66- L-36 query, horn, judging, plastic cover

[Keith B.]

Couple of questions folks: Wanting to get my mostly unrestored 66 judged this July in WA state and just want to confirm a few things:

- Upon engine inspection I gather the air cleaner, chrome ignition shielding, dist cap is exposed?? I have a hotter pertronics coil and electronic set-up in the dist now and sense that I must go back to my Delco Remy and points/condenser. Anything else in the engine bay removed for judging??

- My right side Delco Remy horn has quit. Power going to that side but no audible noise from horn. Left side works great. These units appear very well sealed and do not appear fixable?? Can they be repaired and if so WHOM do you recommend for this or is it something an amateur can do??

- Under my ignition shielding lid is the factory plastic insulator piece.....I cleaned mine up when I had both pieces re-chromed and now it has come off. They appears to be a brownish, hard gluey residue there.....What does one use to stick the plastic back in place to the underside of the lid??

-If I have 4 Western repro K.O's on my car with non-oem radial tires, and my spare still has the KH steel wheel with the factory bias-ply OM tire, can I leave it there or should I buy another KO wheel and cone for the spare hub. I have all 5 factory steel wheels, no 2nd set of tires, except spare, and no hub-caps (stolen).

Thank-you.

[Kevin M.]

Re: 66- L-36 query, horn, judging, plastic cover

Keith,

Change coil, plastic under the top shield has a plastic rivet that holds it, don't know where you get new ones, you can leave your spare alone. You should mount your factory wheels because the repops will get a deduct, but since you don't have the caps, repop caps and rings will recieve about the same hit as your bolt on's up to you. Horn repair expensive someone will have the name shortly, or search the archives for horn repair.

Kevin

[Jack H.]

Re: 66- L-36 query, horn, judging, plastic cover

(1) It's typical for the owner to remove the air cleaner and upper ignition shielding so judges gaing visible access to the carb, distributor/cap, and ignition coil. If you don't have the factory original Delco Remy coil installed and the distributor shows evidence of the installation of a solid state ignition system, expect point deduction(s) as appropriate to the extent your car's configuration deviates from factory stock along the lines of Finish, Date, Installation, Configuration and Completeness for those components that are non-stock...

(2) On removal of other parts, judges have the right to request owners to remove items as necessary to inspect for factory originality. But, they won't be asking you to engage in disassembly 'heroics' (like pulling valve covers) or items that would be destructive to the car. Some common requests are removal of the radiator cap IF the engine is cold, removal of the gas cap, Etc.

(3) If you have an inoperative horn, expect a deduction during the car's Operations Check sequence. Sometimes horn problems are as simple as getting a good solid electrical ground where the horn mounts. Test by removing the faulty horn and applying power/ground to it directly.

Often, age takes its toll and it's a matter of having the horn(s) professionally rebuilt. They CAN be disassembled, repaired, and reassembled, but it's not typically a 'cheap' fix... Various restoration services are published in Driveline magazine's 'Services' section...

(4) The insulator was originally installed to the underside of ignition shield using ordinary glue (same as that used to attach weatherstripping). An adhesive that's 'close' is 3M's weatherstrip adhesive available at any auto parts store (yellow vs. black version). One that's dead nuts on to the factory original color/hue is Pliobond (fire up your Google search engine).

(5) On KO vs standard steel wheels + covers, judges will expect the car to be shown as it was originally configured from the factory. Cars equipped with optional KO wheels had a unique jacking instruction label and the wheels should agree with the jacking instructions.

If judges determine there are dealer/owner 'inspired' changes to the car's factory original configuration, then full scoring deductions are applied to the items affected. That means all five wheels on your car should match.

Also, the Western version of the KO was never a factory original component (original KO wheels were Kelsey Hayes supplied) and the use of aftermarket KO wheels to 'restore' a factory originally equipped KO car will result in SIGNIFICANT scoring deductions as indicated in the Judging Guide (typically a 90% loss on originality points!).

So, if your car was NOT factory built as a KO vehicle, your best bet for judging results is to re-install its original steel wheels and wheel covers for the judging meet...

[Kevin M.]

Re: 66- L-36 query, horn, judging, plastic cover

Keith

The spare is judged seperatly as far the tire, if you go back to steel rims leave that original spare tire on it's rim the judges love originals.

Kevin

[Tim B.]

Re: 66- L-36 query, horn, judging, plastic cover

Hi Jack,

How do you know how your car really came from the factory if you are the umpteenth owner, and have little or no documentation? My car (1966) has repro knock-offs, but the knock-off jacking instructions, card and lead hammer are there. Are they reproductions too? Not sure. If I want to have the car judged, what should I do?

Thanks