i agree here or craigslist! there always parting out cars on there too! and u wont have to pay shipping on here some guys may just give them to you for the price of shipping though which may be cheaper than craigslist!
I agree with this 100% ive helped paint 2 cars and we did what you did and put it down to the metal it was a bi*** after that but i agree with everything he says above.
Same thing happend to a friend of mine on his 91 and it was the noise filter! so i would have to 100% agree with you here most junkyards should have one our po dunk town of 900 people had one haha so anywhere else should aswel he paid like 10 bucks for it or something.
IS there any like oil just sitting in the inlet of your turbo? if so that means your seals are broken and it would run really rich and smoke (not sure color) mine was doing this and it was definetly done bad shafplay and in and out. Id definitely check that aswel. correct me if im wrong though...
Haha my buddy bought one for abou tthe same price put a shitty body kit on it a fart cannon and a turbo it was actually quite quick considering they are light as hell! he even dropped 2grand on a paint job for it! its rediculous but i agree if u can get a car with 30+ mpg for under a grand or...
The alternator also could be dragging it down mine was doing that and after testing the battery it was the alternator and DSMS are notorious for bad alts. I would really recommend just puting a 96-97 galant ls alternator on it anyways even if it is not the alt it give out more volts fits...