Time for an update..
Been unable to do anything on the 145 the last 2 and a bit weeks due to a bad bout of Sciatica. Geezers - Painful! Never felt anything like it. Haven't been able go to work either. Now on the mend, I'm hoping to get back to those rear calipers this weekend.
Last I left it the 145 the rear pads were taken out and I rolled it into the garage. It was so light and easy to roll by myself. A very good sign I'm onto the problem. Will try to free the calipers up without popping them out all the way as only interested in a quick fix for now. An old toothbrush, ajax, spirits, clamps and left over PBR grease should hopefully do the job. Will keep you posted.
Here is where he's been sitting safe and sound..
And so with being house bound and unable to move I ended up saving up some of my weekly pocket money. What better way is there to reward Sciatica recovery than buying badges for your Volvo.
As this 145 and previous 1 owner were members of RAC of Victoria (evident by the 2 stickers on rear left window), I thought it would be fitting to find a period correct 'VIC' stamped RAC brass badge for the grille. The more Patina the better. I found one and had an intense ebay auction bidding war and won!
The battle for the badge started to rev up with 10 min to go. It was sitting at around $23 at this stage. I bumped it up to $42 and at the 9 min mark I was outbid and was now at $43. I kept my cool and came up with a plan and a random figure of putting $188 on at the 48 second mark. So I watched the timer until it got down to 48 seconds to go and I thought I would hold out a little longer giving the challenger less of a window to counter my bid. I waited til 28 seconds and entered $188 and 'confirm'.. well well well.. I could see the challenger's bidding going crazy.. $50-something, $70-something, $90-something, then as the time ran out he put on $102-something and he was out of time. Bang, I scored it for $103.50 . It was an exciting battle and left me shaking nervous and excited for 10 minutes afterwards. What a buzz!
And here it is:
And to keep with the tradition I found a 'TAS' stamped one with a 'Buy it now' option and scored this for $60. I doubt there are many of these about. Here it is:
And while I was in the spending spree mood I bought a new Sweden badge for just under $30:
I'm thinking of having two grilles now. One with badges to take to car shows and where the car will be nearby to prevent the theft of these. And a driving grille so i can leave it places and not stress about the badges getting pinched.
