VW sway bars don't fit on my 2015 Vintage Speedster. Does anybody know of a bar that does work? Or, is there a way to modify a stock one?
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Your VS is on a VW pan with the standard VW front H beam? Is the beam narrowed maybe? If VW, a anti-sway bar designed for a VW should work. Bumper brackets may be in the way though and would need to be modified.
They make bars for narrowed and stock beams, don't they?
Tried VW bars and they hit the bumper brackets--which would need a deep notch cut into them. Which I'd rather not do.
What is in the way and causing them not to fit?
The bumper brackets, Troy. Just like all of us had to deal with.
@wombat wrote: "Tried VW bars and they hit the bumper brackets--which would need a deep notch cut into them. Which I'd rather not do."
Well, OK, but most of us who have front anti-sway bars have done just that with zero after effects other than a flatter cornering ride. Notching the bumper brackets is trivial.
@MusbJim has posted great photos of his bumper mount mods as part of this thread:
https://www.speedsterowners.co...0#449833773601483720
Print those photos and take them and your bumper brackets to a local welder and they can very easily modify them to notch them for your anti-sway bar and it will never interfere with anything. Ask any local mechanic (like the place where you get your car inspected) for a good local welder - They all know each other. Price range should be anywhere between $50 - $100 for both of them, done.
Mark them as to left, right and top before you remove them so they're oriented the same after the mods, just to be safe.
If you still don't wish to go this route, then you're stuck with what you've got.
I put the heavy sway bars on the front and back of my 2020 VM build without notching the bumper brackets, no problem.
@wombat as you can see, this sway bar /bumper bracket issue is common with VS (and other pan-based replica Speedsters). Some have installed their sway bar upside down thinking the unweighted car (wheels off the ground) gives clearance to the sway bar, but once the wheels are back on the ground and suspension in operating position, the sway bar comes into contact with the bumper brackets (what's that knocking sound I hear whenever I go over bump?). This upside down application may seem to be a quick and simple fix, but this method makes the sway bar the lowest part of the suspension and decreases the car's road clearance significantly exposing the lowered sway bar to road obstacles (and unsafe) on rough roads (bumps, dips, speed bumps, road debris, etc.)
Your 2015 Vintage Speedsters (Kirk) does not have a narrowed beam (unless you specifically asked Kirk for them). Removing the bumper brackets is simple, un-bolting a few nuts & bolts, making the suggested modifications (notch) and re-installing.
You may be thinking well, I don't want to go through that process, I'll just do without sway bars. Then, you will miss the significant handling improvements that sway bar (front) and a camber-compensator (rear) provides. Night & day difference. 
I'm just saying...
When I installed my front sway bar I went around my neighborhood and measured the front clearance of various high end SUV's they were much closer to the ground than my front bar
BTW, my bar is not upside down to my knowlege.
Bumper bracket mod is required on near all --- CMC/FF. Easy pleasee vice creating a new anti-sway bar. Here's one way to modify. Blck is original CMC bracket - rusty parts added.
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Wombat, Everyone has the same problem with the bumper brackets. You have two choices. Either do as Wolfgang indicated (that's the common solution). Or build your own bumper brackets. You may want to check my profile page and look for driving light mounts. This design could be modified to be used for the bumper mount with heavier angle
I also built a sway bar for my Spyder that bolts to the VW front beam. It will work on the Speedster without modification. Dannyp built one of similar design but easier to build and accomplishes the same thing.
I modded a stock VW sway bar for use on my Spyder as well. Pleased to say it works well!
On a Speedster I'd just cut and re-weld the bumper brackets. Much easier and neater.
How deep should the cutout be?
@Gordon Nichols posted:The bumper brackets, Troy. Just like all of us had to deal with.
@wombat wrote: "Tried VW bars and they hit the bumper brackets--which would need a deep notch cut into them. Which I'd rather not do."
Well, OK, but most of us who have front anti-sway bars have done just that with zero after effects other than a flatter cornering ride. Notching the bumper brackets is trivial.
@MusbJim has posted great photos of his bumper mount mods as part of this thread:
https://www.speedsterowners.co...0#449833773601483720
Print those photos and take them and your bumper brackets to a local welder and they can very easily modify them to notch them for your anti-sway bar and it will never interfere with anything. Ask any local mechanic (like the place where you get your car inspected) for a good local welder - They all know each other. Price range should be anywhere between $50 - $100 for both of them, done.
Mark them as to left, right and top before you remove them so they're oriented the same after the mods, just to be safe.
If you still don't wish to go this route, then you're stuck with what you've got.
Gorden. He must have posted while I was asking my question; I didn't see his description of the problem.
But, I've had lots of Vintage Speedsters with front anti-sway bars that did not need to have any modification to the bumper brackets. I know his car is a Vintage, but is there some difference between the bumper brackets on a Vintage vs a car from one of the other vendors?
Shouldn't the depth be calculated for when the shocks are fully compressed?
If so, can anyone supply the exact depth and width of the cut?
Get the front wheels off the ground and the cut will become obvious.
My VM Speedster came from Greg with a stock VW front sway bay installed, I replaced it with a larger Empi bar with no modification to the bumper brackets. There are pictures on the forum.
Here's where mine hit before I removed bracket and modified it. I was unsure how high/low I'd adjust the front so I went 1/2 way up. Might be too much but its not like the bumpers will take a 5-15 mph crash.
At some time CMC provided a modified front bumper bracket that solved the problem-
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@R Thorpe posted:My VM Speedster came from Greg with a stock VW front sway bay installed, I replaced it with a larger Empi bar with no modification to the bumper brackets. There are pictures on the forum.
Hi Greg. Can you shed some light on why some owners need to modify their bumper bracket and others don't?
That will be an interesting answer. I'm guessing that it has to do with the height the cars are set at. As you lower the car, the front of the anti-sway bar goes down giving it more room before hitting the bumper mounts. It will probably still hit with the wheels off the ground, but that's live-able for a lowrider.
With Greg's (Wolfgang's) modification I was concerned about the possibility of the flat bar attached to the beam now being more likely to bend. The alternate CMC design shows an angle connecting to the beam instead of a flat bar.
I replaced the bar with an angle.
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Greg? Greg who? with a "normal" Empi roll bar no mods are needed to a "normal" front end. The bar height is more than most sedans and many SUV's. Having said that I would not go off road with our cars.
Wolfgang is Greg.
I'm guessing the diameter/angle of the anti-sway bar is different from sway bar vendor to vendor. Some install them upside down too - which results in low ground clearance (but great for picking up fresh road kill).
Greg Leach of Vintage Motocars of California is Wolfgang? Yikes.
Nooo. Different Greg.
@R Thorpe posted:Greg Leach of Vintage Motocars of California is Wolfgang? Yikes.
Umm, no.
Greg Leach of VMC is VintageGreg or VSpyder, depending on website. Proprietor and builder of fine Spyders, Speedsters, and pre-A bent window coupes.
Greg Seitz of Florida is Wolfgang, knower of Speedster things! He has a in-process home-build Speedster. It will be finished someday, hopefully by Greg and not by whoever his wife sells it to! LOL!
My posts were referring to Greg Leach owner of Vintage Motorcars of California Inc.
This is a good example of the confusion between VS (Vintage Speedsters when owned by Kirk Duncan) and VMC (Vintage Motorcars /Vintage Spyders owned by Greg Leach). Two totally separate entities in entirely different orbits. That is why I specifically referenced ' VS...Kirk' in my response to @wombat.
Greg (aka @WOLFGANG) is another story...
But, there is only one MUSBJIM (and Ginny).
@MusbJim posted:This is a good example of the confusion between VS (Vintage Speedsters when owned by Kirk Duncan) and VMC (Vintage Motorcars /Vintage Spyders owned by Greg Leach). Two totally separate entities in entirely different orbits. That is why I specifically referenced ' VS...Kirk' in my response to @wombat.
Greg (aka @WOLFGANG) is another story...
VS = Vintage Speedster
VS = Vintage Spyder
...
Bwaaaaaa...then there's this classic...
EMPI - 9600
That’s exactly what mine looks like, yikes I even have the same shocks
Wow, that is so clean!
After I wash wax and detail I often eat my dinner off the underside of my car.
Drift… I bought a ramp so I could use a single boars hair brush to remove grit from the Speedster logo fasteners in the wheel wells. Clean…