Welcome to the third update of the Need for Speed D-Mac 86. I have to say looking at these pictures I'm starting to get excited about this car, it's shaping up to be something really special. It's hard to get your head around the placement of the Owen Developments GT3582HTA turbo in this pic so let's take a look at the next image.

Now it makes sense … well kind of. The turbo is mounted differently to the norm. We have turned it 90 degrees and the exhaust now runs down the side it should on an AE86. The reason we had to do this is because of how far back the engine is mounted and being RHD everything is on the right side namely the pedals and steering column and the 60mm screamer pipe. No room left for the exhaust on that side. The Turbo we are using is pretty special, it's an Owen Developments Motorsport GT3582HTA turbo with motorsport bearing and billet internal stainless heatshield and ported shroud compressor cover!

Here we can see just how far back we have pushed the engine. Also you can see the Tial 60mm External wastegate also Supplied by Owen Developments. Big thanks to the guys at Owen for their help !

This looks awesome if I do say so myself (apart from the mess). We just don't have time to tidy up the workshop at the moment but I'm happy with the progress we are making, a lot of the major hurdles are now behind us.

Here you can see how we mounted the steering rack. The rack was made removable so you can take the engine out, as the engine mounts are solid to the chassis. The bolts in the tube joiners are only temporary. The tube with the two holes is the beginning of our oil cooler mount. Also you can see the rack spacers that we machined to give us extra travel and the block spacers that offset our inner tie rods and the half tube welded into the towers to give clearance. All this is visible in the next image down also.

Our new steering knuckles are now in their final position and eagle eyed viewers will notice the brake caliper has been moved to the rear of the disc to allow our knuckles to be mounted. I was going to machine new caliper brackets to do this but then I got the brainwave to just swap the drivers side and passenger side struts … job done !

This is the new path for our 90mm exhaust. The exhaust is now completely finished except for the tailpipe which will be made once all our aero is fitted. Big thanks to Martelius Exhausts in Finland for supplying all the parts we needed.

Here you can see that the original pedal assembly remains untouched and our new bulkhead is now finished. You can also just see the corner of the swagged aluminium passengers footrest.

This carefully placed window is now where you replace the oil filter along with other things like TPS adjustment.

Passenger footrest removed, you can see the completed bulkhead, transmission tunnel and exhaust tunnel. The transmission tunnel has been slightly widened because of how far back the gearbox now is. The Supra R154 transmission is in place, complete with custom RX7 bellhousing adapter which allows the RX7 bellhousing to be bolted on complete and retain the RX7 Slave cylinder and clutch fork along with flywheel, pressure plate and starter motor. The great design of the Carbonetic twin plate clutch allows us to just replace the clutch centre hub to suit an R154 Supra Input shaft. The Supra gearbox is not very long so the new gearlever position suits our slightly further back driving position

This is our new gearlever position, seat position and our mock up ASD Hydraulic e-brake. Aren't these the sexiest e-brakes ever!? We will be using a slightly longer handle on the finished car which is being machined in ASD North Carolina as we speak.

One of my favourite parts is the rear mounted radiator which is now finished and mounted, along with the in-car piping. Also the Alu sheet you can see is the mock up for the cover of the fuel cell.

This is a sexy piece!

It is so nice to see all these ideas that have been in my head coming together.

Speaking of coming together, the rear FRP shell is now mountable and so is the tailgate. The tailgate will be held in place by two tubes extending up from the chassis and mounted to our GT wing mounts. So all downforce created will be transmitted to the chassis and to the tires rather than just flexing the tailgate. The GT Wing mounts should be finished in the next update.

Okay, so that's it for now. Who knows how much we will have done next time Paddy calls but I'm hoping to get the chassis painted as soon as I can so we can begin the final assembly. I can't wait to get this thing out on track !
 
All comments welcome and I hope you guys like my brainchild.
 
Stay tuned to Speedhunters for further updates and wishing you all a happy new year !

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D-Mac