A few comments.

I've followed most of your posts since you've been here (on the board), and I know this car means a lot to you.

The body is sound, you repaired all the rust, correct?

The way I see it is, anything that goes wrong mechanically can be fixed.

If I were in your place, I'd put an M-46 in your car, or just bolt on an OD to the M-45. I've seen that done a number of times. It screws up the speedo read out however... There is a way to fix that though.

I don't think replacing the M-45 would anger the "Volvo gods". I have a '76 245 DL that came from the factory with an M-46, so Volvo offered the gear box when your '77 was manufactured. I'll bet it was an option when the car was bought.

And if you are at only 100k miles, I'd say you should have a lot of life left in that car. Hell, I'm pushing 435K miles on my '80 245 DL. The difference is that my car has been a daily driver since it left the factory in 1980, and it has (mostly) been taken care of along the way. From the sound of things, your car hasn't been so lucky.

Worst case scenario, you have to yank the engine and trans, and maybe just replace them. I know here in the states, B-21f blocks are pretty easy to come by if you look in the right places (although I'm aware that your engine isn't a B-21f... I know it's a B-21 of some sort at least.)

Anyhow, you have enough experience under your belt that I'll bet you could pull the engine with out too many problems, so long as you've got a buddy along to help. Also, you don't have one of those super heavy autoboxes attached. In fact, you have the shortest tranny of the 3 offered at the time.

Ultimately you'll have to decide if the car is really worth the trouble, but for most of us on these boards, we don't don't work on our cars just to save a few dollars (although that is a prime reason). This is a labor of love for us. Of course I'd love for my wagon to run perfect with out any problems, but I actually enjoy doing the work (to a certain extent... The heater fan was a whole new kind of "fun").

However, if you need a car that will get you from point a to point b, and your van can't do that, it might be time to consider something else

If it wouldn't cost a bundle, I'd be happy to ship you a B-21 block and an M-46 tranny.

Good luck!