What's the difference in the pads for the front disc brakes, if any, between girling and non-girling?

 

Volvo used several caliper makes back then, Girling being one of them, and there are variations when it comes to brake hardware. I have run into problems before ordering by year and model alone. You have to make sure the pads fit the caliper you have--good parts supplier will specify. Hard to answer your question exactly but this should suffice.

 

my 88 had non girling, they float on pins ,with the cylinder on just one side. in my case the holes that the pins move on had worn and they rattled when i went over bumps. some of the rebuilt ones also had worn holes. if you have that type, check the pin holes. you can replace the pins. it wasnt dangerous, but annoying

on girling they probably have one piston on one side, two smaller pistons opposing it on the other side so they don't need to float to equalize the pressure on the disk.

maybe there are others , pads are completely different. on the non girling ones they might sort of pivot to remove.

the girling pads in my 89 240 are rectangular but the ones in my 88 740 are different