[Vwdiesel] What to look for in a Diesel?

[Ron Schroeder]

Hi All,

It's been years since I have owned a diesel (yeh, I know the twitching is
hard to control) but I just ran into one for sale CHEAP.  It's an '86 Rabbit
with 150K miles that was taken off the road last year and was last started 2
months ago.  The body is a rust bucket so I am really only interested in the
engine and 5 speed tranny.

I don't have access to a compression tester.  What should I look for when I
check it out?  I think the timing belt is origional.  What year did VW
change to hydrolic lifters?

The plans for the engine would be to put it in a late model Golf or Jetta or
a Suzuki Samuri or Sidekick and run it on WVO.

Thanks,

Ron