I was doing a fuel pump swap thinking it was weak. I found a weird tail fitting on the outlet is that the cone filter everyone is talking about? It has a screw in the middle if it is can I eliminate it and cut the banjo end off and worm clamp it together

Hi everyone, I have a 1987 TSI turbo (125,000 mi.) that is blowing white smoke. I store it in the winter and this last spring when I started it, thick white smoke poured out of the exhaust. After a while it thinned out but even the next day it stilled smoked but much less so. The car has never done this before, even after storage. If it were condensate, I would think it would disappear after warming up. The antifreeze level has not dropped one bit. The exhaust does not smell of antifre

I'm mentally/principally having trouble pulling the trigger with MKS for $125 when 2 years ago they were $75 on the site and not too long before that they were $50 or less and somewhat available. I've checked and kept an eye out at the usual part stores but none have come available.   

That title heading needs an explanation.  In 2016 when I had the car painted during restoration, the paint shop told me not to wax the car for the first year.  Well, 1 year turned into 2 years, into 3, into 4 ... now its 9 years later.  I haven't washed the car with actual water in probably the last 4 or 5 years.  (I really do not like washing Starquests due to the foam front bumper support holding water and rotting out the bumper support).  The car is garage kept, only driven on nice days and I