What are my chances?

[Ross F.]

Ok,
i am finished with my 75 roadster.
I want to get it judged. I earned a top flight with my 72 LT-1, so I kinda know the deal.
But..... On my 75, I wavered. Werner talked me into a great paint job, and it is outstanding. It's the right color, but no 75 ever came out of the factory looking like this.
When I bought the car, it was a mess. Motor correct, but tired, it had side exhausts at some point. So now, the numbers are right, but the motor is a stealth 383 with a correct 74 exhaust configuration.
I paid close attention to everything else.
Should I get it judged? Or am I losing too many points?

[Patrick H.]

Re: What are my chances?

You know how it goes - download the judging sheets and run the numbers yourself. Odds are you'll be harder on it than the judges. See where you end up, and determine if you then think it's worth having judged at a meet.

Having said that, getting a Top Flight with the paint deduction plus exhaust deduction will be a challenge.
Let us know your points when you're done self-judging.

[Pete B.]

Re: What are my chances?

I would bring it out to a chapter judging meet. This will get you a baseline of where you are at. You may be surprised that it does better than you thought. We tend to be critical of things that are so so, and as it turns out it wasn't that bad.

You will get a list of things you can improve on. This is hobby of progress, you then will know how it did instead of just doing all that work and wondering...

Pete

[Patrick H.]

Re: What are my chances?

I would bring it out to a chapter judging meet.
Pete

Yeah, but if he brings it to the Chapter meet then he has me as a judge.

If you've heard any of my talks to the Chapter you know that one of my main points is that the owner should know their car better than the judge. That's why I recommend going over the whole car yourself and pre-judging it to see where you expect to find issues.

[Michael J.]

Re: What are my chances?

My philosophy is to make sure you know much, much more about your car than any judge does when they judge it.

[Mark E.]

Re: What are my chances?

Be sure to address the simple stuff. For example, shouldn't the tips of the bumperettes be black?

[Peter G.]

Re: What are my chances?

My philosophy is to make sure you know much, much more about your car than any judge does when they judge it.

OK Michael and Patrick.....Not sure I follow your line of thinking here? Owner to know about their car than the judge? I would think that could only happen if the owner was the owner and a active NCRS Judge. As a judge you see so many many more cars than just yours! It would be great if owners did know their car and more important how to operate it for the Operations Judging, but we all know that just isn't the case. Some of these cars are driven so infrequently and even some cars not driven by owners simply owned for an investment. I can only believe that you like myself believe that the more the owner is familiar with their car the better they can review the judging sheets with the judges after the judging and take any nesscessary actions with Team Leaders in appeals.

[Peter G.]

Re: What are my chances?

Ross..bring the car out. We will do all we can to help you get your car to where you want it to be.

I promise.

[Michael J.]

Re: What are my chances?

Let me explain with some actual examples I have from judging over the last 5-6 years. No, I am not even a 100 pt. judge yet, but I do read the TIM&JG cover to cover, and I have inspected and built my cars thoroughly enough to know what is TFP and what is not or questionable. A judge at the National said my shocks on my '64 did not have the Plia-cell marks and dates. I know they did, since I put them on, so I called him on it and had him go back and look. A judge said my '64 should have a black T-strap tying the gas overflow hose to the rear bumper support, I said no, it is white (as the TIM&JG clearly states), and said I should have an ASI logo on the right side of the windshield part way down showing the tint line, I said no, it is an untinted windshield and the ASI logo is on the bottom right where the LOF logo is, things like that you learn from reading the manual and knowing your car. The more you inspect your car with the TIM&JG, the more you know and can correct the judge when they get it wrong.

[Ross F.]

Re: What are my chances?

I will bring it to the first judging event in Michigan this spring. I just got it back from Werner and I have been going over it with the judging guide in hand.
As for knowing the car, as is the case with many, I know every nut and bolt. I found tank sticker remains, carpet manufacturer tags, and assembly marks. All of which I have carefully documented. I have bled, sweated, and cursed on every single part.

[Michael J.]

Re: What are my chances?

Excellent! That's the ticket!

[Peter G.]

Re: What are my chances?

Michael...I understand where your at with your '64 however I thought we were disscussing a 1975 or C3 car judging. I do get complaints about judging cars, but they are mostly with C2 cars for some unknown reason. I have had one C2 (1967 that I restored from a project car back in 1978), but my expretise is in C3's or '70's Corvettes and other GM muscle cars. I don't hear of many complaints for my team, but I am sure there are some because we are all human and volunteers. We all continue to learn both judges and owners. Thanks for your comments.

[Ross F.]

Re: What are my chances?

Oh, the bumper, yes they are black, these pics show it

[Michael J.]

Re: What are my chances?

I also have an '81, but the idea of knowing your car better than the judge that judges it is a universal idea I think. Otherwise, you are at a disadvantage when a judge marks something down and you do not know if he is right or wrong. You need to know your car and the TIM&JG well, no matter what generation you are putting into judging. I don't know much about C3 judging in general yet, but I should soon as I take my '81 through judging over the next couple of years, I would be surprised if it is drastically different than C2s however.

[Patrick H.]

Re: What are my chances?

I also have an '81, but the idea of knowing your car better than the judge that judges it is a universal idea I think. Otherwise, you are at a disadvantage when a judge marks something down and you do not know if he is right or wrong. You need to know your car and the TIM&JG well, no matter what generation you are putting into judging.

Amen.

Also review the standard deductions and most of the rules pertaining to judging as spelled out in the Judging Reference Manual.

Ideally there should be no "surprise" deductions on the day of the judging event.
And, as Michael has pointed out, you should know the car and JG well enough to be able to politely challenge the judges when needed.