found the problem, need a solution Options

[TSiwrx]

the white smoke was what i though originally. my turbo is bad. it smokes terribly all the time now. here are my possible solutions:
1.) drive it w/ the bad turbo till it finally dies completely and literally smoke everyone around me on the road.
2.) get my turbo rebuilt and spent another who knows how much on that.
3.) marcus at slo pny said it would be cheaper to get a 16g. my question on this is how much is a good used/ new 16g and what will i have to accomodate the bigger turbo. i already have a 255 fuel pump, but what about a new intercooler and pipes? injectors? fuel management?
4.) i have a place that i can get a garrett T3 ball bearing turbo new for around $250. how much different is this turbo as opposed to the 14b? what would i have to do to accomodate this one?
5.) i have sitting here a mitsubishi 12a turbocharger that is rebuilt and is originally from a starion. i understand that IF this would fit, it would be a loss in power, but could get me through till i have enough money to afford something else. does anyone know if the 12a will fit or not?

any and all advice is appreciated. thanks a lot.

[natedogg]

stock on a 1st gen is 11psi.

It varies depending on what the logged knock history is on the car. An 'octane' number is monitored in the ECU that allows for different boost levels depending on the knock the car is seeing over time. This works as long as the car has the stock boost control solenoid (bcs). Gsxracer is actually correct in that the stock actuator spring is set at a measly 7 psi. If one's stock car is knocking bad, like on watered down, winter grade 87 octane Casey's gas the ecu will leave the bcs shut allowing none of the boost signal to be bypassed to the intake pipe so all you get is 7 psi and maybe a little creep from one's coked up O2 housing. The ECU will, of course, also take timing away from one, bringing one down to anywhere from 10 to 2 degrees of timing advance. If one's car is running optimal, like on 100 octane turbo blue, the ECU will recognize this by looking at the 0 count knock values over a period of time and leave the bcs open so the turbo is free to run up to 12 psi of boost. It will also let one's WOT timing run as high as 27-28 degrees advance. There is also a gray area between these two extremes where the ECU will send a calculated duty cycle to the solenoid varying the boost to whatever it deems reasonable between 7 and 12 psi. That's why you see some stock DSM's run 16's and other stock DSM's run 14's in the 1/4 mile.