Breaking news (cue sounds of Teletype terminals in the background, and newsy-type music)...

Two updates is one day is unusual for me, but I want to bring you the news as it happens (or was that "fair and balanced?" I always forget...).

The turbo and blower and their plumbing are out. It does not look as if the aftercooler is plugged, but we'll know better once it's out.

What we found, though, is a hole in the duct from the turbo to the blower. Apparently, the duct has been rubbing on some steel framing that was installed in the bedroom over the turbo assembly. Part of the duct is metal, and the only consequence of the rubbing there is that it is worn smooth. However, the part where the duct attaches to the turbo is rubber, and this item wore all the way through, creating a hole about an inch long and a quarter inch wide. The duct will need to be replaced, and when we do so, we will grind away 1/2" to 3/4" of the tubing that it was rubbing against to create some headroom.

So now Virgil's theory is that the black smoke and low power has been coming from the fact that a bunch of our turbo boost pressure has been blowing through this hole. Which tells us nothing about the condition of the cylinders.

The turbo is, indeed, shot, and they will rebuild it. The blower has a lot of dirt in it, but the bearings do not seem to be leaking oil -- further inspection is required.

The good news in all of this is that, now that the turbo and blower are out of the way, it appears that they can fit new liners and rings with the engine in place. Since we are already in it this far, and removing the aspiration system is half the battle, I've instructed them to go ahead and kit it regardless. For the price of eight cylinder kits and a minimal amount of additional labor, it makes no sense to put the engine back together without doing the cylinders.

Of course, the situation here changes hourly, so I'm not banking on anything.

Stay tuned for further updates. We now return you to your regularly scheduled internet viewing.