Hi all:

I have been given a 1978 264 in fairly good shape. It has only about 100k miles on it and has no noticable body or cosmetic problems. It has had a fair amount of recent mechanical work performed on it, including replacement of most of the fuel system and a new cooling system, so has had some investment put into it recently.

My big question: how to prolong the life of the B27F? I know of all the horror stories and I am willing to put in a fair amount of money to prevent an untimely death. I would think that some sort of synthetic oil would be the way to go, probably an Amsoil product--considering that this car needs all the help it can get. Where I start to get confused is which weight and whether things like by-pass filters are really worth the money. At sweedishbricks.com there are warnings to not use anything less than 15w-40 and the like. The latest service, at a very reputable Volvo dealer, involved 10w-30. I would think that short of racing, 10w-30 or even 0w-30 would be fine for year round. What is going to work best to prolong the life of this car? I am willing to spend probably a few hundred a year on this stuff, considering the other options of a new car or new engine are a whole lot more than I can afford. So do by-pass filters do a lot? And does anyone know where to fit one in a 264? Or just 3,000 mile oil changes even with extended life synthetics?

Thanks in advance.