Very informative thread. Thanks everyone.

 

Well, she's up and running. Though,I should say, some dumb mistakes did cost me hours (I put the seal on wrong for the copper pipe out of the water pump etc). But, all in all, a careful-minded individual should be able to do their timing belt no problem. I have minimal experience in repairs and I got the timing right (though I was compulsively meticulous about that) and despite pissing come antifreeze and having to go back in and redo parts of the water pump, it really was all simple.

I have two pieces of advice here:

1) If you just bought a used brick, no matter what the previous owner says, just take a weekend and do the pump, coolant, thermostat, oil and filter, fuel filter, tensioner and timing belt right off. I would have saved myself time and money if I did it before it went. Point is I bought over-priced parts and had to pay for towing because I couldn't buy them cheaper as an ordered item given my time constraints. Also, take it to a volvo shop (preferably) and put down the money (100-200 bucks max) for a full tune up. Just, factor it in the cost and dont wind up like me.

2) I didn't use the tool because I simply did not have weeks to wait for it to ship, but for the love of god, if it at all possible, carve hours of back pain and potential damage out of the job and get the goddam tool like everybody says. The thing should come stock in the rear compartment. Just, go order it now, so it will be there when you need it.

Other than that, between this forum, google and a haynes manual, all you need is some basic tools. So get out there and DIY! Thank you again everybody. I hope to be able to help someone here like you helped me.