87 LeBaron turbo rebuild

[TheSteve]

Eventually I want to rebuild the turbo in my newly acquired 87 Lebaron convertible. The car has 56k original miles, which is great BUT it also means the turbocharger is 27 years old.

A few questions for the experts:

I did some research (I am a turbo noob) and I am correct that the turbocharger is a t03 Garrett? (2.2l auto transmission)

Should I do a basic rebuild myself (my cousin's husband is a ASE certified tech and has done work on all the family's cars) OR should I either send it off to one of the many rebuild shops? I am not that interested in push back to the seat power, I just want reliability as the car is near museum condition and I plan on keeping her well into old age.

Since the car's price came in well under budget (I have about $2900 to play with) should I go for a better performing turbo or just a standard OEM rebuild?
As some added info: I drive 28 miles round trip to work 5 days a week and every 5 weeks or so I drive 200 miles roundtrip to Clearwater to see my girl.

If we pull the turbo out, what are some of the dangers involved as far as breaking any of the studs or damage to the manifold? What else should I replace during the rebuild of the turbocharger (as in anything attached to it or whatnot)

Again, I am new at this so I am sorry if I am asking questions that have been asked ad nausea before.

Thanks again!

[cordes]

If it's a log TI setup on there still then I would leave it alone. They don't suffer from surge when the throttle snaps shut so there is very little overall wear on the turbo when you run them. Given that stock is around 7PSI for your car you aren't taxing it there either. So long as you keep enough oil pressure going to it the thing should last darn near forever.

[TheSteve]

If it's a log TI setup on there still then I would leave it alone. They don't suffer from surge when the throttle snaps shut so there is very little overall wear on the turbo when you run them. Given that stock is around 7PSI for your car you aren't taxing it there either. So long as you keep enough oil pressure going to it the thing should last darn near forever.

That's what I thought, maybe I am being overly cautious. I tend to do that!