356 Speedster replica kit with Mendeola Suspension

Chassis back from powder coating and assembled . 

Here are few pictures of the body before and after painting .

I am going to try and finish the windshield install today. I did print the instructions that Gordon posted but it is still a touchy job. There aren't any video's to watch to show all the details on how to do this. For me the tricky part is how to put on and trim the bottom rubber gasket . Also how to bend and trim the lower aluminum trim.

Looking very sharp, Scott! It's going to turn heads out on the street. Love the color. What was the reason for clearancing the tops of the frame horns? And Welcome To The Madness! Al

@SCOTTB   PM sent~

@ScottB - This is going to be special car.  I was wondering where you lived as it would be great to see this in person sometime if you’re near the east coast.

Scott lives up the road  ( a couple of hours north of me)  He will be drafted for our Speedsters at Carlisle in May ~

Wow!

looks like porsche meteor gray

I have only ever seen one Mendeola suspension on a 356 Speedster and it was a spectacular Super Widebody that the new buyer eventually found out was involved in a non-disclosed accident and returned to the (dealer) seller...it's out there again somewhere.

You're going to love yours, especially with that motor.

Excellent work!

John Connolly once told me that there is no "perfect" in the VW world-- everything is a compromise between absolute performance and fitting within the confines of an existing envelope. The balance is everywhere-- comfort v performance, cost v improvement, etc. I've heard various people (over on TheSamba) express concerns about some aspects of Kevin's design, but people who frequent The Samba would gripe about stubbing their toe on a gold brick.

From this distance it looks like a major improvement over the stock set-up. The back runs narrower than stock trailing arms, etc. and would solve a lot of the fitment issues guys have running IRS and disc brakes in a narrow body car. Unequal length A-arm is a huge upgrade over the front end of a car with a VW beam.

I want to drive one of these cars with the conversion. @Rich Drewek is getting this done on his Ghia hardtop, which I suppose is as close as I'm going to get to having a chance. I'll drive up to Milwaukee to sample the fruit if I'm given the opportunity.

Keep us in the loop, Scott!

Nicely done, Scott!

Patience is a virtue while installing the windshield.  While both Alan and I have installed them solo, it is often less stressful to have another person help - and congratulatory beer at the end.  

The trickiest part is getting the lower gasket to sit over the upright forward lip of the lower metal trim and then manage to keep it in place while you finish the glass install.  Getting the glass seated properly against the cowl line and slowly tightening it all down tends to make the gasket pop up off of the trim lip - it can be frustrating getting it all right because the two different parts (bottom trim and gasket) don’t seem to have the same angle so they fight each other.  I have often given up on trying to keep the rubber captive on that lip and simply push the windshield and lower gasket up against it.  YMMV.

Remember - Don’t go nuts trying to over-tighten the windshield frame against the windshield or the nut on the bottom of the center strut.  Only slightly more than finger tight (like one turn or less after bottoming it with your fingers) should be fine.

Alan Merklin posted:

Scott lives up the road  ( a couple of hours north of me)  He will be drafted for our Speedsters at Carlisle in May ~

Looks like he "stole" your paint color!

Doesn't @Larry Bull have a Mendeola suspension in his Speedster? IIrc it's a classic body (no flares).

@ScottB- Tire sizes? Oh- can you tell us more about the "solid spool" 4 speed?

WOLFGANG posted:

Alan Merklin posted:

Scott lives up the road  ( a couple of hours north of me)  He will be drafted for our Speedsters at Carlisle in May ~

Looks like he "stole" your paint color!

It does look like Seal grey

Scott looks great. I’ll start another post regarding my Ghia Project so as not to clutter your topic up.

Ahh , you guys do catch everything ! It's not a solid spool but a Super Diff.  And if memory serves me right Kevin sent it to Rancho to go over it before he sent it to me. ( It really has been a long build )

ScottB posted:

Ahh , you guys do catch everything ! It's not a solid spool but a Super Diff.  And if memory serves me right Kevin sent it to Rancho to go over it before he sent it to me. ( It really has been a long build )

That makes more sense! Now, what about those tire sizes? Inquiring minds NEED TO KNOW!!!! 

And while I'm at it- what ring & pinion did you go with? Stock 1st through 4th? 

See, I'm kind of a detail guy...Al

And more importantly, for Al.......

Have you drilled a buncha holes in stuff yet???

Cool build man. Love the bare chassis with all the shiny bits on it.

Started on the windshield install. 

The wind shield frame is from VS and fits the windshield great but the windshield post are CMC. The frame is .075" to large to fit in snug.  I tried to squeeze the frame but I didn't want to ruin it, so I stopped for the night. My thought is to order a set of post from VS.  Any idea's ?

I have ran into this,  use a barrel rasp in a cordless drill to gradually.... open the inside of the post . I also have compressed the windshield frame in a vise , you'll  need to use something like hard rubber or nylon blocks instead of wood in the vise jaws as the wood is too soft. Either way rasp or compress go a small amount at a time and rechecking as you go  . I left you my phone number in a PM.  Alan

I put the lower gasket in a bucket of hot water to soften it a little then used a rope in the grove to put it on the glass. then I used adhesive every 6".

Would love to have that suspension on my car. Outstanding workmanship!

Why do Mendeola rear suspensions use the torsion bar when they have coil over shocks?  Doesn't a spring provide the same effect as a torsion bar?

@Todd M asked- "Why do Mendeola rear suspensions use the torsion bar when they have coil over shocks?  Doesn't a spring provide the same effect as a torsion bar?"

I was under the impression that although there's no torsion bar it's still one of the pivot points for the trailing arm.

ALB posted:

@Todd M asked- "Why do Mendeola rear suspensions use the torsion bar when they have coil over shocks?  Doesn't a spring provide the same effect as a torsion bar?"

I was under the impression that although there's no torsion bar it's still one of the pivot points for the trailing arm.

That did not occur to me.  I saw the torsion tube and assumed it was using the torsion bar.  Thanks.

Al you asked about clearancing on the frame horns supporting the transaxle/engine.  Both of my builds were IRS rear and both had flattened frame horns.

Here is the 1971 rear, unmodified by me.  Must be an IRS thing.

Alan Merklin posted:

I have ran into this,  use a barrel rasp in a cordless drill to gradually.... open the inside of the post . I also have compressed the windshield frame in a vise , you'll  need to use something like hard rubber or nylon blocks instead of wood in the vise jaws as the wood is too soft. Either way rasp or compress go a small amount at a time and rechecking as you go  . I left you my phone number in a PM.  Alan

I really didn't want to do this but you are right Alan. I called VS and that is what they do also. I will post some pictures of this when I get to it this weekend. 

Here are a few pictures of how I had to change the rear frame of the CMC  Speedster to clear the Mendeola suspension. 

I had to open up the in side of the wind shield post with a Die Grinder and I also had to compressed the windshield frame in a vise . I used a piece of rubber to protect the aluminum wind shield frame. I did put a small nick in the frame . I wet sanded it down by starting with 320 , 600 ,  1000 then 1200 grit paper. I finished it with Mothers Aluminum Polish. You can't tell it was ever nicked and it looks great ! 

Just caught this thread, I'm strangely attracted to checkers and Mendiola suspensions. This a very nice build. the silver is a great color.

Larry Bull

The clearanced frame horns wouldn't be for 930 CV joints would they?

@ScottB  I looked on the web and I could not find the dimensions of that front Mendeola sway bar. I was just wondering, while your car is in such a vulnerable position, could you make a few measurements?

I just got to know. 

The diameter of the bar too, please. 

Looks great. You will very impressed with it. You may want a smaller dia. sway bar.  I have a friend that has the mendy front suspension a I made a couple different sizes for him.

I did some digging and found out that the Mendeola bar is .75".

I'd like to find a .625" bar for my car, but I just had to put a new motor in my 4runner, so my "toy" funds are a little slim at the moment.