All,


Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

I have been offered a wonderful opportunity to purchase a fabulous 240 - yesterday I was given the chance to buy a 1984 244 GL sedan, AW70 automatic, with every option except leather. It is a one-owner car that the owners ordered in early 1984 and purchased in May of that year. The car has 189k miles.

I know the owner very well - he happens to be my Volvo mechanic of many years.

My mechanic is selling the 244 GL because he is getting older and would like to reduce his fleet little by little. So, while I was at the shop yesterday, he asked me if I would like to buy this '84 car. I said why not - I'd been after it ever since I've known him and I figured, this would be a good addition to my collection, as I tend to only purchase Volvos if they have been owned by the original owner.

Now here's the bad part - the car has been sitting for almost 12 years inside his garage. He does start it up once a year to keep everything lubricated and what-not, but I do know that it's going to need a whole bunch of stuff before I put it back on the road. I'll need some advice. Besides the obvious needs, like timing belt, water pump and spark plugs, should I replace the valve cover gasket and adjust the valves? Also, do you recommend I replace the radiator hoses, flush the transmission fluid, and bleed the brakes? I would like to do everything at once and have that peace of mind before I take possession.