Do wheels make a car? Getting the fitment and style right for a build is a make or break on many car builds, so for the first S550 Drift Mustang build in the UK we looked to the best in the drift scene @stromwheels with their DS-05 in 18x9 up front and 10.5 wide rears filling out the huge @rtrvehicles wide body kit and sitting on @bcracing_uk coilovers, giving us all of the adjustment and grip on track.
The DS-05 wheel looks incredible set against the Japanese crazy taxi style livery by @violentdiffin for the team taxi @what_would_dango_do .
Built by Mutant Engineering working with the best in the business we’re really proud of how this car has come together #drift #mustang #stromwheels #japanesestyle #jdm #usdm #builtnotbought #style #wheels #driftcar #cars
Another visit and another minor improvement. This time we upgraded the coilpacks from standard fitment upgraded coils to brand new hella high output coils as used on VAG platform. Using these hella coils instead of the more commonly used “red jacket” coils from the 1.8T engine allows us to still fit the carbon coilpack cover which helps maintain the look of the stunning engine bay.
Second up is the scary part, with the carbon bonnet fitted to this car flexing more than the standard steel unit we chose to fit aerocatches to give extra support and also help with fitment. Lots of tape and a steady hand we cut the holes through the carbon hood and clearances the support. The pins are fitted in the upper panel to replace the standard rubber bump stops.
#mutantengineering #nissan #skyliner34 #builtnotbought #carbonfibre
Throwback to a quick clutch change on the Davanti Tyre Golf TCR style race car. Originally assisting the on track setup on the car at Donington, an unexpected part failure causing loss of all drive happened in the first session, so we chose to take the car back to the workshop to diagnose the issue where we found the recent clutch plate had sheared away from the centre.
New Sach performance pressure plate friction disc and concentric slave were quickly delivered and refitted along with a gearbox oil refresh using Fuch Titan oil.
We found a minor@issue with the gearbox mount threads pulling out of the aluminium@box , so these were all drilled and helicoils fitted to ensure this car was ready and back on track for the next available day to continue its development.
Always a pleasure to have well prepared race cars in the workshop, we especially like the original style golf gti seat material used on the racing Cobra seats. #racecar #mutantengineering #mechanic #vwgolfgti #golf
Time for the first of a series of posts as we pick up a really cool project squeezing a 2jz-gte vvti with manual r154 gearbox into this e30.
The car arrived with the engine mocked up a full body kit moulded in, but far from ready to run.
Although the engine and gearbox were already fitted to the car, we started by measuring everything up and planning out where all the components would fit and realised we could make some big improvements on clearance and serviceability by moving the engine.
We opted to re purpose the two engine mounts, firstly levelling and centralising the engine and box in the car, then moving it back 35mm to provide clearance for the radiator and move the mount away from the exhaust manifold.
The gearbox was mounted using the original bmw 316 two bolt mount, however with a 600+hp target a new crossmember was fabricated to pick up on 6 mounting locations under the car to spread the load and secure the drivetrain.
With the engine position finalised with clearance for an exhaust system and radiator we realised no provisions had been made for the intercooler or pipework when the body kit was moulded in and painted. This unfortunately meant the front bumper needed to be removed to begin the next phase of work.
After we carefully cut away the front bumper we could finally begin positioning the intercooler and piloting out the pipework and begin to see how we can turn this shell into a road going turbo monster.
This is only the beginning of the journey for this BMW so be sure to check for updates.
#mutantengineering #2jz #bmw #e30 #fabrication
This one brings back some great memories of when I got my first s13. Rob brought his s13 to Mutant after he and good friend James had done a full SR20det engine conversion, with some helpful guidance, however needed a little bit of fine tuning to get the car ready for the road.
First up the car had developed a misfire so we identified number 2 cylinder was not firing. We did a quick engine health check to make sure there was no issues mechanically which all came back good which was a relief. We then found there was no spark which we tracked back through the loom to find the ignition trigger wire had been damaged. A sealed crimp connector and the car was back to running on all 4 again.
Next up was sorting the fitment of the intercooler. With the engine coming from an s14 donor the cold pipework needed modifying to remove the recirc and move the idle take off pipe out of the way of the fan. Additionally we removed the full original battery tray which had been cut through for the pipework, the. Welded up holes and tidied the opening adding a rubber edge trim to clean everything up.
The intercooler was mostly mounted but we made some adjustments to raise the cooler up and added in a full width cooling panel underneath to support the lower edge and ensure airflow into the radiator now the front bumper could fit around the intercooler correctly.
Finally we had to correct the exhaust as it was dragging on the ground. The down-pipe was heavily warped causing the front section fitment to angle down. We were able to linish this face to correct the exhaust angle and lift the front section up. We then made some small tweaks to the exhaust hangers on the rear section and added the missing rubber mounts instead of the temporary zip tie mounts. Although there were no major modifications needed the detail of small adjustments meant we could lift the exhaust up significantly and remove the leaks so this SR now sounds like it should.
A quick engine mount change to replace a torn mount and reset the coilover height finished the car ready to hit the road and be enjoyed once again.
Huge credit to @schassis_v3 & @jowens_zenki for the build
#nissan #s13 #mutantengineering #modified
A challenging project beginning the resurrection of a well known car in the UK car scene. This Advan livery Mazda RX7 FC bought by our good friend @jjmperformancesouthlakes as a rolling shell that had a partially removed roll cage.
Our first task was to build a full competition spec roll cage whilst leaving the rear bulkhead in situe and also giving maximum interior space.
We started by adding some thick chassis reinforcements to the front subframe and linking this up to the front strut towers to give some much needed strength for the new power plant which we aren’t revealing yet.
With the front chassis stiffened, we could make up the new main hoop with improved fitment to the body. Then we could remove the previous main hoop and bend the new a pillar and screen bar.
This was then welded together in place, then dropped down to ensure full 360degree weld at every joint and prime the top surface to make sure no rusting as this is difficult to paint once fully fitted.
The cage was then lifted up into place touching the roof skin and mating up to the remaining rear straight bars which could be welded to the new main hoop.
With the main 6point frame in place but the bases not welded the nascar style upper door bar was bent and fitted to just touch the outer skin on the door. The second bar was run down to run along the sill allowing it to be stitch welded and stiffen the entire shell. Vertical bars link the doorbars were added and this was replicated to the other side.
With the door bars fully welded we could add in the dash bar and rear X brace in the main hoop and welding the bases fully in.
The last job was to link the stiffened shell to the stiffened struts with bars through the bulkhead from a pillar to strut, then adding a custom bent strut brace linking the struts to the bulkhead with maximum clearance for the new heart to drop in.
The final cage provides a massive stiffness increase to the shell whilst giving the driver maximum space and visibility #rollcage #mazdarx7 #mutantengineering #fabrication #becauseracecar
No AI generated images here, just welcoming in a Happy New Year 2026 with the return of Andrew’s Immaculate R34.
This time we wired in the @powertune_digital dash, added a clutch switch and repurposed the factory traction button wired into the @link_ecu to allow antilag and launch control to be mapped in and making flames courtesy of the ever talented @adedmundson behind the laptop.
This thing is now capable of spinning the @pulsarturbouk 6255G to a bar of boost at launch.
We also moved the Battery from the factory position in the bay to the boot by making a custom battery mount that secures it behind the slightly modified interior trim keeping everything OEM+ and unless you were really keen would never know it was there.
If you’ve read this far then let us know what your plans for 2026 are as we have bigger power plans for this car!
#nissan #nissanskyline #r34 #mutantengineering #flames
Matsuri 2025 was an absolute blast! Big weekend running the brand new Mutant Engineering Built Drift Mustang, along side the OG drift taxi Nissan Laurel for Karl @what_would_dango_do . After three days of hard drifting in all conditions, only having to change tyres and add fuel is a great feeling. Massive thank you to @jowens_zenki and @kylearmojzx for joining the Mutant Pits, unfortunately the high winds meant no gazebos and the full pit setup, but that didn’t dampen a mega weekend. Thank you everyone who came over for the support and comments on the Mustang Build, it’s definitely something to be proud of. #drift #mustang #v8 #mutantengineering #s14zenki #jzx #matsuri
