[SLOSteve]

Hi Everyone,

I have a question regarding MCA judging of the "interior" for division I concourse, "unrestored", "thoroughbred" etc..

When judging the interior how picky are they about perfection regarding things such as pitting or blemishes on the radio bezel,knobs,and dial lens? Do they spend a lot of time looking for flaws or are minor imperfections accepted? Is there a difference in the criteria for "driven" concourse and "trailored" concourse?

One more thing......what divisions are such imperfections accepted? Unrestored or thoroughbred?

I've looked up the MCA guidelines but they seemed vague for a layman like myself. Any kind of information would be very helpful.

Thanks guys !
Steve

[Veronica]

Hello. The big difference between trailored concours and driven concours is that in the driven category you don't get dinged for reproduction parts. In trailored everything has to be the correct Ford part and correctly date coded, where applicable. Blemishes and pitting will get you dinged in either class. If anything they would be a little more flexible in the trailored class, because they know that it isn't brand new repop. Some stuff is just plain hard to find. In the unrestored class the cars get some wiggling room. 40 year old paint is going to show a little bit of wear. Especially 40 year old cheap paint. In the driven class your interior needs to straight. On a 65/66 car brand new door panels only cost about 50 bucks, the carpet is like 90, etc... Items like that are supposed to be perfect, since they are assumed to be brand new. Some folks slap on a new set of door panels, door handles, arm rests and window cranks as part of their show prep. But, don't let little things like radio knobs keep you from showing up. Other folk's cars have little problems also. A really, really nice engine bay along with a really, really clean interior will carry you a long way. I used to do the car show thing a lot, but it's been about ten years since I've actually entered a car in one. I also discovered that short shorts and a tube top were good for picking up an extra few points. I couldn't really say how well that would work for you, though. Probably not very well

[SLOSteve]

Originally Posted by Veronica

Hello. The big difference between trailored concours and driven concours is that in the driven category you don't get dinged for reproduction parts. In trailored everything has to be the correct Ford part and correctly date coded, where applicable. Blemishes and pitting will get you dinged in either class. If anything they would be a little more flexible in the trailored class, because they know that it isn't brand new repop. Some stuff is just plain hard to find. In the unrestored class the cars get some wiggling room. 40 year old paint is going to show a little bit of wear. Especially 40 year old cheap paint. In the driven class your interior needs to straight. On a 65/66 car brand new door panels only cost about 50 bucks, the carpet is like 90, etc... Items like that are supposed to be perfect, since they are assumed to be brand new. Some folks slap on a new set of door panels, door handles, arm rests and window cranks as part of their show prep. But, don't let little things like radio knobs keep you from showing up. Other folk's cars have little problems also. A really, really nice engine bay along with a really, really clean interior will carry you a long way. I used to do the car show thing a lot, but it's been about ten years since I've actually entered a car in one. I also discovered that short shorts and a tube top were good for picking up an extra few points. I couldn't really say how well that would work for you, though. Probably not very well

Dang it, I forgot to say "and Veronica" in my initial thread. I'll make a mental note of it and won't make that mistake again

Thanks for the excellent advice as always Ms Veronica. Especially about the tube top and short shorts. I'm really glad I disposed of those about the same time you entered your last show. Besides, if I tried that now they'd dock me 500 points!

Kidding aside....I have a couple of 65/66 radio bezels which have a few minor imperfections on them. One has a small scratch, the other is kinda hazy (that's just prior to pitting) on one part. I guess those should be kept for the "driver" class then? How in the heck do you find pristine original knobs unless they've been rechromed or you buy repops? I don't mean those cheap plastic ones.....they should be outlawed in my opinion.

I know that if/when I do enter a show replacing the door and trap door panels would be a must because someone in the past decided to put speakers in both places. I mean they look nice as they are, they just wouldn't be proper. My interior for the most part is really "clean" could just use a little refreshing I'd say.

S'pose I'll wing it for now with my imperfect radio bezel and knobs.

It's funny that when I think about "show" I think about perfection then I don't think anything on my car looks right. Now THAT'S a bad place to be in. LOL !

Thanks Veronica
Steve

[Jay H 237]

They are offering repro factory radio knobs for the 65-66 radios now. NPD has them for $19.95 on page 18 of the 2007 catalog. They are item # 18817-1B and only fit OE radios and are diecast just like the originals.

I don't know anyone who has used them so I can't give an opinion either way.

They are also offering repro trap door panels too. I heard the grain is slightly different but they do fit.

[SLOSteve]

Originally Posted by Jay H 237

They are offering repro factory radio knobs for the 65-66 radios now. NPD has them for $19.95 on page 18 of the 2007 catalog. They are item # 18817-1B and only fit OE radios and are diecast just like the originals.

I don't know anyone who has used them so I can't give an opinion either way.

I know that Dallas Mustang has the die cast knobs too ($16.95). I mistakenly bought some on Ebay just to find out they were that plastic junk and didn't come close to looking like originals. That's what I get for hitting that #%&* Buy It Now button.