[forgot to put model & year when I posted this last week, and wound up with no advice from the mainstream volvo crowd]

Thanks to all who gave advice about getting Bilstein shocks to fit on a 1974 164e: ground out the holes with a stone on an electrical drill and got them in. Does make a world of difference.

But wonder if I violated the hippocratic oath of old car tinkering, causing more harm than good. 1)when using volvo jack on passenger side, car stayed put and rusted jacking channel began to peel away from from underbody -- please tell me that's not a structural frame member? 2)handling now feels unbalanced: do I need to match Bilsteins on the back? 3) will that entail any more "surprises"? 4) when I'm done, should I get the car realigned?

Thanks again -- this is a great resource