karl
budget imo has very littlee to do with it, i had a quote from a famous tuning firm in leicestershire, and for what they quoted me for a 420 engine, ive nearly built sumthing twice as powerful.
like you said if mark/martin have those acheivements then fair play, surely any bloke in the street who wants to spend money will look at those and make there own decision.
i learnt my lesson the hard way with my old car, several conversions laters and thoushands in the bin, i got sumthing that worked, i wasnt gonna risk that withthe esc cos.
get it right and pay once