I had never been able to crank start the Volvo, cranking with my right and reaching over the flywheel with my left as the PO did. This was a suggestion that I followed up on and it worked great. Mount a small block on the starboard engine "room" wall even with the decompression lever but lower. Tape a bit of wire to the lever and bend it up so that it will hold loop tied in a length of cord high on the lever. Loop the cord over the lever, run the cord through the block and back into the cabin, where I wrap it over my heel. Put the loop on the lever, turn the key to "on", crank with both hands. . . then sit back on your heel. The lever drops and the cord, crank and hands all pull back away from the running engine.
Craig