It's update time !!! The Need for Speed D-Mac '86 is coming along very nicely at MCNSPORT HQ. Let's take a look at some of the interesting details of the build so far……

I wanted a way to be able to add caster to the front suspension without pulling the wheel forward so we got these tops made up and welded in place … simple but effective!

The scuttle or wiper panel has been removed and the roll cage has been extended to the strut tops and reinforced further with swagged plates. I love swagged plates like these, they look so cool

The passenger side also gets this treatment. Here you can also see the air intake for the heater has been sealed up along with the bulkhead for the AC pipes. No AC in this hachi!

We have started to fab the chassis mount for the track control arms. These should be fully finished in the next update.

The rear end has seen most of our attention. We have decided to go with a rear four link. Three forward facing links and a panhard bar for various reasons. One of them being the position of the fuel cell behind the passenger seat (car is RHD). You can see one of the mounting brackets for the cell in the picture above. Placing the cell behind the passenger seat gives us the best possible weight distribution. Oh and this is only a mock up like arm, the final one will be much nicer.

Here is a good shot of the rear section of the roll cage. You can see the tabs welded at various intervals on the main hoop section. This will be paneled off to prevent Falken tire smoke, water, dirt and flames from entering the cockpit. You can also see how the third link has been integrated into the roll cage and has four different mounting positions for different suspension setups.

More rear end detail; The original Panhard Rod mount has been removed from the chassis and 2 more have been fabbed, one on each side. They are much shorter than the original cos this car will be much lower than Toyota intended or at least the axle is. As with any live axle vehicle, the bigger the wheels you use the closer the axle gets to the floor. The chassis panhard mount remains slotted until the vehicle is dropped onto the floor and the final suspension geometry is done. At that point a tab with 3 to 4 holes in it will be welded over the slot in the correct position. Also we can see the axle has been triangulated for strength, we'll take a closer look at that two pictures below.

This is the rear most structural part of our AE86 chassis. if we bend this we are after hitting hard! The bolt flange you see welded on is just for mounting on our rotisserie but the same flange will be used to mount the removal bumper bars front and rear.

Here we can see the axle triangulation. I don't think this much torque has been put through an AE86 before especially with only 3 forward axle links. So to prevent the axle twisting we strengthened it at its weakest point.

Time to drool! Here are the Work Meister S1's in 17×10 with negative 39 offset. The most gangster wheels ever to be fitted to a hachi ! Big thank you to Work Wheels for their support and enthusiasm for this project.

Here is where the wheels would be if they were fitted to a standard car. Out of focus you can see the swagged plate continues from the engine bay up the "A" pillar.

The powerplant is finally at MCNSPORT HQ. A Hayward Rotary built Bridgeported 13B.

Here you can see our amazing MCN / AVO AE86 Rear Coilovers. The best AE86 shock absorbers on the market shall be used to transmit 500BHP to the pavement.

The majority of the roof skin has been removed and will be replaced with our FRP roof skin. The section behind the centre hoop will have a drop vent to provide air for the rear mounted radiator.

Our WRC inspired roll cage is now fully finished.

This swagged plate is just awaiting welding in to complete the strengthening of the floor mounted axle link points

The new disposable rear is ready ahead of time. It's a complete clam shell style mould of a JDM spec ae86 rear with tail lights and all in place. This will make wall rubbing inexpensive and quiet spectacular but best of all panels can be replaced easily between runs.

A nice stack of Work Wheels ready for Falken Tires and some serious abuse!!

And here is my latest purchase, a genuine Black Limited Trueno which will be getting the MCNSPORT treatment along side the Need for Speed D-Mac 86. It's AE86 heaven here at the moment !
 
In the next update hopefully we will have the motor and transmission fitted or engine and box (depending on where your from), propshaft / driveshaft and radiator as well !
 
See you next time

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D-mac