background:
160K miles - one owner - full skoda service history - EGR just been done prior to my purchasing
it seems down on power compared to My old A2 (75bhp) that my daughter now has
it runs fine at idle
it runs ok under light load (ie on the flat with little throttle)
if you hit an incline (when using cruise) or press the accelerator medium/hard then it smokes - a fair bit (really noticeable at night with lights behind)
when its smokey it also seems to surge/pulse a bit.

first scan showed a fault code for the egr - turned out to be a hole vac line for the egr actuator - fixed this - no difference
I started out thinking Boost leak as black smoke is too much unburnt fuel - so either not enough air or overfueling
so far I have replaced the top boost hose as the lugs were worn
I found what I thought was a hole in the bottom boost hose off the turbo - turned out not to be holed but not far off holed so replaced anyway.

I have run some boost traces and even though its behind the curve it was getting up to spec eventually
so I thought I might have a stuck turbo actuator - tested today with a Vac gauge and thought I had confirmed it as it held vac but the rod didnt move
realised that the actuator seems to operate off boost not vac as there is a line up from the turbo to the vac block and then the actuator line coming back down, tested theory by applying pressure and actuator moves OK. I have seen turbos for sale with a short pipe between the two connectors which seem to confirm theory as well.

I have a spare inlet manifold cleaned up and ready to go on but not able to work leaning over the car due to bad back so want to be sure what needs replacing before handing to a garage to get ripped off..

what measuring blocks etc do I need to scan to diagnose further as I have previously had petrol 1.8T VAG engines?