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And with that, I reached out to the guys at integralingham, they had mentioned they had just done a turbo swap on their evo, so while using that as an occasional reference, I cranked up my plug in heater, turned up the classic rock and began the 8v turbo teardown.   In the words of the Immortal Jeremy Clarkson, how hard could it be?

 

Turns out, not that hard.

 

Day 1: Took the front blinkers lenses off ( two screws each) and removed the bulbs for safe keeping, the front grill (three screws on the top) the hood (two bolts per side, 4 total) and then  the front bumper  (two bolts).  For one, in the future if you’re ever doing an oil change, coolant flush, whatever, PLEASE do yourself the favor, spend 30 min and take all this stuff off!  If I knew it was this easy I would have done this as I spent most of the summer crouching in the engine bay trying to reach the lower radiator hose twisting into angles that no fully grown adult should have to endure unless you were a gymnast.  Total time: 30 minutes tops. 

 

So far so easy. 

 

Day 2: Wasn’t as easy as day one but still wasn’t impossible either, but there were some differences between the evo spec car and my 8v so I feel the need to highlight them here. 

 

First thing I did was loosen all the fittings for the Air Conditioning hardlines. This proved difficult as they most likely haven’t moved in nearly 30 years, and after punching myself in the face once while trying to muscle off one of the threaded collars, I busted out the wd40 and let it do the heavy lifting. Fortunately the lines had no refrigerant in it ***If yours does, it would be best to dispose of it properly…however you see fit***. Once I removed the lines, I was able to pull off the lines for the oil cooler. Of course some dripped out, but I had a bucket nearby . I then unplugged the  electric fans, pulled the lower radiator hose and let the coolant drain out. Then I removed the intercooler , airbox and the associated piping to free up some of the room.  Then I took the oil cooler, radiator and fans up and out (they are set in and just require a gentle tug out)  Once again, I want to harp on the fact that I am not a professional mechanic by trade, but if you take your time to remove things and see where they bolt up, it’s easy to do. 

 

Somewhere in the process, I had removed the plastic air diverter shroud. Once it gets in the way, that’s how you know its time for it to go! (That and I honestly forgot where in the process I removed it..) total time was roughly 5 hours 

 

 

Day 3: things got interesting, not difficult but sometimes a bit of a head scratcher. I removed all the associated hoses  from the turbo (which most of them snapped like twigs as they lost all remaining properties of “rubber”) I had the manifold bolts to remove along with the oil drain and feed lines. One of the major differences is that the EVO utilizes a tubular manifold whereas the 8v uses a traditional “log” type manifold.  Another is that the oil feed for the turbo is bolted to the 8v manifold, so off that bolt went along with the downpipe bolts. 

 

A little heaving and tugging, (of course I missed one turbo support bracket…and that’s why it wasn’t moving), one bump on the bumper support which nearly knocked me out and somehow drew blood at the same time, and out the turbo and manifold came!

 

Fortunately, it appears that the turbo has minimal shaftplay, and the blades appear to be in perfect shape, but as the turbo is damn near 30 years old at this point (and at 52000 miles, where the Lancia manual suggests a turbo rebuild at 60k miles) its dirty, but in decent shape. I plan to send the oem  Garret Airworks T03 turbo to Kirk at Boostlab in Florida (theboostlab.com)  for a rebuild as they rebuild every turbo under the sun and have a stellar reputation in the supra community (my other fun car).  Once that arrives back, that should fix the oil burning /blow through issue as shown in the video and then I shall be putting everything back in…but there are lists of things I plan to do while I’m in there.

 

Radiator hoses

Intercooler piping 

Cap, Rotor, Lines and plugs

Oil Change

Air Conditioning condenser

Airbox Filter

And a few other things I just can’t remember right now. 

 

 

 

Overall, I just want to stress the following statement: THIS CAR IS NOT COMPLICATED and the previous walkthough was a HUGE help . Take your time, look around, and learn your car. If you can turn a wrench and know the basic workings of a car, you are qualified to do this job;  don’t be intimidated.

 

 

 

 

 

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