Bloomington Gold vs. Top Flight

[Jim F.]

I have achieved Top Flight twice on my 1970 Corvette at NCRS Regional events. Would like to try Bloominton Gold. Is there a book/manual to help prepare your car for Bloomington Gold like the NCRS judging manual prepares you for Top Flight? If your car Top Flights twice at regional events, can you safely assume you are ready for Bloominton Gold? Thanks for the help.

Jim Fox

[Dick W.]

Re: Bloomington Gold vs. Top Flight

Jim, first off let me break down assume, ass/u/me. Now with that outta the way........

BG does not publish any manuals, etc per se. But.....if you will look closely, you usually see the same judges at both events. If you have a car that is a high scoring Top Flight, you should be OK, remember ass/u/me though. If your cars is low scoring, it is anyone's guess.

[Kenneth B.]

Re: Bloomington Gold vs. Top Flight

I have achieved Top Flight twice on my 1970 Corvette at NCRS Regional events. Would like to try Bloominton Gold. Is there a book/manual to help prepare your car for Bloomington Gold like the NCRS judging manual prepares you for Top Flight? If your car Top Flights twice at regional events, can you safely assume you are ready for Bloominton Gold? Thanks for the help.

Jim Fox

JIM
Do nothing else. Take the Corvette & you will do fine. You will find that there a lot of the same judges at BG as in NCRS. Most of the standeres are the same. GOOD LUCK Make sure to get your entry in & hope you get a place. Years ago there were more enterys than spots.
KEN

[Jim F.]

Re: Bloomington Gold vs. Top Flight

Thanks for info. How can I find out what the differences are between what judges look for in TF vs BG?

JIm

[Kenneth B.]

Re: Bloomington Gold vs. Top Flight

Thanks for info. How can I find out what the differences are between what judges look for in TF vs BG?

JIm

JIM
NONE! As stated above most are the same judges. I have not had a car judged at BG in a while (3 Corvettes starting in 82 ) but I would say that it is the luck of the draw what each judge deems ORIGINAL. It either one you sort of have to have a open mind. You know what your 70 is & let the chips fall where they may. Remember this is supposed to be fun. LOL
KEN

[Terry M.]

Re: Bloomington Gold vs. Top Flight

Jim,

Bloomington Gold offers their "Judging Advisories" to interested individuals. They used to be on their web site -- bloomingtongold.com. I haven't looked in a while, and I have reason to believe they have recently been updated, so you may have to contact them and ask for them. All that will be on their web site.

All that said these are not judging manuals like NCRS publishes. They are a description of the general things that BG judges look for. If you have had your car judged several times at NCRS events I think the concept will be familiar to you. As others have told you, if you go to St. Charles (Illinois that is) you will probably see some familiar faces, and some not so familiar faces.

[Brian M.]

Re: Bloomington Gold vs. Top Flight

FYI BG looks for a window sticker, not sure what else.

[William B.]

Re: Bloomington Gold vs. Top Flight

NCRS top flight possible with restamped or no stamp on engine. BG restamp = silver, no gold.

[Dick W.]

Re: Bloomington Gold vs. Top Flight

NCRS top flight possible with restamped or no stamp on engine. BG restamp = silver, no gold.

IF detected at BG. Quite a few slip thru

[Tracy C.]

Re: Bloomington Gold vs. Top Flight

Are there points awarded at BG for both originality and condition? Can someone provide a brief summary of the scoring process?

tc

[John K.]

Re: Bloomington Gold vs. Top Flight

Try looking here

https://www.bloomingtongold.com/index.php

[Patrick H.]

Re: Bloomington Gold vs. Top Flight

Here is a pdf of the guidelines:

https://www.bloomingtongold.com/documents/BlmGold_CertGuidelines001.indd.pdf

Knowing the rules, and the differences from NCRS, can be very helpful.
Contact Laurie Beyer and she will e-mail you a copy of the judging sheets. Use it to evaluate your Corvette and see how you think it will score.

Patrick

[Jack H.]

Re: Bloomington Gold vs. Top Flight

Bloomington's rules, while very similar to NCRS, ARE slightly different and that's covered in general by their Advisory publication. NCRS looks for the car to be configured as originally built and delivered to the original owner repleat with then current dealer prep.

Bloomington looks for the car to be configured as it was originally built/shipped from Chevrolet. They grant some set asides (e.g. wheel covers can be mounted instead of inside the car in their factory original boxes), but they'll be looking for a few items that NCRS generally ignores (e.g. the window sticker properly affixed as it was when shipped from St. Louis/Bowling Green).

These handful of items influenced by traditional dealer prep are, in general, a place where NCRS experienced folks tend to lose points. But, once you get the hang of the BG system, it's pretty straight forward!

I'd say once you've got a ticket to ride at Bloomington, go face to face with an owner who's experienced both judging systems and query him. Also, go to their web site and discover the available literature (Advisory, Score Sheet) that you can request they send you for your review BEFORE you put your car on the judging field...

[Richard L.]

Re: Bloomington Gold vs. Top Flight

FYI BG looks for a window sticker, not sure what else.

Brian is pretty much spot on...

When my '65 Top Flighted in January 2005, I put the car in storage and pulled it out in June and took it to BG...Got a window sticker in the interim and stuck it on the widnow...The car was awarded a BG award...

If you've got a TF car I think you want have a pretty good chance of satisfying the BG rules and requirements...

As others have said, you'll see many of the same judging faces at both events...

Rick