Been lurking on here for quite a while, researching and trying to figure out what I want to do.
Back story:
Purchased a super clean 88 Turbo/5spd/Targa model a few months back. Did the research before going to look at it, knew about HG issues. Looked it over for a long while, drove it. Drove it some more... Ran great, no signs of HG problems (or anything else for that matter). Engine was smooth and quiet. Owned by older guy who said that the engine had been rebuilt 30-40k ago. Had no reason to not believe him. Talked him down to $3500 and drove it back home (40miles).
Clean car, interior clean (no tears, cracks, ect.). Still has factory floor mats and tool for Targa top. Bone stock.
2 days later, all of the issues started to show up.... First up, was a slight wobble from the crank pulley, that progressively got worse throughout the day (was a Sunday so I took it for a 30min drive). After I returned home, I decided to check the crank pulley bolt.
I was able to tighten it some, and the wobble *almost* went away. After another little drive, the wobble was back. I pretty much knew what that meant, so I decided to remove the pulley and see how bad it was. After taking the bolt out, the pulley fell off. :3d_frown:
Here is what the crank looked like:
The inside of the pulley wasn't much better. Someone had tried to *repair* this by using what looked to be JB Weld. Thanks for mentioning that, previous owner...... :: angry ::
After some thought, I decided to put the pulley back on so that the car wouldn't be sitting in my garage unable to move while I searched for a new engine. Pulled out the TIG torch and put a few tacks on the pulley to hold it in place. I actually got the pulley squared up enough to where it was *almost* wobble free! So, at least I could move it in & out of the garage and run around town a bit.
Next issue. Couple days later, I decided to make an ice cream run & took the car. Big mistake.
Car ran great all the way to Braum's. Right as I was pulling into the parking lot, it started missing and smoking. Smoking like I thought that it was on fire (from under hood, and exhaust), and was making mental plans to get to the back of the parking lot away from other cars while I watched it burn.
Got it back to the farthest corner of the parking lot and shut it off. Smoking stopped.... Hmmmm...
Popped the hood, check everything over, and I could find nothing wrong. After 5min, I decided to fire it back up again. Immediate smoke show that clouded the entire section of the parking lot! Killed it again, and got back under the hood. Checked all fluids, hoses, lines...everything I could think of, and it all looked perfect.
Called a tow truck, and when the driver showed up, he asked what was wrong with it. After a brief description, he volunteered to watch under the hood while I started it up to see where the smoke show was coming from. It was coming from the turbo.
Ok, blown turbo seals... Or so I thought.
After getting it towed home, it sat in the garage for a couple days while I did some research. Ended up finding a complete 7mgte that was pretty local to me. My plan was to purchase that engine, toss it's turbo onto my engine, and then build that engine up & swap it out with mine. Sounded like a good plan to me, so I went and picked up the 7mgte.
The new turbo was in great shape, and I got to work swapping mine out. Upon removal of my old turbo, I noticed that it seemed to be in great shape. No shaft play.
Got it all swapped, and fired it up. Same darn thing. Pulled all the plugs and found cylinder 6 was full of coolant.... :aigo:
Decided not to even mess with the current engine at all, and just focus on building this other engine. Called around and found a local machine shop that was familiar with the engine, and would:
- Go through and check the head
- Deck the head
- Deck the block
- Bore/clean/do everything that needed to be done to get the engine ready to build
So, I started tearing down the new engine to get it ready for machining. Since it was sitting on my engine stand, tearing it down was a cakewalk. Everything looked great, until........ I pulled the head off.
These are the valves on the number 6 cylinder on the new engine. Hmmmm....
This is the number 6 piston:
Did a bit more research, and it appears that these aren't interference motors, so........
Yeah.
And.
And.
^^ That's a crack in the block.
I should be pissed, but it's just funny now.
Anyway, that sums up my series of excellent purchases. Here is how the car sits right now, with it's 7mgte boat anchor ready to be pulled:
Back story:
Purchased a super clean 88 Turbo/5spd/Targa model a few months back. Did the research before going to look at it, knew about HG issues. Looked it over for a long while, drove it. Drove it some more... Ran great, no signs of HG problems (or anything else for that matter). Engine was smooth and quiet. Owned by older guy who said that the engine had been rebuilt 30-40k ago. Had no reason to not believe him. Talked him down to $3500 and drove it back home (40miles).
Clean car, interior clean (no tears, cracks, ect.). Still has factory floor mats and tool for Targa top. Bone stock.
2 days later, all of the issues started to show up.... First up, was a slight wobble from the crank pulley, that progressively got worse throughout the day (was a Sunday so I took it for a 30min drive). After I returned home, I decided to check the crank pulley bolt.
I was able to tighten it some, and the wobble *almost* went away. After another little drive, the wobble was back. I pretty much knew what that meant, so I decided to remove the pulley and see how bad it was. After taking the bolt out, the pulley fell off. :3d_frown:
Here is what the crank looked like:
The inside of the pulley wasn't much better. Someone had tried to *repair* this by using what looked to be JB Weld. Thanks for mentioning that, previous owner...... :: angry ::
After some thought, I decided to put the pulley back on so that the car wouldn't be sitting in my garage unable to move while I searched for a new engine. Pulled out the TIG torch and put a few tacks on the pulley to hold it in place. I actually got the pulley squared up enough to where it was *almost* wobble free! So, at least I could move it in & out of the garage and run around town a bit.
Next issue. Couple days later, I decided to make an ice cream run & took the car. Big mistake.
Car ran great all the way to Braum's. Right as I was pulling into the parking lot, it started missing and smoking. Smoking like I thought that it was on fire (from under hood, and exhaust), and was making mental plans to get to the back of the parking lot away from other cars while I watched it burn.
Got it back to the farthest corner of the parking lot and shut it off. Smoking stopped.... Hmmmm...
Popped the hood, check everything over, and I could find nothing wrong. After 5min, I decided to fire it back up again. Immediate smoke show that clouded the entire section of the parking lot! Killed it again, and got back under the hood. Checked all fluids, hoses, lines...everything I could think of, and it all looked perfect.
Called a tow truck, and when the driver showed up, he asked what was wrong with it. After a brief description, he volunteered to watch under the hood while I started it up to see where the smoke show was coming from. It was coming from the turbo.
Ok, blown turbo seals... Or so I thought.
After getting it towed home, it sat in the garage for a couple days while I did some research. Ended up finding a complete 7mgte that was pretty local to me. My plan was to purchase that engine, toss it's turbo onto my engine, and then build that engine up & swap it out with mine. Sounded like a good plan to me, so I went and picked up the 7mgte.
The new turbo was in great shape, and I got to work swapping mine out. Upon removal of my old turbo, I noticed that it seemed to be in great shape. No shaft play.
Got it all swapped, and fired it up. Same darn thing. Pulled all the plugs and found cylinder 6 was full of coolant.... :aigo:
Decided not to even mess with the current engine at all, and just focus on building this other engine. Called around and found a local machine shop that was familiar with the engine, and would:
- Go through and check the head
- Deck the head
- Deck the block
- Bore/clean/do everything that needed to be done to get the engine ready to build
So, I started tearing down the new engine to get it ready for machining. Since it was sitting on my engine stand, tearing it down was a cakewalk. Everything looked great, until........ I pulled the head off.
These are the valves on the number 6 cylinder on the new engine. Hmmmm....
This is the number 6 piston:
Did a bit more research, and it appears that these aren't interference motors, so........
Yeah.
And.
And.
^^ That's a crack in the block.
I should be pissed, but it's just funny now.
Anyway, that sums up my series of excellent purchases. Here is how the car sits right now, with it's 7mgte boat anchor ready to be pulled:
