Spyder product gets a Mendeola Suspension (maybe)

The Spyder is looking nice Bruce. All the best to you on this build. I have full faith that Greg Leach @VSpyder and Grumpy will do their utmost to make this an awesome build for you. 

Bruce, the Mendeola suspension is very nice, but dang that is a lot of metal to cram in the front of a Spyder. It's not like there is a big weight difference front-rear to make up. Stock weight distribution is 45-55, and your radiator may push that slightly forward, but not much I imagine. 

Also, there are a lot of possible suspension pickup points on a Vintage frame. I'd think it would be way more efficient to attach the suspension to brackets welded to the existing framework. The lower A-arm could go right to the lower 2" rail. With a small amount of fab work, the upper A-arm could go to a slightly larger diagonal than Greg usually puts, say 1.5" tubing instead of the 1".

I tried to get Greg to get away from the VW beam with my 2016 car, but he wasn't ready to tackle it. It can't be that hard to design a front suspension that has a) little camber change, b) proper Ackerman, and c) LOW bump steer, either using the existing box(no thanks?) or going to a center-steer rack and pinion(YES!). 

Getting rid of the beam/swingaxle combo with a modern IRS front and rear with anti-sway bars, and a little suspension tuning would get the suspension to work that much better even with the smaller contact patch tires available. It's what I wanted to do. Best of luck.

Will a radiator fit with the Mendeola?

Danny...Yeah, it looks massive when it's installed. Sort of like a giant hard boiled egg slicer !  Kevin says it's 6 lbs lighter than the original beam This isn't a done deal yet. If Greg can't get it to fit along with everything else....well....then it's back.

You are right about the possibility of fabricating a front suspension from scratch though. That,  as you well know is not a project for amateurs. Ackerman angles, bump steer elimination and 0 camber change are formidable tasks to achieve. It certainly would allow use of a more simple and lighter front suspension as well.  It would be nice to have a frame at home here and play around with it,  but at this time in my life  Im now more interested in having a car to drive and tinker with some smaller projects on it.   I have to say that I am thoughtful of the assumption of liability in producing a full front suspension and steering system as well. After all, I would be taking this car down the road at considerable speed and doing things most would not attempt.

Still, I'm pretty excited. By the way, someone bought me a Spyder model from Maisto. Yes, it's silver, but it's so pretty and well made I'm afraid to mess it up by repainting it Pearl White & Burgundy !  Ha ha..................Bruce

Todd....Don't know about the radiator yet.........Bruce

hi Bruce pls keep us posted with your project, im also into this set up,mendeola front end to my 550 spyder tubular chassis.thanks