I did rebuilt the front end on my 1990 245 last year. I went with Volvo parts to include strut inserts and top strut mounts.They were stamped Monroe and Volvo, so far no problems.
Knowing what I know now, I would go ahead and replace the top strut mounts using Volvo Blue Box only. Oh! You might inspect the gland nuts, the PO on mine had some no name inserts installed and the installers used the gland nuts that were square. Additionally, the installer of the no name strut inserts used thread locker on the top strut nuts, the blue tipped wrench had to be employed for that. I had to use a pipe wrench to remove the aftermarket gland nuts. I replaced them with OEM's. I bought my Talon wrench on Ebay, it worked well. Art has a tutorial on his website for strut replacement IIRC.
It is a job for sure, but doable.
Good Luck.
Fred
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