Briefly, as I shouldn't be procrastinating right now, but after the accident I was involved in last October, word worked it way through the grapevine to me of an 1988 244 DL with about 80k miles sitting in a backyard not far from where I live. I spoke with the owner on the phone back in November about it, but didn't have any time to delve further into it at the time. I swung by the place over the past weekend to take a look at the car and, once I finish up school in a month or two, may take on a semi-project car. Here's the story and my question:

The current owners are the second owners of the car. It's got ~80k miles on the engine, manual transmission, immaculate cloth interior, not a speck of rust that I could see on the body and an engine that doesn't start. It's been sitting a few years since it had a blown head gasket replaced. The gasket went and was replaced at a nearby technical school by an acquaintance of the owners. When they brought it home, it wouldn't start. One thing led to another and it has been sitting in their backyard ever since. It looks as though they started to examine the timing on it, but I can't say how far they got. I didn't have any time to pull the plugs and see if the engine spun freely, though it should, and didn't put a key in the ignition to see what happened due to the unknown status of the battery.

Best case, they didn't set the timing right at the shop and that's all it needs (along with a fluid flush after sitting for the time it has and probably some new rubber)
Worst case, they mucked up the engine somehow when doing the headgasket and destroyed an otherwise robust redblock.
Middling case...? The head wasn't seated properly and doesn't have a good seal? The cam was removed and reinstalled improperly?

Other than trying to secure more information about the head gasket replacement and its aftermath (driven home or towed home?), and finding out whether it turns over at all or not, what other questions am I forgetting to ask/investigate?

The owners seem friendly, and I think that I pulled up in a 245 to begin with didn't hurt my cause. I was regaled with stories of the p1800 they owned at one point (and was promised pictures if I returned), so they seem like good volvo people.

Zach