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About Vila

  • Rank
    Senior Member
  • Birthday 04/11/1950

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  • Gender:
  • Location:
    Mechanicsburg, PA
  • Interests:
    1933 and earlier Chevrolets, all British sports cars, old BMWs, Vespas and home improvements.


  • Biography
    Retired USAF/ANG EC-130 Navigator

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  1. I normally buy cars that are 2 - 4 years old with low milage and in good condition. You can normally save around 50% on a car with a few years on it. Generally you cannot go wrong if you stay away from some of the vehicles know to have issues, and yes there are a few with poor track records. Seems like there are a few vehicles with a history of automatic transmission issues and a few have electrical system problems. I am not a fan of Consumers Report, but I do my own research before buying a car.. The last car I bought was my daily driver 2002 BMW Z3 that got in 2006 or 2007 for $13,500 with 46,000 miles on it, and the car had an original sticker price of $43,000. I now have over 200,000 on this car and it still runs like new.
  2. Contact TCP Global / Auto Color Library to get the paint mixed. There phone number is 858-909-2110 They are very helpful. I called and ordered a 5x7 card of my color first for around $25 before springing for the paint. I did not want to spend big bucks for the paint without knowing it would be the correct color. They mixed an obsolete code for me and it was an exact match to the original paint I found under the dash. It is my understanding the paint color scanners only come up with a code for available modern colors. The color may be close, but usually not an exact match.
  3. If you are taking about modern cars, here is what I do. First, my modern daily drivers are a 2002 and 2003. If I don't plan on driving my car for a week or so, I will start them every three or four days and let the car run for five minutes. At least one of my modern cars tends to run rough for a minute or two after starting if it sits for a week or two so staring it every few days resolves that issue My modern cars also tend to drain the battery after sitting for 2 weeks so starting them every few days will top off the battery charge. I don't do anything special for my antique cars. They can sit in the garage for 4 or 5 months and start right up, except the gas evaporates from the Carburetor on my 1933 Chevrolet and I would need to give it a shot of starting fluid.
  4. I know the TR3 and first two or so years of the TR4 used British Racing Green and at that time there were no triumph color codes. The Triumph version of BRG was a consistent color until the switch. Without looking it up, as I recall they switched to Triumph Racing green around 1963 or 64. There are as many different colors of British Racing Green as there were British car manufacturers. Triumph, Jaguar, MG, etc, etc, etc, each had their own green they called BRG. The Ditzler / PPG British Racing Green code 42487 I had mixed by TCP Global was an exact match to the original paint under the dash of my 1962 TR4.
  5. Please let us know where you end up finding the paint..
  6. I always liked the Saab Sonnet, but I could not fit the wife and 2 kids in one so I drove Saab 2 door hatchbacks from 1975 thru 2008. I owned a 1975 Saab Wagonback (first of the 2 door hatchbacks), 2 1986 900 Turbos (one at a time). and last was a 1992 900 Turbo. The 1992 was the best car I ever owned.
  7. Yes, I bought the paint for my 1962 Triumph TR4 from them a few years ago and the color was a perfect match to original paint found under the dash. I have also purchase paint for my 1964 Vespa scooter and other supplies from them in the past year. They will also mix samples and spray a card, which as I recall cost $25. Seems like a lot for a sample, but you will know you are getting the correct color before putting all the money into paint.
  8. I would contact TCP Global at 858-909-2110
  9. I would rather turn up the heat in the garage when it gets cold outside. My wife calls my antique cars my mistresses. I can go out and play with them all day, but she knows i will always be home before the sun goes down.
  10. If my memory is correct, I believe the wood is Ash.
  11. I agree with the comments on the brakes. I helped my late father-in-law restore a 1924 Chevrolet. The 1923 & 24 Chevrolet Superiors had Quarter elliptic springs, starting in 1925 they had Semi ellipticals.
  12. Job No 8170 identifies the car as a 1928 Chevrolet Coach. A "Coach" is a 2 door car with a back seat.
  13. Yes the Michelin TRX metric sized tires that were used on some BMW, Saab, Ferrari, and Ford models along with several other makes back in the 1980s are still available and the cost has actually gone down over the past few years. The Michelin TRX 220/55VR390 tires used on my 1984 BMW 633 CSi were slightly over $400 each from Coker just a few years ago, and they now has them for $331 each.
  14. Computer programmers are like people that design forms. Then never fully test the final product and wait for someone to complain before fixing anything. I hate it when you need to fill out a form for whatever reason and the blocks are not large enough to enter the information. I designed numerous forms for flying years ago in the USAF and the rule was design a draft version, fill it out to see if the blocks are large enough, make changes as necessary, test it again and make changes until you get it correct, then go final. I always renew when my AACA account is still active in December and have never had a problem renewing online.
  15. I am about to turn 70 and would like to keep Ignition keys, CD players, window winders. I normally buy daily driver cars with 40k to 50k miles and drive them until they die at 250 to 300k + miles. Normally I replace at least one window motor somewhere around 150k miles. I never had to replace a wind up window mechanism. Sometimes i like to play a selection I have on CD while driving. Ignition keys, just because.