new tc owner with questions

Hello to all I'm new to this site and new to turbo coupes.
little info: my sons one 17 and the other 14
saw this 1986 turbo coupe at my friends home and wanted it so bad.
they worked out a deal with my buddy and worked for him this summer in exchange for the car.
I have never owned a thunderbird before.
I have owned several Mustangs, Pintos with the 2.3L.
knowing that 2.3 is a grate motor I was all for it.
this car was my friend wife's and is in good shape for its age.
she told me they bought the car in 1990 and were the second owners.
it has a rebuilt motor in it with 40,000 miles.
the motor was done at a Ford dealer.
it sat for the last 3 years being started once a month.
my buddy told me it had a bad oil leak that needed to be fixed.
after looking at it while it while it was running I noticed that it was blowing oil out a hole on the bottom of the block near the distributor.
my fist thought was it was a alternative oil dipstick hole and a soft plug had popped out.
I'm really not sure and wondered if anyone could tell me if I'm correct or what should be there.
I shoved a wood dowel in it to make the 30 mile trip home.
while driving it I noticed that when I got on it a buzzer and a light went off for just a second.
I checked the boost gage and sure enough it was over boosting up to 22psi. im sure i would have higher if i kept my foot in it.
after getting it home I checked all the vacuum lines and found no leaks so I applied some air to the wastegate actuator and it dint move but I could hear the air blowing though it.
so I started looking for a wastegate actuator.
I can only find aftermarket actuator and I understand that the stock spring pressure is set to 10 psi for the 5 speed.
I'm leaning toward detuning this car a bit until my boys used to it but would like to be able to put it back later.

so here are my questions.

can you get the stock wastegate actuator new?

if I get a aftermarket actuator or a stock can I detune it using a Manual Boost Controller?

what is the mystery hole my that my oil is coming from?

I looked at the block sitting in my garage and if it's the one behind (towards the back) the distributor and at the very base of the block beneath the intake manifold, it looks like it was an alternative dipstick hole. It should be blocked by the casting, ie, not machined thru. Since it appears to be machined thru in your case, it needs to be plugged. The best way would be to drill and tap it for a pipe plug. But that would mean dropping the pan to prevent metal from getting in it.
A manual boost controller can't be used to detune. You would need a wastegate actuator with a weaker spring.

I had two gnarly oil leaks in my TC before my rebuild, both were fixed(able). My #1 sounds like it could be your leak.

1) the seal for the oil cooler. Mine had a section that the seal had re-molded itself, and would literally spray oil out, straight to the ground. It was intermittent but sure dead leak a lot, and often left a nice trail to mark the territory. The oil cooler is mounted between the the oil filter and the block, and has two coolant lines running to it.

2) the rear main.

Welcome SIR I am also new to this wonderful Car site and i own a TC. Ok about your questions. Turbo blocke normally have 2 dip stick Holes. The one basically in the middle of the block is normally sealed with silicone from the factory and sometimes if boost gets into the crankcase it can blow OUT. I normally drill and Tap the extra hole during a rebuild. But you can plug the hole with a tapered plug from GM. They come with crate engines and are the same size as the ford HOLE. Tap it in and use a punch to finalize the JOB. The overboost alarm comes on at APP 17-18 LBS and with 22 Lbs of boost that is what is happening. Check the waste gate and the Boost control solenoid for missing hoses and or a messed up Relay. Good luck and have a wonderful evening Sir

http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx46/proguns/001.jpg

Welcome.
The WGA is the determiner of minimum boost. If you want less than the stock 9.5 psi, you will have to go aftermarket. You will have to do some calling of turbo shops to see what settings you can get. Later, if you want to turn the boost up, you get an aftermarket boost control valve to fool the WGA, allowing you to run higher (adjustable) boost. There are even two stage boost valve setup so you can have a couple of preset choices. There are several choices out there. Non-intercooled, you don't want to run more than 13-14 psi.

Thanks for all the info.

from the photo looks as if the oil leak is the alternative oil dipstick hole.
I found a copper pipe plug that is .5 mm lager than the hole. allot of cleaning and some aviation cement then
stake it in we should be in business.
if that doesn't work I will get another dip stick cut it and weld up the end and shove it in.
later if I have to pull the pan I will tap it and put in a pipe plug.
I'm sure there are several leaks I will need to fix.
after I can pressure wash it I can see what is what.
there is so much oil all over it at this time.

after reading about the wga I think I will lean towards a stock one if I can find it and then play with the throttle so they cant floor it.
the oldest boy is a little slow and just doesn't get it all the time.
he's one of those kids that have to see it to believe it no mater what you tell him.

a few years back I got them a dirt bike the youngest boy jumped on it first and rode it around the
back yard on problem. the oldest got on it while it was in neutral and started revving it full throttle.
so I had a talk with him about not giving it so much gas and told him how to put it in gear.
he told me ok then proceeded to full throttle kicked it into gear. it drug him across the yard until he
hit the trash can and threw him lose from it.

I really didn't think that the turbo on these would make that much more power.
between the better gearing from the T5 and the turbo I was surprised.
back in the day my mustangs and pintos had 4 speeds and were tall
geared. I remember being able to do 70 in second gear.
what a dog off the line they were but the mileage was good.

thanks again for all the info

Kids.... gotta love them.

Could always disconnect the wastegate arm from the wastegate, letting the wastegate hang open for zero boost. (At least one of our long time members, BDL, drive one of his TCs for the better part of a year with no turbo) He cant get into that much trouble with 90 HP under the hood. Or wire the waste gate so it is partly open at all times to limit boost to a few psi.

If you cant find a used activator, give Evergreen turbo, Precision turbo, etc a call and I am sure you can find a new one.

I might get a 5 psi WGA and a manual boost controler so that when i drive it I can have some fun.
I saw this one on Ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NXS-BOOST...3c9e6dadd2
not sure if it would be a good one or shoud I spend the cash on the greddy.

thanks for the heads up on the turbo shops

Looks like it would work but most of us use the "Rick Gillis" valve. Check the vendors section here.

do you think that a 5 psi wga would put this down
around 120-130 hp? I think that would be a good
range for them to start with.
I want it to be able to go but not brake
the tire lose when you pull out in the rain.

I'm thinking the Two Stage Gillis vave
and hide the switch from the boys that would make it simple.