Hi Burley,
Welcome, I was in the same situation as you a few years back , setting out to build a kit car with no previous kit building experience although I did have previous (involuntary) experience changing engines , gearboxes and all the usual service activities. My biggest fear at the outset was not so much getting it assembled but getting it through the mysterious IVA test. In the end, the IVA is fantastically clear and simple ( I cheated and gave it RTR for their IVA service) . If you have any worries about this part of the process download the IVA test document and have a read as none of it is rocket science.
I’ll try and answer your questions.
Least build issues
I went with MEV’s recommended 1.8 donor choice. That made it easy. 2.0 engines are also straightforward but the gearboxes on these donors have the linkages in a different place and this requires custom gear cables. Plenty of people have gone this route and in some respects it might be considered simpler because with the 1.8 you have to source a mondeo gear stick from a breaker. If you go the long custom gear change cable route you can use the donor gear stick. The MEV manual takes you down the cheapest route which is to use the donor gear cables and mondeo gear stick.
Bear in mind that if you go the ST170 donor route , again there are plenty of completed Sonic examples , you’ll need an aftermarket exhaust manifold, the ST170 donor manifold and down pipes do not fit in the engine bay. The ST170 donor can be dropped in but you’ll have extra bits to do , not really a complication as there are now plenty of examples but they do add cost.
If you want “simplest and cheapest” then the recommended 1.8 donor with rear disk brakes is the way to go. Other options 2.0 / ST170 are not really much more complicated but they start to get a little more expensive with a few hundred extra pounds here and there. Bear in mind you could also fit a 1.6, you don’t have to go bigger. Some would argue that the lighter 1.6 has some merits.
There are plenty of donors with rear drum brakes but that means you have to get a set of rear disks , callipers and “carriers” from a scrapyard. You’d think that ordering up these from a motor factor will be cheap and easy and the first two are, (disks and callipers) however the carriers are only available from breakers or ford (
expensive ). Best just to get a donor with the rear disk brakes ( estate or ghia models ).
Least build issues probably also means sticking with the ford ECU. Cheapest means ford ECU and ford instruments ( which is what I have on my sonic )
How long
You’ve probably heard of the mythical 100 hours. I laugh so much it makes me cry every time I see that one come up. It took me and my brother 18 months but we had a 4 month break in the middle of that. I recon we spent about half our time figuring out how we wanted to do things as we changed quite a few design elements , fuel tank up front, battery up front , massive radiator forward of chassis, different ECU location, using donor wiring loom and fuse box. If we were to do it again we could do it in a third of the time and that would still be much more than 100 hours.
Have a build buddy, in my case my brother. Have an understanding partner, this hobby will take cash and more importantly, time. You can predict how much cash it will cost and if you don’t get carried away “shopping” then there is no reason your budget should be badly busted. However, time spent is the element that will mostly likely be over budget.
Having a build buddy is the best way I know of keeping your spirits up when you have an expensive pile of bits and it seems to be taking forever. That and start a build blog on the forum, you’ll get plenty of comment and advice if you ask for it.
Tools
I think you’ll need a basic set of home DIY tools and a diy mechanic set.
From the top of my head.
Socket sets (¼ inch drive down to about 4mm and ½ inch 10mm to 24+mm ) plus a single large socket for the drive shafts.
medium/large puller removing drive shafts from hubs.
Extension bars for ¼ and ½ inch drives
Breaker bar for stuck nuts
Spanners , two medium sets with combo open and ring ends( I regular and 1 stubby ) if your flush then add an offset ring spanner set.
Allen key set ( get a good set that have 15cm lengths to them from a premium German or Nordic brand )
Mole grips
Medium adjustable spanner
Files and rasps
Jack + axel stands Bear in mind that you’ll need a low entry jack for the sonic the clearance is just 10cm and the jack has to get under that. These can be expensive especially the lightweight alloy ones. I bought a steel one for about £60 and it works a treat but it is mighty heavy.
Electric drill and drill bits , if you can’t sharpen your own bits get some hss jobber packs in the sizes you need.
Hammer ( often referred to as the “Persuader”)
Fluid collection, large drip tray or oil collection container £20 on a large 40L metal drip dray will easily pay for itself every time you empty the radiator as you can reuse the coolant.
A vice ( as in a used Record 36 or similar off eBay ) bigger the better. A big vice and big hammer and a set of files will serve you well when making stuff. You’ll wonder how you ever survived without them.
Clamps I'd get a couple of good clamps and then go for quantity over quality.
Stanley knife and spare blades.
good screwdriver set or hex driver handle and set of flat , hex , tor-x and PZ2 driver bits. ( about £5 from screwfix )
bit holderTor-x driver bits from halfords ( there are only two larger sizes you need so just buy the bits at halfords, no need for a set )
Rivet tool ( lazy rivet type recommended but you can get by with a lever one )
Brake flaring tool
Quality Hack saw and new 32tpi bimetal blades.
Haynes manual for your donor.
Sturdy boxes and shelves for keeping bits in. The floor will fill up quickly.
Work surface and some sturdy platform(s) to put the chassis on.
Rent the big stuff , engine hoist , engine leveller and so on.
Get a local garage to press the hubs out from the donor stub axel or take it to RTR when you collect your kit and they'll press them out for you.
If the wheel bearings break when pressing the hubs out, you need a gear puller to get the remaining half a bearing off the hub(s)
If you have things like hole saws or a Dremmel type tool then these are all very useful but not essential.
I bought a new engine hoist ( £150 ) as I knew I’d be using it regularly, so far about 7 times. But, it’s bulky and you’ll need somewhere to store it. If your careful you might buy one of ebay for less than renting a couple of times but you’ll have to store it somewhere and it could end up as an irritation when you’ve finished the build or you could sell it on.
If you don’t have the small hand tools already, shop around and go to the big shows with a shopping list and known prices, buy them at one of the big shows, it can be much cheaper. Especially the rasps and files. Online or in the shops a decent file is £10 and up you’ll get three better ones at a show for £5 (without handles) on the stalls. Just add Bacho plastic handles at £2 each from eBay to finish off.
file handles on ebay A good set of files saves time and effort, like sandpaper get them in graduations from rough to smooth and some with curved surfaces. The graduations are called Bastard, Medium and Final. When choosing a file on the stalls avoid rusty ones as they will never work well. Spray with wd40 when storing and they’ll last a lifetime.
Build challenges.
If you’ve read all the build blogs then there should be no big surprises.
Rusted fixings on the donor can be a hassle, the breaker bar and persuader are called in these cases
Add bodywork last. This means taking the suspension off again to fit the bodywork but it is much easier getting everything installed and working when you can just reach through the chassis. When the bodywork is on, there are a lot of places that are a real fiddle to get to.
Measure twice , ask on the forum and cut once.
Stripping a donor and recovering costs
It’s hard to recover costs on a Focus. Not impossible, but it takes time and commitment to the eBay process. You’ll have to store all those bits for quite a while and that takes space.
Things that I’ve found sell are: wings , doors, bumpers , interiors. Suspension parts, aircon, steering rack are all slow movers. Sell it cheaper than everyone else and just get rid of it.
I found the ST170 lights sold in a flash as did the interior.
Bike Wing mirrors with built in indicators
I assume you are talking about using these for the side repeaters. These have to be visible from 5 degrees forward to 85 degrees rearward. Indicators on Bikes are just one set at the front and one set at the rear. Bikes have no repeaters on the side. ( I await gleeful and cruel correction on this point by someone better informed than me. ) I expect the wing mirror items you are referring to are just forward facing as they’re probably replacements for the forward facing indicators. It sounds quite likely to me that they will not comply for IVA.
Good luck and keep posting your progress on the Forum.
Guy