Hi,

I been lurking and ready for quite some time now, and I am considering doing my own project car as a daily drive between Bathurst and Orange 50km highway and about 10km urban. I guess the reason I have chosen the Golf mk2 to be the object of my affections is that for some strange reason I just like the look of it, plus it is small and lightweight.

As I am not the most mechanically minded, I guess the point of this thread is a realism check. I know I have a ton of different questions and you're all welcome to help/flame/PM me For somethings I am willing to do it myself, but for others I would have to take it my local mechanic (Windsors Automotive)

1. Am I being crazy in considering this with a Golf mk2
2. What are the actual running cost like for a mk2
3. How difficult is it to get spares for a mk2
4. I am finding it fairly difficult to get an accurate ball park on the pricing of the various components that I will mention below.
5. What insurance company do you generally use, and what are your ball park premium and excess

The car will be a Golf Mk2 and I was hoping to swap the engine out of it and put something in with more poke.

These are the engines that I considering:
Golf Mk3 2.0L I4 16v (ABF)
Golf Mk3 2.8L VR6 (AAA)
Golf Mk4 1.8L I4 20v Turbo(AUQ/AWP)

I am just wondering how common they are in Australia, and generally what the cost of these engines are, and the cost of getting a mechanic to do the engine conversion is?

Which engines would require the car to get engineered and what are the rough costs of going through this process?

Also as far as reliability are the ABF or the vr6 engine better options, or will a properly swapped mk4 turbo be fine.

Further more with the turbo and vr6 engine would I also have to budget for a uprated clutch and manual gearbox.

What are the various options for upgrading the brakes? I have seen many forum threads on doing this with mk3 vr6 brakes.

What are the general recommendations for the suspension of a Mk2, is it adequate in stock form, or would it require an upgrade to deal with additional power and weight

I am right now assuming that my projected upgrade pathway will be brakes, suspension, and then engine swap/conversion. Of course this subject to change with feedback