SEMA Manxter

Siggymanx33 · Post by **Siggymanx33** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 4:18 pm

Found the Manxter at SEMA. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. It had a flyer on it saying that Mike Mendeola is going to be building turnkey Manxter S's in 2007...... This is the first one I saw in person and the people at Mendeola thought I was a corporate spy with all of the pictures I ws taking. They ended up letting me sit in it an poke around all I wanted. I'm sold, although it was a bit smaller than I would have thought. People make a big deal about long vs short. It really only felt 14 inches longer......

fubar · Post by **fubar** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 5:50 pm

The guy that I make control arms for just got back from the SEMA show. He said there were cars, boobies, and shiny stuff everywhere but it was near impossible to get a beer or something to eat. He also said if they did a booth next year he would hand out free hot dogs and be some kind of hero. Did Mendeola display their new 13" ring gear box? Supposed to be bullet resistant and expensive.

Siggymanx33 · Post by **Siggymanx33** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 6:27 pm

Shiny? Nah not at SEMA. Oh wait, perhaps he was talking about this.....

Tom-Kathleen · Post by **Tom-Kathleen** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 7:06 pm

Dave - thanks for posting those pictures. The car had a long way to go when I left on 10/17. It is nice to know it made it to the show. We had only switched out the motor, played with the back bumper and talked about what to do with the exhaust. The custom air box and air cleaner look good. Tom

Siggymanx33 · Post by **Siggymanx33** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 9:02 pm

The airbox looked great.

Olli · Post by **Olli** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 12:00 am

Cool pictures thanks for posting. I knew about the plan of Mendeola building turnkeys. But seriously, @ $45-50K how many will be sold? There are folks here on the Forum that feel that $8K for the kit is too much. Mendeola won't be selling the turnkeys to the current Manx following he will have to look outside of the Manx following for sales. Olli

Siggymanx33 · Post by **Siggymanx33** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 2:39 am

Until I see a full buggy built by Mendeola.......If I were spending 45k on a Manxter, I'm calling Manxter Mike @Ecr. His buggies are tight. But that's not happening......

Siggymanx33 · Post by **Siggymanx33** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 2:47 am

Do all Manxters have this area? What's underneath?

Olli · Post by **Olli** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 1:01 pm

No, Manxters do not normally have that. That part is unique, sorta. I built (2 years ago) a similar "box" to allow for extra firewall clearance for the engine. Originally for the Ford but then as it turned out the Subi needed it too. It (mine) also is where I have my coolant recovery tank and some storage. Mine hinges forward and allows access to the starter area. What I don't understand is, since Bruce has that part made already why in the world dosen't he offer it for sale???? Why not post here on the forum about it? Why not support the folks that actually bought Manxters? Same thing with the ducted sidepods. Had Tom not have sent me an e-mail about them I never would have known about them. I did have to call Meyers Inc every 3-4 weeks for almost 8 months to get them though. Tom is holding out on us. Since that Manxter has been shown @ SEMA Tom should now tell us more. Tom, you need to post some pictures. I am very interested to see how Bruce handled the rear trombones' lower mounts. Frankly, I don't care for the rear engine cover. It reminds me of something, but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe the nose of a Studebaker. Olli

Tom-Kathleen · Post by **Tom-Kathleen** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 3:41 pm

Ollie - I don't hold back stuff on you. (LOL) When I left, the car was only partialy completed. The trombones were cut, but the mount was not finished. Bruce was thinking out loud about making a lower cross connector out of angle iron with 2 forward supports that would slope up before they reached the rear tranny mount. He also wanted to fabricate a skid plate, even though this was a street car. He was supplied a header from Outback which took the 3 pipes on each side and merged them into one collector which pointed up and was in the middle of the engine. This was causing problems with the Manxter rear script. He was going to make a single muffler set up like the VW aircooled motors, but I suggested keeping the sides separate, and down low, like the Covairs and Porsche 911 race cars do. It appears that is what he ended up doing. We turned the intake 180 to face the rear, and he drew a sketch of an air cleaner that would be round, have horizontal ball milled grooves and a Manx emblem. It appears that that got fabricated along with a custom engine cover to work with that set up. As far as the storage box behind the rear seats, he said that the previous fiberglass shop that made Manxter bodies had done that on their own, and he could not sell them, they would have to come from them. Go here for pictures:http://www.manxgallery.org/gallery/Toms ... b/PA160315 Tom