Dysfnctnl85

Well, today I took off the oil return line from the turbo and started the car up. I wanted to confirm/deny that the oil return was backing up, causing the oil to come out from behind the manifold itself.



I noticed absolutely no difference!



To me, this confirms that the oil seals are shot and need to be repaired. The million dollar question (quit literally, actually), is how much I should do.



While it's open, why not do a full rebuild with 2mm seals and swap out the exhaust sleeves for something larger?



Opinions?

Nospig

My advice would be to have the rotors slotted for 3mm apex seals . (have this done by a business that does them all the time not a first timer should cost around $60 the engine will not need rebalancing) Use 12a turbo corner seal with the plastic inserts. Use fd corner seal springs if it is early cosmo engine still using wire springs. Replace oil control rings, springs , and orings .Check oil pumpreplace if necessary. Renew bearings ( unless you have a press have a shop press them for you. After pressed make sure they slide over shaft without galling as sometimes they can compress if not correctly pressed) Make sure you get the correct gasket set or waterseal set as older sets orings are different. If the rotor housings are good use an easy out or have a shop remove the pins that hold the exhaust sleves in . Find some expired fd housings remove there sleeves and use them.

If you are going to port the engine and havent done it before be extremely careful or have a good rotary shop do it . Dont go to radical the car wont be able to put the power to the ground. ( even std ports should get you 300+ rwhp @ 1 kg ) . Replace side seals and springs and gap correctly ( do this before assembly and lay it all out on aboard marked front rotor rear A B C etc . When pulling engine apart use a sharp scribe to mark which rotor Front / rear and mark each side A B C so all the bits go back in the right place.

3mm apex seals are very forgiving when tuning or running high boost. Best to do a complete rebuild , you put so much time and effort into projet , dont cut a few corners now you may regret latter , and who wants to keep pulling down the engine , driving it is way more fun.

Dysfnctnl85

FYI I'm getting the motor worked on.



I'm expecting a complete labor quote soon. So far I'm going with RA 3mm seals and new oil seals as well. When they take the motor apart they're going to put it under a magnifying glass and let me know what else it might need.



I'm also going to swap out the exhaust ports for TII/FD ports.

z-beater

Any updates???

Dysfnctnl85

Well I undid about 2 years of work in 1.5 hours on Saturday, haha. I took everything apart for the most part, leaving only the oil cooler. I dropped the motor off Saturday night and I'm told he will take it apart this week and take a look at it.



I was originally going to get Rick Engman to lap the housings for 3mm seals, but I have since decided to stay with 2mm OEM seals. I'm not even sure that I will need apex seals, but oil seals for sure. This guy has a pretty good reputation around this area and races an SA in SCCA.



Once I hear back from him I'll post up.



Oh! I also dropped off two trashed FD housings so I can get the exhaust sleeves .



500whp here I come...

z-beater

Right on, well make sure to get some videos for us.



Here in the NW the turbo FB scene is starting to pick up. I think that we are going to get some videos up to show everyone what we have.

Dysfnctnl85

I will definitely have a video of the project...so when this thing actually comes to life, I'll have some proof of my blood, sweat, and tears for all to see...haha.



Thanks for the interest and I'd love to see other turbo FBs in action!

rowtareh

Good thing you went the with OEM 2mm seals, they work perfectly fine.



I have been following this for a while, and I want one of my own to do already!!

Dysfnctnl85

Just heard back from my builder...



Good news: The motor is in excellent shape.

Bad news: the oil problem is not coming from the motor.



WTF? I took the turbo off and still experienced white smoke, but this must just be gunk that needed to burn off from inside the motor, or it is conceivable that there was oil left in the manifold from the turbo or something.



At any rate, I'm going to call cheapturbo (nka Phoenix Turbo) and see what I can check on the turbo. It's never been run besides just turning the car on...is it possible to blow the oil seals on a new (or freshly rebuilt I guess) turbo upon firing up the engine?



::scratches head::

z-beater

Well that is some good news. Where did you pick up the turbo from? Cheapturbos?



Z