impact the package you want. I wanted a car that I could drive a lot including sime trips with an occasional track day or autocross. I also wanted relatively easy access for maintenance purposes.

I am building a Mk 4 and I too purchased the base kit which I proceeded to upgrade with Wilwood brakes, IRS (the older version), leather seats and a few other smaller options. After a lot of research I picked a SBF stroked to 347 CI with a super alloy T5 transmission and FAST EFI 2.0. So far I have only driven it as a go kart ... and it is definitely enough horsepower and torque.

If your ever down in the Northern Va area give me a call and you can come over and see what I am doing.

Carl

[GoDadGo]

Hey Doug,

Welcome to the Factory Five Family.

Get the manual before you order your kit if you don't have it already.
Read, read, read it before you order your car.
It comes in PDF and Paper copy forms.

Good Luck Enjoy Your Build!

Steve >> aka: GoDadGo