Graham, It's nice to hear from a fellow Scot, as I'm originally from Haddington in East Lothian. Can't beat the old country!
I looked at a number of different companies and actually went and looked at three of them. I didn't consider the companies from abroad as because I intededed to build the complete kit I wanted to be ble to have easy contact with the manuafcturer. I know email etc is wonderful, but I wanted to be able to go and see them if the need arose.
I chose MDA because I was impressed by the build quality of the chassis, they offered the complete package, I could see the quality of their material etc., they were only a three hour drive from my home. Their service has been very good and they have answered all my questions, although I sometimes think that I am the quinea pig in building this kit, unless any one out there is further on than me. I don't know.
My engineering background is mostly on the acedemic side, but like most men, when I was youinger I used to take my Mini apart and rebuild it, but always withn some bits left over! Ooops! I've built model railways and model cars but other than that, nope, no other mechanical experience. It is certainly a learning curve doing a project like this, but that's half the enjoyment for me. I get great pleasure from seeing a part fitted or finished on the chassis. So as you say, enthusiastic amateur, is the best description. I hope to keep the web site updated but I'm disappointed with the package I purchased; it is not very flexible and I can't do any fancy stuff with it. Anyway, I'll do my best.
Let me know what you decide to do and if i can be of any help, please contact me.
Best Regards
Alastair