Finally picked pu my '81 244 GL auto. It's a beauty ( well to me anyway ), there's a few small dents, but with only 111,000 kilometres ( about 69,000miles )and serviced by the same guys since day 1. Colour is #86, a steel blue, non metallic ( don't know the correct coour name ). It's the same colour as on the brochure for the 244 of 1981. if you happen to have one lying around, please let me know.
The trip home to Tassie ( I live in Australia )was uneventful, then the final checking for registration.
After looking at this forum and gathering as much info as I could to be assured I would pick up any faults, there was one fault which I didn't find....
The headlamps were working fine, but during the rego check, there was one beam which was pointing a tad skyward. No way could they be adjusted, the adjusting screws could be turned any number of times for no result. Turns out ALL six of the plastic headlamp aim clips were disintegrated, bits of white stuff on the base of the reflector. The only thing holding/adjusting the headlamp beam was the protective bellows on the outside of the reflector and that's only supposed to be keeping water out of the innards !
The Volvo dealer did happen to have 6 in stock, luckily for me. For now it's good to go and purrs beautifully, A few more small itmes to attend to and it will be in perfect working order.
Thanks to the owners who did reply to my request asking what to look for in an older model, greatly appreciated.