About a week ago, I said I was getting a 744t. Well, I still haven't gotten it yet. Good thing I'm not shelling out money for it, right?

Anyway, the story goes that it blew a head gasket. Father-in-law drove it to the mechanic about new years. Mechanic said, yep, blew a head gasket, and gave him some other bad news to the tune of ~$2500. Instead of having it fixed, he traded it to me for a running '90 Geo Prizm, which he's had since about the same time.

Now, the first weekend, I was too busy with other things to go get the car. But this last weekend, I replaced the front pads on my Jeep Grand Cherokee, and picked up a tow dolly to go get it from my in-laws house about 40 miles away. When I had talked to him about it, he had just gotten off the phone with the mechanic. But he said he'd just put the car in the driveway and I would be able to pick it up. Now, I had a key to it. I had a trailer. I was in front of the house. It was two weeks later, but the car wasn't there. My sister-in-law said it was still at the mechanic. This is almost TWO weeks the car has been at the mechanic. I couldn't believe it.

So Monday, my wife takes my sister to pick the thing up and just drive it back to our house. Well, the car is buried in the back of the yard. And it isn't drivable is what the mechanic told them. So I get ready to get the trailer again to go pick it up. I'm basically too late since the place closes at 5:00. My father-in-law calls the guy and finds out that it is not drivable because the head is still off. We're going to have to push it onto a trailer.

Damn, why is this so painful?

Bad news:
1. I still don't have the car.
2. Unless my sister heard wrong, the guy is charging ~$200 to just LOOK at the car. I'll see what else he did once I actually get it. But $200 to take the head off and not do anything else? And this is supposed to be a "good guy" giving him a "good deal". Sounds to me like he's giving it to him all right.
3. No one seems to be able to tell me what year the car really is. I thought I remember it being an '85. My sister-in-law thinks it's either an '87 or an '89.

Catch-22:
1. I don't have to pull the head off myself. But I don't get to see where everything goes either.

Good news:
1. I'm still getting the car.
2. I'll have it by this weekend.
3. I'll have a list of things that are wrong with it from a Volvo mechanic.

Questions:
1. Is there any way to tell by looks what year it really is? I know I'll be able to see when I get the title and all that, but I'm just curious as to year-to-year differences. It has the 4 headlights and two lower fog lights (or had rather).
2. Also, what turbo did the car come with? I've heard Garrett, but what model Garrett? Obviously, I'd like the different turbos for different years (85-89) if possible.
3. Also, other than it's a turbo charged 4-cylinder, I know nothing about this engine. What size is it? How many horsepower and torque? The turbobrick.org site says 1985-1989 740 Turbo - B200ET, B230ET, B230FT for the engines. It also has a chart for the different power outputs for these engines. The way I read it, I could have any one of 3 engines and 3 different hp/torque ratings. What's the easiest way to tell?
4. I bought the Haynes manual for the "740 & 760 Series all models '82 thru '88". Is there a factory service manual available?
5. They had a used transmission (automatic) installed not that long ago. Where should I look for the actual tranny type? What kind of lifespan can you expect out of the different trannies?
6. Finally, I'm going to be needing parts and info on the best part suppliers. Who have you used that you would recommend? And are there any parts that I should be buying Volvo only? (i.e. For my Z, almost any electrical or sensor part it is almost a requirement to go factory. Autozone, etc. stuff doesn't last very long.)

The car looks exactly like the attached file (if it works) I found in the image gallery. Man, this is turning into a real nightmare just to get the car. Hope its smoother sailing after I finally get it home.
--
Turbo Brick owner in training.