Hi all,

I just happened across this posting on GM inside news site. It is an older posting but the info unpleasantly surprised me. :

Joe Mondello is NO LONGER associated with Mondello Performance Products inc. he sold his company and it is now run by some guy named Lynn. Lynn is NOT helpful, NOT knowledgeable and NOT trustworthy

While Joe is still somewhat respected in the world of Olds...
Lynn is infamous coast to coast for being a major rip-off artist.

Do business and take advice from the "under new management" Mondello
AT YOUR OWN RISK.

There are lots of other Olds Vendors who you can trust:
Dave Smith engineering
Dick Miller Racing Inc
Rocket Racing

[Source: http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f...uestion-66735/ ]

This makes sense, as I phoned in about my broken adjuster stud on a set of Mondello roller rockers. I had to ask for, and talk to this guy. This is the guy who told me these parts frequently break and he does not sell the individual adjuster screw.. BUT he'd gladly sell me "half a set" for 80 bucks... Just a few words to the wary.

The comment about being NOT knowledgeable is VERY true... He did not know his "product" very well.. he could not tell me the stud thread pitch or diameter.. He mumbled something like "... it's the same as AMC.." What a joke and a shame for Olds guys who need parts. Cheers, Mike

 

This is old news, as Joe has been in Tennessee for a few years now. Lynn Wilfringer runs the west coast operation on a day-to-day basis. On the other hand, at the OCA Nationals this year, Joe introduced Lynn as his "business partner" (Joe's exact words), so it sounds like Joe still has some say in the business.

 

Isn't this Lynn individual his son-in-law or something? Maybe just an urban myth I heard.

 

I doubt it, as Lynn looks to be nearly Joe's age. Lynn is a former Oldsmobile drag racer.

 

I live in Paso Robles and just visited Monedello to I talked to a guy named Junior he seemed cool but seemed like he was BS'ing most everything that came out of his mouth. When he told me that Mondello was the only place you could get flat top pistons I knew it was time to go. Nice stuff on the floor but the kid looked like a cholo. Cant be respectable and have that be your sales staff especially when someone is looking to spend money at your establishment.

 

wtf is a cholo?

 

x2 whats a cholo

 

A cholo is a mexican gangbanger like on the movie "American Me" or Lou Diamond Phillips character on "Stand and Deliver"

 

I'm going to rescind my previous comment on Junior at Mondello's. After a couple visits to their location this guy is really helpful and down to earth. I'm very new to restoring an Oldsmobile and he has helped a lot with info and ideas (not to mention he gave me some pretty good prices on a couple of items). As for Lynn I suppose I can't make a comment as he never speaks to me when I visit but this guy junior is a pretty stand up guy he even served in the Navy, now me being an Army grunt for 12 years generally I wouldn't associate myself with such squids but he's been that helpful I can overlook it.

 

Without drawing a liable suite anything(95%) that mondello california sells, they purchase from another vendor,put their markup on it and resell. Joe, in Tenn. is the real pro at olds stuff. Lynns business end is very difficult to deal with on returns, credits, and just telling you stuff to buy from them. If anyone has a problem with my opinion, so be it, speak up now or forever hold your piece.

 

Joe has been gone from Mondello's for at least a decade,if not more.Lynn has been there since the mid-90's.His previous profession was a used car salesman,so you can can an idea of how he operates.You can call him with the same question,three differnt times,and get 3 different answers.Here's another fact: The heads on the VO twister,that was once thought as the car of cars,for Oldsmobile racing,were not even done by Mondello.There were ported by Chapman Racing,in Salt Lake City,Utah. So much for a specialist.
When the Mondello Nationals were being held at Norwalk,Ohio,in the early to mid 1990's,you started to see things become apparent.You would have this VO Twister,that should have had the best of possible everything,and run high-9's,at best.Then you would see a bunch of no-name nobodies,bring their stuff out,and run better numbers.One of the all-time favorites was Mike Bern's orange 70 Cutlass Supreme,an all-steel car,steel bumpers,full interior,cage,10" inch tire,with a naturally aspirated Batten-headed bigblock,that ran a best of 9:25,and even set-up a showdown with another car claiming the same status of the fastest naturally aspirated,all steel Olds,with Nick Fillipedes black 64,who was also running deep into the 9's.It all went down one year,with a magazine article about it,with Mike Bern's car the victor.The article was titled 9 Seconds Under Chicago.Next thing you know the VO Twister would not even make pssses at the events,and soon after that,they canceled the Mondello event out east here.The interest had started to dwindle,as neither one of those cars had Mondello parts or engines.

 

Thanks for some of that good historical information. I was aware of much of it but your post filled out the voids for me.

 

Interesting info, thanks

 

So coldwar, are those three gentlemen in the photo the founding fathers of Oldsmobile? or maybe Joe Mondello, Mr. Chapman and Mr. Mikio? or maybe some stooges you just found their picture of?

 

I remember that orange olds had a 69 H/o scoop on it came out in one of the mags then the grudge match latter were is it now?

 

I bought a set of heads from Mondello in 1999, they are signed by Joe. There are better vendors for Olds performance parts.

 

Joe Mondello will be at the Musclecar and Corvette Nationals at the Donald E. Stephens Convention center in Rosemont Illinois on Nov, 2oth. I plan on seeing him. You should too. This is going to be a whale of a show. Linda Vaughn and Doc Watson are going to be there too.

 

I currently have a motor under construction with Lynne @ Mondello. So far, I've found him to be very knowledgeable but I will reserve further comments until the project is complete. To be continued........

 

This might be the record for post resurrection. We are getting a lot of sleeper spam accounts. Can we go through and axe all the one post accounts?

 

I think this one is still a valuable thread worth keeping especially since the vendor is still running a business under the legendary Mondello name which caters mostly to the olds enthusiast community. But I generally agree, the original thread is very old and I didn't realize it till just before I posted.

 

I truly hope your build goes well and you don't get screwed like so many others have.

 

Good Luck, Mr. Clark.

 

He's going to need it....

 

Brian, is the orange Supreme you mentioned in post #11 in 2010 the one that Joe Spagnoli is selling now? I'd guess that it is.

Terry

 

Sure.

 

Yes it is.