Pad Stamp on 78 Painted?

[Eric J.]

Ok... I just checked the archives on this and they are all over the place on this on. So here I go one more time for the 02/2007 version.

I have a 78 Pace Car that I plan on flight judging this within the year. I have judged it myself and now I am fixing all of the easy points (air filter, oil filter, battery etc) The pad stamp has me stumped....

78-82 Judging sheets 'Mechanical' Part 1. Line E. assign 38 points for anything that obscures the pad stamp (paint, rust, grease etc)

but TIM/JG states under engine stamp pad section it should not be painted. later under engine paint section it states it is painted.

Mine is painted. Should I remove it? or leave it?

If removal is the best solution, what is the best chemical to remove the paint. Should I then respray and wipe (like I did on my older Vettes) to get the paint in the numbers. Once fixed I used to use vasaline to keep it from rusting, is there a better solution?

Thanks for looking.

Eric

[Harmon C.]

Re: Pad Stamp on 78 Painted?

Eric

I would judge your 78 with the pad painted as original and would be happy if you left it alone. Rules for older models in some cases clash with factory original on 78's and when the pad got smaller and was painted. I have given full credit for the 78 pad painted from the time we started judging them at Cypress Gardens in 94 as I recall.

Lyle

[Terry M.]

Re: Pad Stamp on 78 Painted?

I think there is a little more to it that just "Is the pad painted?"
I recall, back when I was 1970-72 team leader, at a regional in Connecticut I was asked my opinion of a painted pad that was being judged by the later C3 team. I don't recall what year the car was, but the engine was blue, and the pad was the smaller version typical of later castings..

The engine assembly characters were filled with blue paint, but the VIN derivative characters were not. My advice to the team doing the judging was that it looked original to me. Reason being that the engine assembly stamp would have been done before the engine assembly was painted, but the VIN derivative would have been stamped at St. Louis -- AFTER the paint process.

[Jack H.]

Re: Pad Stamp on 78 Painted?

Both early Corvettes (straight axle cars prior to 1961) and later models from the Shark era shipped from the factory with stamp pads painted. Since one of the judging aspects of the stamp pad is the visibility/verification of broach marks and careful inspection of stamp font, the NCRS Judging Reference Manual contains the following proviso as Section 2, Rule 23, Engine Identification Stamp Pad:

"In order to afford judges the greatest opportunity to accruately inspect and judge the engine stamp pad surface machine marks, stamped characters and information provided by those characters, owners are specifically asked to present this area free of any paint, (prior to 1976), dirt grease, rust or in any other condition which may obscure the judging process of this item. Owners failing to observe this request will be subject to scoring deductions based solely on the judges inability to accurately assess this area."

So, the answer is pretty simple. Early straight axle Corvettes are required to specifically deviate from their fractory original configuration (stamp pad painted) while later Corvettes (post 1976) are given special dispensation to show the car with the engine stamp pad painted...

Now, unless this rule has changed in the 7th Edition of the JRM book, the answer is part of the club's official rules available to any/all...

[Eric J.]

Thanks everyone.

I appreciate the input. glad I didn't take it off.. Will leave it painted.. (For now). Lets all meet up 02/2008 and revisit this.... Eric

[Tom R.]

Re: More...somewhat

Eric:

Just to get my .02 cents in. I've been with the 78 judging team since its inception. Judge Lyle is right on and Terry's recollection and detail are worth noting:

"The engine assembly characters were filled with blue paint, but the VIN derivative characters were not. My advice to the team doing the judging was that it looked original to me. Reason being that the engine assembly stamp would have been done before the engine assembly was painted, but the VIN derivative would have been stamped at St. Louis -- AFTER the paint process."

On original pads, it's not uncommon to see rust in the VIN derivative characters while the pad is painted. 1977 was the first year engines went blue and so it took a few years to sort out "original configuration" when judging began on the 78's in the mid 90's as Lyle points out.

[Harmon C.]

Re: More...somewhat

Eric
One thing could be noted about the painted pad is it takes some time to even be able to read a pad on a 82 and a 78 is somewhat eaiser. We do not have restorers making L-82's as the VIN tells the story and their would be no profit in doing so anyway. It would be a hard job to get the paint off a pad you can't hardly see.

Lyle