Volvo: 1986 740 wont run, air flow sensor, tow truck driver

Question
I recently inherited my Mother's 1986 Volvo. I drove it from Orlando to Birmingham and then it died. I put about 2500 into it...the wife still brings that up...and it ran for about a month. Then one morning I was driving to work and it started running rough and then died. I let it sit for about ten minutes and it started and ran rough for a couple of minutes and died again. The tow truck driver thought it might be the air flow sensor? I'm at a loss and need some guidance before more money goes into it....Thanks! I plan to keep it and completely restore it slowly, but need a driver now.

Answer
Robert,
Best thing here is to let someone that knows these cars have a look and do some tests. Do you have fuel pressure? What is the pressure? Is the in tank pump working? Will the pumps even work? Yes the MAF sensor will make the car die as you described, and the best way to see  if that is at fault is try a known good one. That is something most Volvo shops have at hand to use as testers. Sorry no short and sweet answer, a lot of testing will be required. The older Volvo does not have any diagnostics codes that can be read. It is testing and trial and error.