Welcome to the d24-d24t-LT forum!
I know the car and even placed bids on it when it 'ran' on ebay first.
It looks entirely rust-free, although I neverhad the chance/time to see it in person... but I know the previous owner from here. He shared a lot of the challenges he went through with the car during the recent years.
Harry installed a new cylinder head and supposedly adjusted the timing, inj pump, etc.
I think all of those should be re-checked to see if there was something missed or mistakenly misadjusted although he seemed like a very careful, enthusiast guy who really did try for a long time to get it back on the road.
The engine will run but IMHO everything must be set to factory specs, that would be the best and safest starting point for you. Don`t take it to 'modern' mechanics bc most of them have zero idea about these old diesel engines AND they do NOT have the proper (and absolutely mandatory to have) tool for this engine family.
Going forward without the proper tools can and will create big troubles on the road (of getting it back on the road, I mean).
Are you far from NYC?
Great news that you are already here on the forum.
I am glad Harry directed you to this forum, and yes, you will get great help here.
Share a lot about the car and be prepared to take pictures, videos, for the better and faster advice from forumers.
These engines run for hundreds of thousands of miles, if well cared for and set to factory specs, so do not ever even start thinking of giving up on it (engine swap) LOL.
These cars are rare, unique, and have character, fun to drive and they are strong, reliable, once they are set and reliable, they literally do not require much maintenance.
Survivors that run fine are extremely hard to find.
Yours with 79k must be one of the lowest mile d24 cars in the USA.
DEFINITELY worth saving and keeping it all original.
The striped dark blue interior BTW is very rare nowadays and super comfortable, great match to the style and era of these vehicles.
Keep this car in good shape, it deserves the best care.
Standing 10-15 yrs alone will not ruin the engine but running it without replacing crutial belts can, injection pump also needs a lot of attention AND a perfectly fine setting which can not be done without diesel vw/ d24 specific tools.
Welcome to the forum! Congratulations on getting the car for such a great price! Update us with pictures when you have the time!
If you have a YT account, you will find it easy to post links here to your videos. This will help getting the help and will speed things up when you need advice!
Good luck with the new Volvo, great car. A good first car too. My first car was a d24 volvo too, a 1984 Volvo 240 GLE D6 grey sedan with the same interior that yours has but with the manual m46 tranny. That was back in 1996, became a good runner reliable car after it got fixed up. It had about 200.000 kilometers on the odometer. I still have it but it is in very rough shape, as of now it had sat about twenty years, outdoors.
Sweet memories... my dad gave it to me because he bought himself a 1987 760GLE TD sedan with the d24t engine and m46 tranny. Another car he had at the time was a dark brown 1978 244 GLE with the same interior as yours.
The d24 240 remained in the family but had to face a rough tough fate, currently not running due to sitting for that many yrs (as the saying goes: 'it ran fine when parked')...
I got carried away, i`m sorry, but it can serve you with some motivation, maybe.
Are you located far from NYC?