Which kit would you recommend?

[Turnips]

all good points, as i said wasn't really considering taking on body/painting. As mentioned a great job can make the car look $1mill, and a poor job can make it look $1. Lets face it, the paint/body is what people end up seeing when they look at the car. unless it's a show car you're not likely to have it sitting with the bonnet up etc, and looking at normal cars, panel tolerances seem similar, so as far as I can tell its just subtle trim and the quality of the paint and paintwork that make all the difference. Yes hondas, subaru's etc can look nice, but put it next to an audi or porsche and there's no comparison.

Only reason why I'd consider doing it myself is if it were just a plain colour. Its much easier to stuff up a metallic let alone weird things like chameleon (not that I'd want one) than a simple black/white/red etc. I read in some other threads here people got their body wrapped in black plastic left it out in the sun over summer for blemishes to appear then threw it at the painters. That is likely the way I'd go if/when I decided to paint. Ideally the gel coat would look fine, at least for a few years when money isn't so much a concern.

In another direction, has anyone read either of these books, are they something I should bother with? The cobra specific one seems to be all about factory 5 so I'm not sure how well it will relate to other manufacturers, however the other one seems kind of old (published 1997) and as it's so general, I wonder about some of the relevancy of it.

The Car Builder's Handbook: Tips and Techniques for Builders of Kit Cars and Street Rods by Doug McCleary

How to Build Cobra Kit Cars + Buying Used by D. Brian Smith

[Pecal]

You can pontificate forever, the bottom line is be realistic about your skills and the things you can do. Read all the books you like but it won't help in the specific problems that will confront you. This forum and the collective knowledge of everyone here can help you enormously but it is still you building the car. Choose your kit, get started and be prepared for challenges and factor into your budget those tasks you can't complete yourself and don't kid yourself there are plenty of things you will need help with.