SOLVED...hopefully.
So back in September I posted a non start issue on the first attempt. The discussion led to the fuel pressure regulator as a possible cause so I purchased an inexpensive one to see if indeed that was the problem. Well it was not and I did not bother at all to reinstall the 30 year old original that I took off and I stored it in the trunk since then.
I still need to purchase the one intank fuel pump ( regina ) with the built in check valve , another on the to do list as I am confident that the check valve is faulty. Anyhow I thought to myself , after exhausting all possible solutions , what if the new fpr is faulty? So I reinstalled the old one and surprise surprise !! no more stuttering occurred. Man do I feel good at this point BUT then after a few minutes the idle got rough so I disconnected the vacuum line to the fpr and there it was ...fuel coming out , the tell tale sign of a broken diaphragm. So I will order one and call it a day ...hopefully. The volvo one super expensive..like 150 bucks the delphi is just under 100 both at fcpeuro...any recommendations?