Just bought a pretty gorgeous red 740 wagon because I wanted to start working on my own cars and I've heard the rwd 200/700/900 are fixer friendly and just great cars. The question is which repair manual covers the 700's the best?

 

The Haynes book is ok. Has some torque values and steps.

Check around here:
Expanded Index FAQ 700-900 Series Volvos of Brickboard.com (unofficial draft version)

 

Just go on line and input "volvo 700 factory service manuals" and you'll see a whole bunch come up. The factory manuals come in different groups so pick up the ones on engine , transmission , brakes , emission , electrical , gauges , fuel system and whatever else you want.

 

the VCOA (Volvo Club of America) sells a DVD for each major model series (2xx, 7xx, 9xx, etc), which has ALL hte 'greenbook' factory service documentation.

its mildly annoying in that the docs are quite heavily copy protected so you have to use their viewer program, can't screen capture them, can only print one page at a time, but having the 'real' doc is priceless. I find the wiring diagrams, which are different each year, to be particularlly useful (I dont have the 7xx book, just the 240 and 940 series)
Multimedia : Volvo 740, 760, 780 Models 1982-1992


also, this FAQ site is priceless, and covers nearly everything
Volvo Maintenance Hints for 700 900 S90 V90 Models

 

I wouldn't buy any book. All the info is on the net. If you just Google your area of concern you will get all the answers the world has collected. This goes pretty much for any car, or thing, today. Haynes, Chiltons, and such are definitely garbage.

 

IF you can get your hands on the correct year actual greenbook for your wiring diagrams, by all means. many of the problems in these old cars are electrical in nature. if you understand basic electronics, having the accurate wiring diagram is priceless