Grey spark plug wires and grey valve caps

I am a little late in posting this as i had planned on doing so about a week ago but then kept forgetting.

If you are going to have your '88-90 Reatta judged at the upcoming BCA meet in Charlotte the correct spark plug wires should be gray with the word Packard on them and will be numbered.

The '91 Reattas came with black wires and black tire valve caps.

I have several sets of original grey Packard wires available that are in very good condition.

The '88-90 Reattas also came from the factory with grey valve caps.

I will be at Charlotte selling Reatta parts at reasonable prices and have an inside swap space reserved. While there, I will give free to anyone who wants them grey valve caps.

Hey Jim I saw on the news that Duluth has a lot of flooding. Did you luck out. I see some of the animals floated out of the zoo Look out for lions, tigers and bears OH MY

See ya in Charlotte

Chuck Kerls

booreatta@cox.net

So what if my customers '88 with 760 miles on it doesn't have the "Packard" wires. That makes his car incorrect? and somebody else's car with 20k miles correct?

How was this benchmark set?

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So what if my customers '88 with 760 miles on it doesn't have the "Packard" wires. That makes his car incorrect? and somebody else's car with 20k miles correct?

Did it come from the Craft Centre that way? Even a car with 760 miles could have had problems from sitting unused for so long. Some mechanic along the way could have replaced the originals wires, for whatever reason, with something he had in the back of the shop, thinking the owner would never look under the hood.

How was this benchmark set?

The 400 point judging, as I understand it, is for originality and condition. It is a useful benchmark - especially for some of us who have cars that would do well in it. But for others, there are certainly other events with different sets of rules.

Did it come from the Craft Centre that way? Even a car with 760 miles could have had problems from sitting unused for so long. Some mechanic along the way could have replaced the originals wires, for whatever reason, with something he had in the back of the shop, thinking the owner would never look under the hood.

The 400 point judging, as I understand it, is for originality and condition. It is a useful benchmark - especially for some of us who have cars that would do well in it. But for others, there are certainly other events with different sets of rules.[A/QUOTE]

Chances are its original. But what's to say that the Dealer wasn't issued Paxton wires as replacements? it didn't come from the factory that way did it? The dealer just used Paxton wires as a replacement.

But who set the "originality" benchmark? Who gets to say what's original and what's not? Was this "judging manual" written by Craft Centre employees? Was it all documented by someone as the car rolled out of the factory? I don't think so.

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GM dealers use factory parts from the factory parts network. It is what they do, one of the reasons they charge what they do, and exactly what their primary customers want them to do. Packard (which is a GM captive supplier) plug wires for a Buick 3800 are so easy for them to get through their own network that there would be no reason to do anything else. Though they might offer their customers a 'generic' AC Delco replacement option. Or as I have had them do in the past, they might install 'customer supplied' aftermarket parts.

As to who wrote the guide, you would have to ask others.

BTW, no one says that "originality" means that the car is untouched since it left the factory - with original oil in the crankcase, coolant in the block, etc. But it does mean that when some part wears or fails and is replaced, like brakes, a headlight motor, or a body panel, that it is a real Reatta part. Not something hacked from something else. Especially in the case of wear parts, there are some outs. Like tires just have to be the original size. I'd assume this is because GM does not manufacture tires. OTOH, a battery should be an AC Delco - because Delco is, or at least was, part of GM. But other than being a Group 78 Delco, any of their batteries would be ok. I'd also imagine that no one is going to check to see if you have AC Delco brake pads installed. The judges are not allowed to touch the car and only get a few minutes to look it over.

The grey wires that came originally on the Reattas are not available anymore from GM. If you go to a GM dealer you will be sold black Delco wires.

This why I have saved the good Packard wires from my parts cars.

Jim,

What are the correct caps and wires for the '91 model please?

Thanks,

Nic

That is why I stopped judging. Points judging is supposed to be for "correctness" but when it got down to silk-screened plug wires were "wrong" only embossed were "right", it got ludicrous. Being deep into GTOs (probably the most "cloned" muscle car since it was so easy to turn a Tempest into a GTO) we developed secret ways of telling a real one from a clone. Then the billing cards surfaced (what PHS is built on) and the question became moot.

Every club I have been in has allowed "replacements" of parts for safety reasons. There is no way I would drive on a highway any more on 20 year old tires, have seen too many come apart. Yet some insist on "original" E-70x14 Wide Ovals for a Camaro. I had one gentleman start shouting at me when I pointed out a repop that had the FVMSS markings on the sidewall that did not exist in 1969. Frankly, compared to today's radials, they were terrible tires.

At one time I had a GTO station wagon (tow car). Had so many people complain that at one show organized a contest to see if anyone could point out all of the things that were wrong. No-one could.

Don't think I have ever had a 100% "stock" car. Do try to add things "as the factory would" but not a fanatic. The Heap is only 5 months old but is not the way it came from the factory. So ?

Nic,

Reread line 4 of my original post.

Jim

There are clubs that judge for much more detail than the BCA. Try owing a Corvette, Mustang, Packard, etc and they check for the marking on bolts, the correct factory "china" marker scribbles on the firewall.

In the case of spark plug wires, should the judge notice the difference, it is only a 1 or 2 point deduction. (it would not be 1 point per wire) the line item on the judging form (wiring/cables/coil/spark plugs) has a max deduction of 6 points, everything on that line would need to be wrong or missing to have 6 points deducted.

Similar question comes up on batteries, the line item (Battery/hold down) is worth 3 points, a non-Delco battery will be 1 point.

A Reatta is not required to have the original Goodyear tires, because they are no longer made and this is a safety issue. But the tires must be of the original size. No, raised white letter or white sidewall were not original and there will be a point deduction.

In addition, when a judge makes a deduction, they must note why. That reason is transferred to the master sheet and the owner can request that sheet after judging is completed.

Within the BCA, like other clubs, anything questionable is the owners responsibility to have documentation showing it is correct.

I will be the first to admit that judges miss things (owner advantage) this is usually because we have new judges at every meet. Every judging team at a BCA national evernt has a minumim of 4 judges and a time limit to judge the car. Each judge is assigned an area and they are...Chassis, Interior, Exterior, & Underhood/Engine/transmission. If we have the luxury of enough judges, each team also has a Captain (an experienced judge) that takes the judging sheets for each car and transferres them to a master sheet for the car. The Captain often questions some of the entries and points errors are often corrected at that point. The Captain does not judge, but is called on to assist with judging questions.

Barney,

Would it suffice to show that one was in possession of the original parts, and that they were in good shape, but not necessarily installed on the car? For example if someone had non-standard wheels on the car (but correct tire size), and brought the original wheels along, in the trunk, to show? Padgett has previously mentioned that this sort of thing was allowed in some Pontiac venues that he had judged for.

There are clubs that judge for much more detail than the BCA. Try owing a Corvette, Mustang, Packard, etc and they check for the marking on bolts, the correct factory "china" marker scribbles on the firewall.

In the case of spark plug wires, should the judge notice the difference, it is only a 1 or 2 point deduction. (it would not be 1 point per wire) the line item on the judging form (wiring/cables/coil/spark plugs) has a max deduction of 6 points, everything on that line would need to be wrong or missing to have 6 points deducted.

Similar question comes up on batteries, the line item (Battery/hold down) is worth 3 points, a non-Delco battery will be 1 point.

A Reatta is not required to have the original Goodyear tires, because they are no longer made and this is a safety issue. But the tires must be of the original size. No, raised white letter or white sidewall were not original and there will be a point deduction.

In addition, when a judge makes a deduction, they must note why. That reason is transferred to the master sheet and the owner can request that sheet after judging is completed.

Within the BCA, like other clubs, anything questionable is the owners responsibility to have documentation showing it is correct.

I will be the first to admit that judges miss things (owner advantage) this is usually because we have new judges at every meet. Every judging team at a BCA national evernt has a minumim of 4 judges and a time limit to judge the car. Each judge is assigned an area and they are...Chassis, Interior, Exterior, & Underhood/Engine/transmission. If we have the luxury of enough judges, each team also has a Captain (an experienced judge) that takes the judging sheets for each car and transferres them to a master sheet for the car. The Captain often questions some of the entries and points errors are often corrected at that point. The Captain does not judge, but is called on to assist with judging questions.

Thanks for the explanation, Barney! I appreciate it.

And for the record, my customer's car does have the Paxton wires. I was just using his car as an example for the question.

I've signed up to judge Reattas at the meet in Charlotte. Looking forward to learning more!