Planning for a Project; Suggestions?

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I'm not sure what % of kits are never completed (Have one sitting in my garage)- much less completed to be authentic. If you have no garage you probably have minimal tools - garage needs heat and electricty too. You'd be thousands of dollars ahead to buy Tom Dewalt's sorted out JPS Coupe.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=683706

I am actually pretty set with tools, have just about everything I need. Currently have an attached garage, but between mine and the wifes daily drivers (and before mentioned tools) I won't have the space to even store a third car w/o building something.

So the garage build is part of my whole deal, had to promise the wife that this project would be self contained and not directly impact our daily routine; i.e. require her to start parking outdoors, thus to buy a completed car and build the garage wouldn't save me much. (Lord forbid she get wet while bring inthe groceries).

:)

I went with a pre-fabricated 14 x 40 building. (12 feet is too narrow to work in) It came completely finished including the overhead door, man door, windows trim and paint. I added the interior insulation, wiring, electric heat, AC unit and lights. My $7,900 total included paving and shrubs. Best think the build process over and double your time line and financial expectations...I say this with much expeerience. And...ye$, Tom DeWalt's completed JPS coupe would be the be$t way to go. ~Alan

I am looking at a couple prefabs now myself. If I prepare the site and do the foundation myself can do a 12x24 for $3500. What vendor did you use that had 14' wide prefabs?

On another note. For anyone who has done either the Beck Deluxe kit, or JPS or SAS coupes. What are the waiting times for each... from what I can read, the turnkey coupes take upwards of 18 months in some cases. I want to build my own car, thus the Beck kit is appealing but I'd like a coupe preferably. Am wondering if the cost savings and experience of building my own would balance out the long wait of going with one of the coupes. (Being in FLA, the SAS coupe is most appealing due to the proximity of TN being much closer than John Steele and company in CA.

Unless you're retired, you do NOT have the time to build from scratch. If you don't want a car that is already sorted out (Tom Dewalts coupe) then, I would suggest buying a fixer-upper and practice on it the first time out (It may be hard to find a coupe though, so maybe you'll have to do a Speedster). The project will tell you two or maybe more things, it will give you an idea of the length of time it takes to work on these cars, and it will give you an idea of the cost. It may also tell you that you just don't have the time to build the car or it may even burn you out. If you go this way, you won't have as much money in it if you do decide to bail out. I see so many people that where really charged up in the beginning only to find out these these cars weren't what they expected. They are really more of a "blast from the past" than a modern day built car. With that in mind, think through this very carefully or you may be putting a 25% done project in the classifieds.

I'm far from retired and i've built mine from scratch. You might want to plan for more than the 40 hours the "manual" says it takes though. I'm currently on Month #19

Several SO folks (believe Alan's is one) go with the Amish built prefabs (either out of PA or MD). Where are you in FL - I'll be relocating to the Ft Walton area --- hopefully with a driveable CMC Speedie. With warm FL weather you'd be happy with a stuffy Coupe? I'd at least want a huge sunroof in it. Look for a used Brazilian Envemo - about as authentic as you can get to real 356 but tad more modern. There aren't many out there but have seen 3 or 4 for sale on the Samba and ebay the last year or so. They did both Coupes and Cabriolets. Prices seem real reasonable. Carey Hines was working with a guy to set up a Evenmo registry -

www.envemo.com

https://www.speedsterowners.com/forum/readmsg.asp?t=15033

JB - I can't help with ideas on a coupe, but I can provide some insight on the Beck Deluxe Body Kit. If you scroll down to the bottom of the Special Edition web page you'll see my car. Gordon Nichols assembled a team of guys on this site and built it in 16 hours at the '06 Carlisle show. You can certainly build this car, although 16 hours is optimistic. These guys had help and advice from the manufacturer, all the tools they could possibly need, and plenty of experience. Still, after living with the car a couple of years, and learning about it through the inevitable sorting process, I am convinced that I could build one in a reasonably short period of time. I believe it is the best way to go for a partial DIY Speedster. One thing, though - I think budgeting $3k-$5k for the whole drive train is on the low side, unless you buy used and rebuild yourself. However, your padding dollars would cover it, and probably leave a few bucks left for some added bling.

Call Carey Hines at Special Edition. They're great folks to work with, and will give you the whole picture. One thing you might ask him is if he plans a Deluxe Body Kit for a Convertible D (roll-up windows) version.