The weight has pretty much doubled yes and i was snapping shocks for fun. The record i think was about 100 yards for a brand new spax shock. As you say the power to weight isn't going to be too great..lol. The 1.4 was really struggling towards the end but this engine should be almost double the power so will help a lot.
I have done a test run on the blue, white and black and it works very well so am hoping for good things there. When its all done properly i think it will look good....for a retro style car
I like to do things differently and push my skills. If everyone did the same and followed like a sheep life and car modifying would be so boring.
With regards to how long i've been working on it. The current rebuild has been ongoing since January 2012 and the transformation has been massive. The car i have had since 2001 and was showing and Fast Car featured in 2005 in its previous state.