Hi Folks,

Just acquired a tidy '96 Polo 1.9 D CL from friends in Lothians VW Club for a decent price - £275 with tax til June & mot til Oct sound ok?

My '91 Passat 2.0i became uneconomic to repair after two years abuse, and with tax & mot due at end of Feb, this little oil burner came on our local market at just the right time :

The tyres were bald so I've since fitted good Ronal 14s with decent rubber from the Passat (pics to come later) and the ICE of course...

My FLI 1kw sub sure sounds good in the smaller cabin, but the shot front wheel bearings still make the predominant racket after the tractor like diesel has warmed up a bit!

The repair list goes on, with front tracking not too good, new rear shocks to fit (Bilsteins from Euro), and somehow adjust the linkage to engage fifth gear, then try and sort out the rusty rear valance for better looks.

The engine's done 131k miles, but hopefully it'll handle a bit of home made biodiesel in the coming months and get me to work a good bit cheaper than the petrol Passat.

Hope LSD is good for me...

Nice Diesel! They can be tweaked a little too!

Diesels rock and that engine is one of the best for using veggie oil 70p per L hehe just do a 50%50% mix at the mo as its still cold and in the summer 85%15% You will get a bit less mpg tho

...just do a 50%50% mix at the mo as its still cold, and in the summer 85%15%

Ta - I'd heard similar from a mate, but thought it involved a bit of fuel heating first?

Once I've run a couple of tanks of pump diesel through it to check systems and work out base MPG first, I'll start adding the crisp'n'dry, then progress to the used stuff after a bit of methoxylation and glycerin removal.

It is my first owned diesel, but couldn't believe the relative gutlessness from a 1.9 after driving a chipped Audi A4 TDi last year...

No matey to safe use new oil straight and no you do not need to heat it. Just start with adding 3litres first then 6,9,12 ect ect see how you get on

Nice one!

Once you get used to it, the engine does pull along nicely though.

On my main run into work (Forth Bridge queues & Edinburgh traffic) I don't find not having fifth much of a hardship, but when a long run is needed I'd really like to have it sorted. Easy job to adjust the linkage?

Ach, I'll be getting the Haynes manual soon and start the inevitable tweaking!

Don't mind getting my hands dirty, but so far most of my experience is with air-cooled V-dubs.

I also run a '65 Splitty Camper and '71 1302S Bug that have bigger bore twin carb engines, but haven't worked with turbos yet.

Saw these jokes on E-bay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Electric-Supercharge...1QQcmdZViewItem

and considered getting a hi-flow 12V fan from the likes of RS Components at a much cheaper price, but wondered if anyone here would admit to having tested the effects on a diesel..?

Your engine will run smoother the there will be lest nose but may be harder to start from cold the these months