Purchasing advice?

[drutt]

As in advice on purchasing...I'm not looking to buy advice.

Anyway, I realized that likely not everyone reads the new members threads, but I'm a new member. I had asked a question in my intro and thought I would re-post it here as a more suitable place to continue the thread. Essentially, I'm looking at getting my first Delica and am torn between two. Here's the situation:

One is an '89 L300, low roof, 100k, good maintenance records and few frills for $6000. The second is a '92 L300 Super exceed, with 155k, crystal lite roof, spare set of tires, in really good shape, with a bunch of bonus stuff like the WVO system installed and some extra lights, for $8900. My question is, which one sounds like the better buy? They're both in good shape. I have a concern about the WVO system as it's been sitting for a while (less than a year though) unused. The rig looks well done though. I actually think it's one of the set-ups that was advertised on this forum. This one has had new injectors installed and hasn't had WVO used since. Anyway, super excited to get my first delica, but I'm pretty torn between the two. If anything, I'd say the '89 felt a little smoother to drive. I have lots of desire when it comes to doing my own repairs, but few tools and, at this stage in life, even less time. Any advice?

Thanks!

[Tojo]

Do either of them have receipts for work done to the IP, Turbo or head?

[doodah]

They both sound overpriced to me...

[drutt]

Thanks guys. They both had repair documentation, one definitely had new injectors and some turbo work done. I can't remember about the other. I ended up actually getting a different one in the end. Got a '92 L300 for $5000. Seemed decently priced to me. It's gonna need some repair work, but it has a brand new water pump, timing belt, offroad tires on rims (and originals on rims), and a few other things. The turbo will need some work at some point, but everything runs well now. Any recommendations on where to get work done? There are a few things I'm capable of doing on my own (i.e. taking the straight pipe off and putting full exhaust back on), but my limited tools mean I'm definitely going to need to take this in at some point.

[Tojo]

Turbo is pretty straightforward to rebuild yourself. By rebuild, I mean replacing all the seals, brass bushings and other bits and re-using the cast housing if it's in good shape. I actually had fun doing it. Note that this doesn't include balancing at high RPM on a fancy machine as ADP in Port Kells will do for a fee: http://www.adpdistributors.com/

Buy your parts here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Turbo-Rebuild-R ... df&vxp=mtr

And follow the instructions here: http://www.delica.ca/forum/td04-turbo-r ... 14171.html
and see comments here: http://www.delica.ca/forum/td04-turbo-r ... 71-15.html
You will need a variety of picks, brass drift, plastic mallet, snap ring pliers (good quality ones!)

The even easier way to do this repair, is to buy the whole cartridge that goes inside the turbo housing here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Turbocharger- ... AQ:GB:1123

Just make sure it's the right part before you buy by double checking your turbo tag number! Of course the easiest/most expensive option is to go to a local shop and get it done for about $650 parts + labour.

[thedjjack]

Not sure why you want full exhaust again?

Mine was a straight pipe side exhaust when I bought it.... too loud (loud is ok but I prefer a big block, big cam, V8 on open headers)

I just added a high flow muffler and kept the side exhaust... I added a flex pipe just below the turbo to take some shaking off the turbo....

[drutt]

Thanks for the turbo tips Tojo! I think I'll go that route. Seems like a good little project. Thedjjack, I don't necessarily want full exhaust again, adding a muffler would be fine. It's pretty noisy at the moment, which sounds alright, but on a long haul I'm sure will get to me. Been there and done that with my old super magna. Eventually the noise just gets to you.. Where'd you source your muffler?

[Tojo]

I agree with the Djjack on this one. But if you want less noise then go with the full exhaust but make it 2.5" diameter and allow it to freeflow and let that little 2.5L diesel breathe! Got mine at Mufflertech in PoCo. Not cheap though. http://www.delica.ca/forum/2-5-mandrel- ... 12245.html

[drutt]

Ya, while yours looks (and I'm sure sounds) pretty bad ass, the cost is far more than I'm hoping to spend. Looks like they did a great job though. One more question about the turbo. How do I know if it needs to be balanced? Should I just take it in anyway after I rebuild? Do I take the whole turbo in (minus the housing), or just the turbine? Thanks again Tojo!

[Tojo]

ADP would just take your entire turbo assembly and rebuilt it for you, then return it and you bolt it back on. Here is some talk about this subject
http://www.delica.ca/forum/turbo-proble ... -7698.html

As for how you tell if it's balanced or not? You can't, not by feel. If you suspect that the old cartridge is trashed, then just buy a new one. The way I see it, this turbo is running at such a low boost that if it's not calibrated perfectly it won't make much difference.