As I do the last preparations on my 59 for it's first juding event I would like to get some help with a question BEFORE I hit the judging field. As I completely dissambled the 59 I was lucky enough and the car hadn't been terribly disturbed mechanically and was able to replace most bolts with identical head marks or use the originals. But most of the upper part of the car had been apart at one time and with the help of the judging manual put the car together as correctly as the manual guides. On to the question...Are bolt heads that aren't mentioned in the judging manual judged. If they are then why? And if they are judged, doesn't this drift into subjective judging instead of objective judging. As a novice restorer but a died in the wool Felix these questions could send me to the sanatarium at which point my wife would sell the car to pay the psychiatry bills. This question is actually bigger than bolt heads but I'll start here. I've been reading the judging chairmans column for years in the restorer and haven't noted 100% support of the judging manual as the last word.
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Re: Bolt head marking judging
Jeff, let me take a 'stab' here. NCRS intentionally changed the official name of these books two years back. They were call Judging Manuals, now they're called Technical Information Manual and Judging Guides. Why?
The book simply supplements the judge's personal knowledge and catalogs the most commonly agreed on information to help novice owners and judges alike achieve 'factory original' appearance conditions. We are still learning about these cars and new info 'pops' up all the time....
So, the basis of our hobby/sport, is akin to hitting a moving target. Some think this is unfair, but that's the real world. A Corvette that was restored and took top honors, say, ten years ago might garner a few deducts today simply because our knowledge has progressed. As I write, a new '58-60 JG book is in 'pilot' form ready for release....
So, it's not a question of what is 'correct' -- this is a moving target and probably always will be. Don't get discouraged. Small things can be changed, and you just might find that some items that are correct and legitimate take deductions now and then based on judge's misinfo. Hey, we're all members of the club and all human. Doesn't matter whether you're an owner or a judge, humanity has its shortcommings. -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, headmarks on fastners, like surface coating, IS judged. The JG books 'try' to document known original fastner configuration, but there will always be a new twist here/there. GM had multiple fastner vendors, fastners were typically kept in common bins, some inter-mix DID occur, some judges are harder than others in their knowledge here. Last, there are differences in head markings on the SAME fastener from the SAME supplier, made at different points in time. Tooling wore out and was replaced. Tooling was 'improved'. So, this is one of those aspects of our hobby that parallels an artform vs. a science.... -
Re: Bolt head marking judging
Jeff, let me take a 'stab' here. NCRS intentionally changed the official name of these books two years back. They were call Judging Manuals, now they're called Technical Information Manual and Judging Guides. Why?
The book simply supplements the judge's personal knowledge and catalogs the most commonly agreed on information to help novice owners and judges alike achieve 'factory original' appearance conditions. We are still learning about these cars and new info 'pops' up all the time....
So, the basis of our hobby/sport, is akin to hitting a moving target. Some think this is unfair, but that's the real world. A Corvette that was restored and took top honors, say, ten years ago might garner a few deducts today simply because our knowledge has progressed. As I write, a new '58-60 JG book is in 'pilot' form ready for release....
So, it's not a question of what is 'correct' -- this is a moving target and probably always will be. Don't get discouraged. Small things can be changed, and you just might find that some items that are correct and legitimate take deductions now and then based on judge's misinfo. Hey, we're all members of the club and all human. Doesn't matter whether you're an owner or a judge, humanity has its shortcommings. -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, headmarks on fastners, like surface coating, IS judged. The JG books 'try' to document known original fastner configuration, but there will always be a new twist here/there. GM had multiple fastner vendors, fastners were typically kept in common bins, some inter-mix DID occur, some judges are harder than others in their knowledge here. Last, there are differences in head markings on the SAME fastener from the SAME supplier, made at different points in time. Tooling wore out and was replaced. Tooling was 'improved'. So, this is one of those aspects of our hobby that parallels an artform vs. a science....Comment
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