67 paint judging

[David C.]

I am having my car judged this week in kissimee and I need a pretty quick response...My car was painted with urethane and I am wondering if the judges give a total full deduct (originality and condition) no matter what- or if I try to dull the edges and "attempt" to make it look more like lacquer are they going to deduct partially. In the judges manuel it says "The use of any other coating system such as enamel, urethane coatings or the obvious application of clear lacquer shall recieve a total deduction on originality points" Does that mean that there is not a deduct for the condition points?

Also on the alternator is there any deduct for not having the diode markings

Thanks for your thoughts

Dave

P.S--Good luck too all this week

[Michael W.]

Re: 67 paint judging

Kinda last minute, no?

The key is whether the paint LOOKS like lacquer. If so, there is no automatic complete deduction.

As to condition points, the same philosophy holds for the paint as for any other feature of the car- you must get at least 10% of the originality points to get any condition points.

Good luck

[Jack H.]

On alternator diodes...

judges look for the alternator to be a condition similar to that which it originally shipped from the factory. That includes PN/date ID codes on the diodes, any broadcat codes known to have been rubber ink stamped on the case, original mfgr source ID emboss on the exposed rear bearing case, Delco Remy identifying emboss on the smoothing capacitor case that protrudes from the rear, and so on. Point deductions are taken for the number of non-original factory deviations observed.

I'd say, at this point in time, just button up the car and go through with the judging process. Expect to learn quite a few things and remember...this isn't the end of the line!

You can bring your car back to other NCRS judging meets and start with a clean slate (there's no 'memory' of how your car judged in previous meets). The point is, the club encourages members to improve upon their restoration, so each judging episode starts fresh...

[Stephen L.]

Re: 67 paint judging

Been thru this... If the door jams and hood surround areas are as shiny as the outside paint its a max 85 raw point deduct which translates to abouit 2% points. NOT the end of the world..... Just have fun.

Mine shines like a mirror..... 2% off the top. Still can get a solid 96.8% and lots of compliments on the paint to boot!!!!

[Joe R.]

Re: 67 paint judging

Hi David:

I think the information you are quoting may be out of date. I have a copy of the "Paint-Fiberglass Standard Deduction Guidelines," Revision 3, dated May 2004. I believe this is still current, and I can fax it to you if you send me a fax number. It describes a more liberal policy toward paint deductions, although the wording could be more clear.

The overall goal of the revised guidelines is to allow some room for people to use non-lacquer paint, as long as the end result appears to be "consistent with factory application methods." This is mostly code for requiring that certain areas have the low gloss appearance of unpolished lacquer. There are some other things the judges look for such as poor paint coverage in certain areas, but I think the low gloss finish is the main consideration.

When the cars were painted at the factory, only the outside surface down to the belt line was buffed out. This means that unbuffed areas such as the door jambs, hood drain gutter, inside of grilles, and the front and rear valences should be slightly dull and possibly show some orange peel.

If your car has a typical urethane paint job with high gloss in the areas that should be slightly dull, there will be a full deduct of 45 points for originality, and the paint will not be eligible for the 40 condition points (total 85 point deduction).

However, if the areas that were not polished at the factory are slightly dull, there will typically be only a 50% deduction for originality, and the paint will be eligible for all of the 40 condition points. This represents a huge improvement, point-wise, for some fairly minor changes. Note that this guideline applies even if the judge KNOWS that the paint is not lacquer.

Under certain circumstances the 50% deduction for originality can be reduced to only 20%, but the explanation is too complicated to repeat here.

FYI, my car is painted with single-stage urethane, but I invested some time dulling down the door jambs and most of the other areas that were not buffed out in the factory process. My paint lost 23 originality points at a regional in 2006, and after some more work, it managed to lose only 2 originality points at the 2007 National.

In my case, I simply masked off the areas that I wanted to dull down, and applied a light coat of Krylon satin clear paint from a rattle can. There are several other ways to accomplish the dulling down that have been discussed in the archives. Some people use abrasive methods such as steel wool, coarse rubbing compound, or scrubbing pads. I experimented with all of these, but the resulting finish did not look quite right to me. In my view, some sort of clear coat with a satin finish works best.

Note that the dulled down finish does not have to be super dull. Even unbuffed lacquer typically had a modest sheen, but nothing like the mirror gloss of a typical urethane or BC/CC paint job. So, if you decide to dull some things down, don't get too carried away.

[Mike G.]

Re: 67 paint judging

as long as you attempt to dull the jams and the edges that dont get buffed from the factory, you will be fine. after the jams have been rubed down with scotch bright the feel is different. it has a different texture. what i do is rub it down with an old worn piece of scotch bright first. then i get some scratch compound and rub it down real good. it gives it a dull but smooth look and feel. another thing they look for is build up of paint around the edges. non lacquer paint tends to give it a thicker, built up look around the top flat surfaces like the edges of the hood. as long as the guy that shot the paint knew what he was doing you can make it look just like lacquer. you will be fine. have fun. i will be there too. i dont have a car ready to judge this year but hope to see a nice 70 LT-1.