66 A/C battery access panel paint/undercoat

[Ian S.]

Hello,

I am a little confused as to exactly how the panel should have blackout and undercoating applied, and if the hardware should be left natural or not. If anyone could outline the correct procedure it would be most appreciated.

Thanks and Happy New Year,

Ian

[Wayne W.]

Re: 66 A/C battery access panel paint/undercoat

This is a hard call because the proceedure appears to change from time to time and may have been different with AOS vs St.Louis. Here is what has been observed. The panel was not on the car before body drop, which means the body had recieved blackout and undercoat before it was installed. This means that the undercoat extends down under the access panel. The panel was installed later. At some time the panel could have recieved another squirt of undercoat on it. Now all of this is relative because some AOS cars especially, had little or no undercoat. Also some AOS cars were converted on the line to AC bodies when needed, so that is another twist. The panel was most likely painted on those cars with white fiberglass such as 65s, but by 67 seem to be unpainted with the black fiberglass. So what to do? I would black and undercoat the innerfender first, then install the panel and shoot some undercoat on the panel. If it has light color glass you probably would want to black out the panel.

[Joe R.]

Re: 66 A/C battery access panel paint/undercoat

Wayne,

Here the other kicker! Nearly every dealer on the face of the earth undercoated every car they purchased. Then they added that dealer prep and undercoating to the price of the car. Hense, extra profit for the dealer for basically nothing but a wash job and 0.50 cents worth of undercoating.

NCRS judges the car as delivered (showroom floor)(dealer prep already done)and not as shipped from St. Louis or we would be showing cars without hubcaps.

NOW, are we trying to answer questions that we have no idea about? Blackout done by several people on several shifts with several hangovers. Undercoating done by St. Louis, AOS and nearly every dealer in the US.

Here's my answer to the question. NCRS judges and policy should be to tread lightly (somehow) on the questions of blackout and undercoating because of the above reasons.

Never and I mean NEVER are there two Corvettes done exactly the same when it relates to blackout and undercoating.

Let's just put this to bed by letting Roy Sinor step up and dictate some policy so owners, restorers and crystal ball gazers can sleep.

Just my 0.02 cents and that's just about all I have to give.

JR

[Robert C.]

Re:What's the problem?

The NCRS judges cars as they left the assembly door in St. Louis! NO dealer options, undercoat, clearcoat etc. The hubcaps came in the car, So you judge them installed.
That's it! It's so simple. No ruling needed.The rule's has been in place on this for many years!

[Wayne W.]

Re:What's the problem?

Makes perfect sense to me. We judge them as it left the factory but we install the hubcaps and license plates.

[Jack H.]

We do NOT judge 'as they left the factory'...

The standard is clearly enumerated in the NCRS Judging Reference Manual, Section 2, Rule 2:

"Cars are to be judged to the standard of vehicle appearance, and as equipped, at the time and point of final assembly by the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Corporation. Presentation for judging is to be in the condition normally associated with that of a Corvette which has undergone the then-current standard Chevrolet Dealer New Car Preprepartion for delivery to a purchaser, exclusive of any dealer or purchaser inspired additions, deletions, or changes."

The car left the factory with virtually NO GAS in tank. We don't deduct during Ops Check for cars having more fuel in them. Later cars left the factory with the window sticker in place, but dealer prep required removal for visibility/safety reasons. There's NO PLACE on our Flight Score Sheets for the window sticker....

The standard is different at NCCB/Bloomington. There, they want to see the car as it would have been viewed on the dealership showroom floor. Close to NCRS but slightly different as the law required the window sticker to be in place, Etc.

[Joe R.]

Re: We do NOT judge 'as they left the factory'...

Jack,

Thank you for that clarification. I had given up! If we judged them like they left the factory it would be a whole new aftermarket business just making the stickers, plastic seat covers, paper floor board covers, etc.

Regards,

JR

[Wayne W.]

Re: We do NOT judge 'as they left the factory'...

Hey, JR, Got any of that white waxy stuff that I can spray over the top of mine?

[Joe R.]

Re: We do NOT judge 'as they left the factory'...

Wayne,

If that's the way you judge them and your car is being judged, I'd be glad to spray it down with that white waxey stuff. I believe that would be soap or some form of soap.

Whatever floats your boat!

Regards,

JR