The daily driver - 1988 Turbo Coupe (big pic update 8/14) Reply #45 – May 22, 2012, 11:59:08 AM Finally an update....after way too long :hick:As some of you may or may not remember, my Turbo Coupe has suffered from a hesistation/fluttering problem at anything past half throttle after 3500rpm or so (under what should be constant 10+ lbs of boost) which has kept the car from being that really fun daily driver I had been wanting. But of course, I was procrastinating because I figured it was going to need a new turbo. A couple of weeks ago, the Turbo Coupe fell victim to probably the biggest nuisance with my Tbirds - the glue that keeps the side windows aligned finally gave up on the drivers side. So for most of the week, I drove the white Tbird, which reminded me what it was like to really enjoy the drive to and from work (among other things). At that point, I figured that while the weather was perfect, I would dig down and figure out what the issue has been with the TC.So I popped the hood and removed the intercooler and all the intake piping leading to the turbo. Checked for shaft play - seemed fine. Looking for scoring along the walls - looked fine. Spun the rotor - felt great. Dad was home so I asked him if he wanted to take a look at it as well while I had it apart, so he came out and came to the same conclusions (keep in mind that we're both new to this stuff). But then we got to looking at the boost controller that the previous owner had installed. I went online to figure out what exactly it was...and this is what I found...http://www.asia.ru/en/ProductInfo/861486.htmlMy first thought was "Wow, I would never buy that piece of junk for a car I owned" so that was the first red flag. Add in the fact that the T piece in the picture was not present in the installation on my car and the vacuum line routing just didn't seem right and it was pretty clear that this would be a good place to try to eliminate the problem. Luckily, the previous owner did not remove the stock boost control solenoid, so dad came out and we both went through and routed the vacuum lines back the way they are shown in the factory diagram. Then I buttoned everything back up, closed the hood, and we went for a test drive. Without taking tools with us. I'm sure you can see where this is going.Pulled the car out of the driveway and headed down the road. It felt so nice and smooth, it was like a brand new car. Let it warm up for a few minutes then hit the highway onramp to see if the problem had indeed been solved. Got the car into 2nd gear and floored it....and she pulled absolutely perfect through the rpm range without any hesitation!! I was pumped! Until I hit 3rd gear and every bit of power was gone and the turbo was not producing a single bit of boost (and I couldn't hear it any more either). Dad and I were sweating bullets figuring that the turbo was ruined or something along those lines. So I limped it home, popped the hood, and we got to searching around. Checked the turbo and it looked ok...checked the vacuum lines and they looked ok...nothing seemed to be wrong. Until we noticed that the small top pipe between the intercooler and throttle body hadn't been secured properly. FACEPALM. Tightened that back up and went out for another test drive, and I could not believe the difference that's been made. The car is such a blast to drive and is quite deceptive until the turbo spools up, though I don't think the gas mileage will be doing well any time soon haha. It really is like driving a different car and I love it (the sound of the turbo is addicting ).At some point I plan to get a much nicer boost controller and boost gauge. Dad brought up the idea of using the same mounting solution as we did for the gauges in the white car, but instead of a 2nd gauge, we can remote mount the boost control . How cool would that be? Especially if it gets a bigger turbo down the road...................not that I would ever ponder such an idea or anything . I'm hopefully going to be spending the next few weeks sorting out the other small problems with the car as well, but for now, the fun factor is definitely back and the drive to and from work is much more enjoyable.Cliffs - Previous owner put a piece of boost controller in the Turbo Coupe, which ended up being the cause of a very annoying high rpm hesitation issue. Then I failed to properly fasten the intercooler pipe which goofed up on the first test drive. Now it drives like a whole different car. Quote Selected
The daily driver - 1988 Turbo Coupe (big pic update 8/14) Reply #46 – May 22, 2012, 11:24:18 PM Now get a good quality boost controller and have some fun . Quote Selected
The daily driver - 1988 Turbo Coupe (big pic update 8/14) Reply #47 – May 24, 2012, 08:20:36 PM Haha yeah....that might get me into trouble and begin the mod snowballing effect though Quote Selected
The daily driver - 1988 Turbo Coupe (big pic update 8/14) Reply #48 – May 25, 2012, 11:29:37 PM lol thanks for the cliffs notes AFTER I read the whole thing:giggle:good to know you got it back in order again:) Quote Selected
The daily driver - 1988 Turbo Coupe (big pic update 8/14) Reply #49 – May 26, 2012, 06:20:46 AM Thanks for the update. Car is looking really nice! It was a good find for sure. Quote Selected
The daily driver - 1988 Turbo Coupe (big pic update 8/14) Reply #50 – August 14, 2012, 09:16:36 PM Time for a huge update :)The last couple of months have been spent getting stuff done on the Turbo Coupe. New tires and new front shocks to be exact. The old ones were in TERRIBLE shape; the passenger side front shock was actually stuck and would make a clunking sound every time it would "break" loose. The tires were gone as well, so this stuff was definitely needing to be done. I also went through and polished up the headlights because they just looked horrific. Started off with a pair from the junkyard:Then ended up like this:Here's a before/after comparison:So now that everything major is fixed, I finally got a good new video up! My partner in crime was finally back in town so we finally got around to putting the TC through its paces. Unfortunately, the camera really doesn't do a good job of portraying the sense of speed. It looks slow in the video, but it felt like a roller coaster ride in the car haha. The good news is that the sound of the turbo came out really well, and the car felt great and balanced through the corners. Anyways, without further ado, here it is:[video=youtube;oEDF2hLiOoU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEDF2hLiOoU[/video]Then today I realized that I hadn't taken any good pics of the car in the year and a half I've owned it! So I made sure to fix that, after a good cleaning of course. I'm quite happy with how the pictures came out, but my camera sucks!She's looking a lot happier now :) . Keen eyed readers will notice that the front licence plate bracket is also gone. That's all for now, hope you guys enjoy the huge update :) Quote Selected
The daily driver - 1988 Turbo Coupe (big pic update 8/14) Reply #51 – August 14, 2012, 09:53:27 PM Why is every picture of the driver side? Quote Selected
The daily driver - 1988 Turbo Coupe (big pic update 8/14) Reply #52 – August 14, 2012, 09:55:19 PM Good work King. You are making us all proud by using that TC and keeping it in fine shape! The car looks much "happier" after all the elbow grease you've put into it! Quote Selected
The daily driver - 1988 Turbo Coupe (big pic update 8/14) Reply #53 – August 14, 2012, 10:02:50 PM Quote from: vinnietbird;396013Why is every picture of the driver side? Haha no reason really. It was just a quick park-n-shoot and that's where the lighting looked better. There were rain clouds on the way so I didn't want to take too long. I'll get passenger side pictures next time around. Though now that I think of it, I seem to just have a habit of doing that. Even the majority of the pictures of my white car are from the driver's side haha.Quote from: 50tbrd88;396014Good work King. You are making us all proud by using that TC and keeping it in fine shape! The car looks much "happier" after all the elbow grease you've put into it! Thanks! She needs paint badly, much like the white car. I also need to get rid of the side skirts because they're in bad shape; hopefully down the road I can find a nicer pair to put on. Quote Selected
The daily driver - 1988 Turbo Coupe (big pic update 8/14) Reply #54 – August 14, 2012, 10:08:30 PM Looking good :) Quote Selected
The daily driver - 1988 Turbo Coupe (big pic update 8/14) Reply #55 – August 15, 2012, 12:40:18 AM Looks good man!! Quote Selected
The daily driver - 1988 Turbo Coupe (big pic update 8/14) Reply #56 – August 15, 2012, 10:15:09 AM I am sure she appreciates your hard work... and so do we. Quote Selected
The daily driver - 1988 Turbo Coupe (big pic update 8/14) Reply #57 – August 16, 2012, 10:21:38 PM Looks good, Your lucky you have two sweet birds. Quote Selected
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