Hi,

In my 1.9TD conversion I choose to stick with the '82 1.6D coolant
hoses and tanks. Now, these are both expensive and rare. I wonder
what other people with conversions have done?

For instance: The standard Diesel expansion tank 068 121 405B has
a pop in mount in front of the battery. VW stopped making these.
Busdepot WWW site says (not sure if current) 3-4weeks to delivery and $95.
Neither the wait nor the price is attractive.

There are some (e.g. Golf) expansion tanks that look similar enough,
and perhaps could be cleanly mounted in the stock location.
Anyone tried this?

For the hoses, (dreaded octopus breaking in the middle of nowhere...)
maybe it's trickier to find direct replacements. At a show I saw one
guy who had made a "manifold" replacing the "octopus" part where
the various hoses join. With this he could use pieces of standard
hose to connect to to the engine. Repairs become easy.

Comments/thoughts?

Best,
Martin