Got a line on a turbo from a stock 87 GN, 75k miles on it, "turbo in great shape, no shaft play and no oiling."

You guys think $225 is high? Anything I should look out for with it? I have not seen pictures.

Goal is to build my first turbo slant, cast piston motor, and go from there.

I see good stock GN turbos pretty cheap these days. Mostly because guys upgrade to turbos that are more effeciant at higher boost levels. A good turbo will have shaft play that you can feel from side to side but NOT ANY endplay that you can feel by hand.

The stock turbo is really sized to put out 13 - 14 psi to a decent breathing 3.8 liter engine and they can be pushed higher to support nearly 400 horsepower. Even the stock setup was under rated at 355 foot pounds of torque. With FI and knock control it is still easy to destroy a gn motor. (how do I know this?) The 13 -14 psi boost on pump gas is only possible because of the intercooler, FI and Knock control.

You are probably thinking about a lower boost setup, 6-7 pounds, and would likely be better off with a smaller turbo. The stock GNs have around a 2300 stall converter, 2.74 first gear and 3.42 rear ends. They still have turbo lag and will only launch hard if you powerbrake to get the boost up. One of these turbos on a lower boost setup would be pretty slugish at the bottom end and would be hard to limit at the top end. I hate to say this but it might be easier, cheaper and safer for the engine to play with a nitrous setup.

I am not trying to be negative about what sounds like a great project. I am just pointing out a few things I know about the GN setups that would apply to boosting any street engine. It really is a whole engine system that you need, more so the higher the boost gets.