A few questions my good sirs.

[8v-of-fury]

Ok so there is a few things I would like to gather from people driving higher mileage N/a engines.

What type and weight of oil do you run?
What is your pump timing set to?
What is the lowest temperature you have successfully started your vehicle in without being plugged in?
How cold does it normally run in the winter time in your area?
What sort of additives do you run in the tank?
Do you have your pump turned up any?

Also about those Bosch Duraterm glow-plugs.. I plan on installing them with a dash mounted manually controlled switch. They say they are good for afterglow, but is there anything else needed? or can they just be given 12v and left on for 10-30 seconds after the car has started? the car has a few minor oil leaks, so i think I am going to steer directly clear of synthetic oils... I mean it made it this far on dino oils right?   

your answers would be greatly appreciated guys, thank-you.

[maxfax]

Shell Rotella T 15w40 as synthetic ran out faster than I could put it in
1.00mm
-26 deg C  Wasn't happy  and it put up a fight, but it started. I never got around to replacing the block heater
Anywhere from 20 Deg C to -35 deg C   Sometimes in the same day, I swear....  -10C to 5C is an average range though..
Power Service Diesel Kleen when I remeber, so far the local stations are good about cold weather additives..
Of course the fuel is turned up a bit, gotta have some smoke!

That should do it for your glow plugs...   Remeber to have a fuse in the system!

[Op-Ivy]

15w40 (motorola i think)
timed to 1.05
-5c maybe? Never really tried. Once temps start going below 0 I plug it in!
5 to -24 last year. But consistently -5 to -10
Paraffin wax and diesel kleen once in a while
Do you have your pump turned up any? Yes.

EDIT: Oops didn't see that you were asking for NA. This is for my TD. Sorry!

[burn_your_money]

When I had my rabbit on it road I think it was timed to 0.90 -0.95. I always ran 0W40 rotella T SB in it. I love that stuff in the winter and highly recommend it. Not a NA but my 1.6 TD (stock) started in -40 without being plugged in. It had been sitting for about 7 hours. It was not happy about starting but it did it.

Good working battery cables are key

[maxfax]

Good working battery cables are key

That right there has alot to do with it..   Larger than stock cables are a good thing!

[8v-of-fury]

I will be running the biggest battery cables I can find for sure, its crazy the difference they make!

Cold nights it will be able to get the plug at home.. I'm just worried bout the 9 hour park at work really.

I think I will start off with the pump timed at 0.95 . For starters how much can I turn the pump up to get a little performance while not utilizing an EGT gauge? I don't wanna even get anywhere near melting pistons, just maybe a slight haze. lol

thanks guys.

[8v-of-fury]

Ok guys was with the car tonight, and it started reasonably well @ 5C tonight. However while trying to start the car without the cold start pulled out resulted in failure. Only with it pulled out would the engine catch. Also after the car has ran for 5-10 minutes pulling the CS lever resluted in a more pingy sound, but a lot smoother running. What was the value of advance of the CS? like 3-5 dgrees? So I am thinking if i advance the pump 5 degrees ahead.. it will run all the time as though  have my CS pulled out (5 degrees advanced). Then the CS lever will advance 5 degrees beyond that and make it idle god when cold.

Also it does smoke a bit, blue-grey on idle.. smells like diesel fuel, well unburnt diesel fuel lol. Could this be a symptom of the timing being to retarded?

What is the correct procedure of checking current timing? Get TDC, insert gauge, rotate engine (CCW) till gauge stops, zero out, and then rotate forward back to TDC? Set value on gauge is current pump timing? I think thats right.. unless I am missing some things.

Another thng I noticed is that there seems to be a liquid kindof flinging off of the t-belt.... and it is slightly damp looking.. What is on the belt side of the pump that could leak diesel? It can't be a big leak as the pump didn't lose prime in the week that it sat since when i last touched it. WEIRD.

I am confident this engine wil do well, as it did start ok tonight. New gp's and battery cables should make this thing start like a breeze.. especiall with the afterglow feature of the Duraterms.

thanks alot guys.