Thanks for the further info, I was thinking along the lines of using box section as frankly, I'm a bit tight ;) and don't quite know where I'll stop if I go down the root of purchasing items to save me time. Also has anyone ever contemplated modifying the sierra mcpherson struts for use as the shocks instead of the dampers recomended in the book as I think £360 is a bit steep for a set of shocks

the reason the shocks are more expensive than a standard set of coilovers
is the one inch extension
you could pad a shock bracket up by an inch and order a standard length
coilover if you really want/need to save a few quid
the choice is yours
cheers les g