[Vwdiesel] A few newbie questions

[Scott Alexander]

I recently bought an '82 Rabbit Diesel over e-bay.  With luck, AAA is
going to deliver it to a friend's driveway this weekend so that we can
start to work on it.  The seller has described it as a car he bought as
a project car, but never got to.  Apparently, he drives it up and down
the block once a week, but says he never had a mechanic really check it
over.  It's a 4 speed with power steering and IIRC A/C.

Thus, two questions:

1) It seems from reading Bentleys and from reading this list that I need
a compression gauge that will do 500 psi or better.  Any suggestions?
Any known junk to avoid?

2) When the car shows up, what should I be certain to do?  It seems like
changing the timing belt is good insurance at least.  Changing the oil
and coolant seems prudent.  I suspect we'll decide to change the brake
fluid as well.  What else should I be considering?

My goal is to run the car as a biodiesel car for my drive back and forth
to the local train station and use it for some local trips as well.

Best,
Scott Alexander
Warren, NJ