C 1s P.V. Awards

[Debra P.]

Can anyone give me info on the P.V. Awards, whats the pitfalls ? My car runs great no rattling or sqeeks & everything works. What is such a big deal. If someone has won, I'd like to hear from you & if you lost, I want to hear, from you. I don't want anyone telling me to buy another book.
Thabks,
deb

[Rob M.]

Re: C 1s P.V. Awards

Debra,

Do you still have the radials on the car, this is a pre-req. for the PV!

One of the pitfalls is the working of the carburator (e.g. slow and fast idling when the shoke is off/on).

greetings,
Rob.

[Dick W.]

Re: C 1s P.V. Awards

Debra, the PV Award is the most nerve racking thing that you have ever done. The car must perform as it did new. Everything from the cigar lighter, radio, steering tracking, operation of everything on the car.

Murphy was an optomist. I have seen the best prepared cars fail because of something simple. You have one short repair period for anything that goes wrong. The second failure and you are out until the next time. The team leader will usually allow you to complete the test checking every thing else.

The rate of passing on the first attempt is probably 60-70%. I advise anyone that is going for the PV to have a very knowledgeable Corvetter to help you go through a COMPLETE practice PV at least 3-4 times prior to getting to the meet.

Be sure to study the PV Manual thouroughly prior to the meet. Remember you must have tires that are of the same construction as original, bias ply in your case.

Good luck!! It is very rewarding when your name is called at the awards banquet anouncing that you have passed your PV.

[Gary C.]

Re: C 1s P.V. Awards

Debra

I am preparing a car for PV now. Anything under three attempts will satisfy me.

You did not want to hear it, but there is a PV reference manual for your car and it is worth the money.

Some things that would cause you to fail that you might want to know. Any oil or fluid leaks? All small block chevys more than a few weeks old seem to leak, but you will have to find a way to tighten it up for this test. Windshield washers work properly, same for wipers, if they park on the trim it is no good. Any slack in your door hinge? Hood hinge and latch? Both horns work and sound correct? Radio? Light switch rheostat? Do any of your gauges bounce around or otherwise work less than perfect? Then there is the road test, will your car track straight, how about when the brakes are applied?

And the list goes on and on.

Roy Sinor penned a good review, published in the Restorer, I cannot recall the issue but it is easy to find if you have the CD. It detailed the most common "mistakes"

I am told a good question would be "would I have accepted this when taking new car delivery?"

Good luck!

[Debra P.]

Re: C 1s P.V. Awards

O.K. O.K. I'll buy the manual, sheesh ! Hey, Thanks you guys. I think people get too freaked out. My car does all these things fine. I drive it all the time. Yes, I will put the B.F.Goodrich Bias tires back on. I think people have trouble because they take the body off to restore a car. I would NEVER take the body off. I had a 55 T-Bird (WHAT JUNK) when I was a kid, the striker plate on the door drove me nuts. This car I just bought in September & I just turned 67,000 miles going to Sedona for brunch. My first long trip & that puppie just hummed. It doesn't leak anything & I just put a race deckfloor in my garage. It has no sqeaks or rattles. I think I better P.V. test it before it starts to come apart while I drive it all the time.(LOL) If it doesn't rain, I will drive it to Tucson on Saturday to go to the Franklin museum, I'll let Ralph take her for a ride. Hitting the brakes at 35 she slid straight with Howard from Mesa testing it for me, no hands on the steering wheel. When my mechanic called me to pick her up after I got the car tuned, & changed the oil. I made sure I told him to use a whip when he road tested her. When he called, the first thing he said was, "I am impressed" ! I was so happy I got a great car. If it wins, it wins. I'm sure I would be very happy that it would pass PV, but my mechanic telling me he was impressed, now that impressed me. See you in Utah & make sure you all come & say hello. I can hardly wait to meet all the faces I talk to on this board. I am very excited about going.
Cheers & Thanks for all your input,
Deb

[John M.]

Re: C 1s P.V. Awards

Debra,
As others have stated, this the judging from hell! Every little thing must work EXACTLY as it did when new! The sheer volume of items that can fail your car is incredible. Unfortunately, there are also a few gotcha's that are not documented in the manual that will come back to haunt you. I prepared my car for over a month, took several dry runs with it, and still ended up having to make a repair to pass on the day of the PV. The big difference between flight judging and the PV, is that there is no wining score. You either pass 100% or you fail. I have known people who have had to make 3 or more tries before they succeded due to old Murphy getting involved. I had a friend who presented his 58 for PV, and it picked that particular day for one of his high beams to burn out! I learned from his mistake and replaced every bulb on the car with brand new ones, pulled out my correct battery and replaced it with a brand new Optima, and put a brand new regulator on. The last thing you need is for an old, original part to fail after you have hauled you car a thousand miles to PV it. I am sure that no one in their right mind would submit a car for PV if it was not required to get a Duntov award!LOL

Regards, John McGraw

[Reba Whittington]

Re: C 1s P.V. Awards

Debra, you are fortunate that you are preparing a C1. Do you know how many more things (such as the vacuum-operated headlights and wiper door, stereo radio, air conditioning, t. i. ignition, etc.) can go wrong with C3s?

[Rob M.]

Re: C 1s P.V. Awards

Debra,

I made a mistake here, I meant you need to have the original type tires (so no radials!!!)

greetings,
Rob.

[Al S.]

Re: C 1s P.V. Awards

Debra,
My wife and I have successfully P.V.'d three c1's. First two passed on the first attempt. The last one took 4 attempts-#1 cigar lighter and then the bulb on the lighter after repair.-#2 A drop or two of oil under the car after the test.- #3 rev counter on the tach locked up about half way thru the test.
The very short answer is- drive it, drive it, drive it and perform the test again and again or just be lucky.
Al Schwacke