Turbo rebuild advice? Octocar 4-rotor MSD spark advice?
 

Hey gang! I just picked up an '88 Turbo II 10th Anniversary intercooled/5 speed with only 80K to use as a 24 Hours of LeMons charity fundraiser race car for the Wounded Warrior Project. It was a former auction car with "Tow to mechanic" written on the windshield. It already has aftermarket pipes, a Racing Beat boost controller/gauge, and a K&N air filter. My buddy scraps cars; he got it as a non-running junker for $250, complete with aftermarket 16" wheels. I gave him his $250 back on the car, and $250 more for the wheels. It clearly had been off the road for years---the tires are very dry-rotted, and the brake system is dry. I was gonna do the ATF treatment, but thought I'd try it first. A hot battery and a squirt of starter fluid later, and it was purring! Only thing is, after a minute, it starting pouring dense clouds of white smoke out of the nice custom dual exhaust.

I've seen that on another of my cars with a blown turbo seal, so I'm assuming that's the problem. It still runs and revs up nice, though it's kinda hard to start. The stock boost gauge works, and the turbo is still working, though I can't drive it without brakes to verify boost. It wouldn't be safe anyway with the dense white smoke. I searched on here for like an hour, but other than a recommendation for Cherry Turbos in Canada, I didn't see a link to a turbo rebuilder. I'm assuming that it would need rebalancing, and it's not something I should do myself, although I'm willing. Thoughts? Links to a shop that can do it reasonably? Remember, it will be endurance road raced, so we're talking lots of boosting for extended periods. I couldn't even find what turbo these cars come with. It's not on the Wiki page. I really don't have the time for these long searches, so if anyone can help, I'd be very grateful. This car will get a lot of media attention in the next two months, and the driver's spots will be auctioned off online through LeMons and TTAC. It needs to be race ready quickly...

Also, my infamous 8 wheeled Ebay 4 rotor custom-built exotic car (as seen here: www.speedycop.com ) lost spark, after it ran for like 5 minutes. It has a 4 MSD box setup from the late 80's, and a custom crank trigger. The weird thing is, the spark plugs spark when I turn the ignition switch on or off, but not when I crank it over. Any ideas? The boxes (one per plug) seem to be getting power, and the crank trigger is intact.

Let me know if you have ideas/solutions please. If you are in the DC/MD/VA area, and want to help wrench on the 8 wheeler, I'd sure appreciate it! I'm brand new to rotaries. Thanks gang!
Jeff AKA "Speedycop"

Checked your local Yellow Pages for turbo rebuilders? Nothing wrong with Cherry of course, but shipping and such might be a pain in the butt.

You can also rebuild it yourself as long as you aren't changing the wheels or orientation of them. It should stay in balance in that case.

No idea about your car with the 2 joined 13Bs. Start troubleshooting at the trigger (check or signal) then check for signal out of the MSD boxes. Just go through the system and find out where it has failed.

Thanks for the suggestion. The octocar has to 12a's, not that it matters with the ignition. I was hoping for a more specific recommendation as far as turbo rebuilders, if anyone has one. Anyone can stick a kit in it, I wanted someone who really does a great job. I didn't think it would actually stay in balance, but I can mark everything and put it back together the same way. Have a link to a rebuild kit?

http://www.turbocity.com/default.php?cPath=15_20

Not sure what kit you require. Give them a call. It won't need to be rebalanced.

Have you even checked the intake pipes for oil?

No, but I will. Any other tips? Do they only leak to the intake side, or do they leak into the exhaust as well? What model turbo did an '88 come with? It seems to run too well for it to be a motor issue, but again, I'm brand new to rotaries.

Turbos usually leak oil into the intake. The intake is removed before the turbo so that's the first place I would look for oil.

Not sure about the model but the website I linked can look it up for you and tell you which kit you will need..but first, make sure the turbo is leaking.