Shop Rat
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Listen to yourselves. Three of the last four posts are doing nothing but reinforcing Alex's original concern.
Besides, how is a kid in a headbanger T and a backwards ball cap any different than a 70-year-old in a poodle skirt or a pack of Camels rolled into a sleeve? You wanna talk about ridiculous? No way could I take such a person seriously. At least the kid is dressing like others in his age group, whereas the septuagenarian just looks foolish.
Bottom line, if a young person expresses interest in my stuff and can carry on an intelligent conversation (and there are many who can), I will not diss that kid based on age or appearance.
Besides, by the very nature of our hobby we are challenging the status quo. How else do you explain the persistent attacks and punitive legislation and taxing we endure simply because modern people don't understand or appreciate old cars, which most view as gas-guzzling, polluting dinosaurs that should be eliminated? Because we are challenging the modern status quo.
He didn't state how he was dressed. We are just offering ideas as to why some owners might look at someone and look at how they present themselves and decide to talk to them or not based on what they see. Right or wrong, it happens all the time. Look at places of employment. Some don't care if your tattoos show or you have fishhooks stuck in your face. Other places of business require that tattoos be covered and no facial piercings, or other visible piercings other than the standard ear piercings, are permitted. It isn't the image they want to convey of their business.
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Hello and welcome.
You might also what to take a cruise through the Buy/Sell Forum right here. Buy/Sell
You can see what might be for sale and you can also post a thread about what you are looking for and that will let others know what you have in mind and you just never know who might spot the very car you are looking for, or close enough, and they can then contact you about it.
I will advise you being a new person here, the AACA is a club for those that are interested in antique vehicles as they came from the factory, or could have come from the factory based on options and accessories that were available from the factory for the year, make and model that they have (or like you are looking for).
If you are more into things like street rods, hot rods, "modifieds" or rat rods this wouldn't be the club for you. Many here are purists when it comes to antique vehicles. To them anything less that original/restored to original is unacceptable. Some own both AACA eligible vehicles and street rods, hot rods, "modifieds" or even a rat rod. But they don't discuss them here on the forums or post photos of them.
This is a good club with many good folks that will be happy to help and advise you so don't be afraid to ask lots of questions. There is also a wonderful Library and Research Center located in Hershey, Pa. However it is available to everyone through this site. If you are an AACA member you get 1.5 hours of free research. If not then there is a fee. There is a small fee for copies of the information they find for you if you want a copy.
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I had hoped to go to the CJE that was to cover the changes in the 2013 Judging Guidelines at the Gettysburg Region Meet in Carlisle but it wasn't offered. Guess I will have to hope that it is taught at the next Meet we go to. I really, really want to hear what the instructor has to say.
And I really think they need to go back to the old way of putting the ** to indicated changes.
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..... A new point, and please take it in the positive spirit in which it is intended: Often I have had young friends dismissed primarily because they looked so different from the car owners--the young visitors were wearing head-banger-band T-shirts, baggy plaid shorts, sandals, and baseball caps worn backwards--or something of that ilk. That only serves to give a new acquaintance a reason to dismiss you **because you are so DIFFERENT**. By no means am I advocating that you attend car shows wearing Izod shirts, lemon-yellow sans-a-belt golf slacks, and white shoes--that "uniform" is even more distasteful to me. You should have a feel by now for how car exhibitors dress at shows in your area (a lot of regional differences), and I suggest you follow their lead. Not too different from what you'd do for a job interview... Also known as "when in Rome..." .....
Excellent point Grimy. Certain styles of dress are rebellious by their very nature. And rebellion usually entails a certain amount of lack of respect for the status quo. And owners of antique vehicles aren't fans of those that imply disrespect. So if that status quo is the owner of an antique vehicle, rebellion is not the statement that someone wants to make if they want to have a wonderful conversation with the owner about the car.
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Thank you to everyone for their responses. I certainly have not lost any of my passion for the hobby, as it is deeply rooted. I will change up my approach to car owners, as was previously suggested. Being young, I know it is very easy to come off as a know it all; so I try to be very tactful, if you will, with my word choice. Also, I will go on to say that the actions of a few bad eggs will not affect my opinion towards the rest of our community. I suppose with my original post, I just wanted to hear what others thought, felt, and experienced when they were new to the hobby. I will continue to attend shows and fuel my love for the topic.
Another way to be a part of the hobby is to get into judging.
You do not have to own an antique vehicle to become a judge. You do have to be a current member of the AACA National club. You do not have to be a member of a Region or a Chapter. I went to my first Judging School on Sept. 7th, 1990. Served on the Apprentice Team on Sept. 8, 1990 and have been judging ever since. I am a Certified Team Captain with 102 credits as of the Carlisle, Pa. show last Saturday, June 1st. My husband got into judging before I did, he is also a Certified Team Captain, and I think he has 114 credits now. This is a great side of the hobby. Yeah, when it is 94 degrees and humid (like it was at Carlisle :cool:) or raining and cold (like it has been at Hershey :eek: from time to time) you will question your own sanity. 
But not once have Bill or I said, "I had a bad time, I wish I hadn't done this". We have judged some amazing vehicles and met some great people. You can read the 2013 Judging Guidelines right here on the web-site in the comfort of your own home to get an idea about how we do the judging.
http://www.aaca.org/images/meet_brochures/2013_Judging_Guidelines.pdf
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Susan, the first AACA chapter I learned of was a lot like you described Charleston. It had some very nice people in it but it had a couple of people that ran everything and I really don't think they wanted any more members. Now they are all gone and the club is also gone and 30 yeats ago it was putting on a nice show with over 100 cars each year. Then you could see friction develope and it all came to an end.
We were blessed that there really wasn't friction in our club. We just had members that wanted things to stay the way they were, which that just never happens. I honestly had new members call me and thank me for Bill and I talking to them but that no one else would, so they wouldn't be back. At one time it was a great Region and we held some wonderful car shows during The Regatta which you know about. You probably came to some of them. Then the street rod clan moved in on our show and blasted us out with their loud music and were rude to us when we asked them to lower the volume. We changed venues to get away from them. And then the members that had done most of the work for years got older and wanted the younger members to take over. Only there were no younger members other than Bill and I and a couple of other people that then moved away and started their own Region.
And that my friends is how you kill a Chapter or a Region.
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At least you can grow some nice tomatoes with the exhaust.
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Alex, folks like you described unfortunately built and then killed our AACA Region in the Charleston, W. Va. area. I called it the "Musk Ox Circle". The original founders of the club pretty much stood in a circle and if you weren't bold enough to break into that circle, then no one would talk to the new people.
Bill and I had a couple of "ins". The family that lived directly behind us were members and they welcomed us in since we were neighbors. Also, one member and his wife had grown up with my father in a small rural town here in W. Va. Then the others started talking to us. But we still heard the jokes because most of them had Model T Fords or Model A Fords and we dared to have a 1958 Chevy Biscayne 2-door as our first antique car.
Be bold. Step up and keep talking to the folks with the vehicles that interest you.
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..... Please keep reporting the ones that get through and the Moderators will take care of them. Thanks.
Did that just the other day. Happy to help rid the forums of those SPAMMERS.
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Agreed. But I am hoping that someone has found a way to use the correct clamps and not have the problem with the leaking.Slippery slope. -
Hey Marty Roth, how about doing a copy and paste of what you wrote as a separate thread and "sticky" it as AJFord54 suggested?
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This is what he sent to me. I don't know what to tell him :confused:, but I know for sure that one of you do.
"One final point I wanted to make and I'll ask your advise - I changed out my heater hose clamps from the ones made for 1955-56 and up back to the correct spring style clamps just before the meet. I have always hated them as they leak. Sure enough, I had anti-freeze running out at the one clamp. I know originality is job #1 on our cars, but I also know there are exceptions: ie: seatbelts, electric fuel pumps before '48, etc. Has there ever been talk about allowing the other type of clamps, as the spring loaded are just plain junk in my humble opinion. In fact, I'm sure that's why they were discontinued. It seems totally silly to have to change them for judging and then change them back to drive it home."
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I plan to when I get home. He did ask for our feedback. I just wondered what experience others had and how they felt about this method of judging.
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At a previous Meet the judging teams were larger, seven members if possible, and two judges were to point judge only the vehicles going for a Preservation or Repeat Preservation Award. The Team Captain assigns those two judges.
On my team I was short one judge out of the seven due to a judge not being able to attend. So I judged Exteriors as well as being the Team Captain. Due to a no show that was going for it's First Junior my three person team and I judged only four vehicles. The two judges that judged the Preservation and Repeat Preservation vehicles ended up point judging eleven vehicles. Nearly three times what my team and I judged. That hardly seems fair. It was 94 degrees, humid and sunny all day. My team and I had to wait for about twenty minutes for the guys to finish. Again, hardly fair since we could sit in the shade with a nice breeze blowing while the guys were still on the show field.
I was lucky, the two guys that agreed to judge the Preservation and Repeat Preservation vehicles were both high credit judges and both had previously served as Team Captains and I knew both of them having had them on my teams before. So I could send them out together to judge and not worry about the job that they would do. I know their work and they are both good judges.
I can't imagine trying to do the judging this way with an inexperienced team and having it work well.
All of my judges suggested it would be better to have five person teams that just judge the Preservation and Repeat Preservation vehicles rather than split a team up on the show field and make part of the team wait on the other part of the team.
If you judged at one of the Meets where this was done, what was your experience and what are your thoughts about it?
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Happy to try to help you John. Glad your scooter arrived but sure feel your pain on the horrible assembly manual. We had had to deal with those also. And most of the time if you call a company's tech support team they are vey difficult to understand. Or they really aren't as knowledgeable as would be expected.
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Hello ModelTMike. Welcome to the forums. It would be best to start a new thread with your question. It will get more responses to the question that you have about the tires. Otherwise people will think that the additional comments are in regard to the original post. You also might want to scroll down to the Model T Discussion Forum and check there about possible sources for correct tires that others might know about.
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John, honestly not sure. I have only seen the back of the store when we have gone to the McDonald's. You might want to call the number on the link I posted and see if they are still open. Not sure if places like Premier Medical/Loop Pharmacy in St. Albans or Boll Medical in Charleston rent them for short term. But if the Scooter Store is closed you might check with them. If they don't they might know who does. Hope you can find one if the one you ordered doesn't come in in time for this trip.
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John, have you checked with any of the local places to see if you could rent one to take? There is a "Scooter Store" in Dunbar near the McDonald's.
The scooter store in Dunbar, WV | Dunbar The scooter store - YP.com
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John, I just sent you a PM with the contact information for the Meet Chairman. He should be able to tell you about the scooter. I looked at the Meet Brochure and did not see any info. about the carts being restricted. But it might be best to check in advance to make sure.
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No problem. Judges and Team Captains need to help owners get it right by offering suggestion and advice when appropriate. As I have said many times, yes the scores are confidential and we can't share those, but this is not a secret handshake hobby. If an owner doesn't get the award they are seeking they can write to the VP of Class Judging and get a highlighted copy of the judging sheet which will show where at least major points were taken off. Any owner can get a copy of the judging sheet by going to the current guidelines on the Main page of the AACA website under Publications and printing off a copy. Walk around the vehicle and judge your own vehicle.
Perfect and correct for the year, make and model items are of course a 0 deduction. Read the legend at the bottom to understand what a circled deduction amount means, what * means and what ** means when they are in the column that addresses deductions.
The only time all points are taken off is if the component is missing, incorrect for the year, make and model of the vehicle it is on or if the component is in such bad shape it cannot be used for it's intended function. Everything else is like a rating: good, fair, poor.
And ALWAYS make sure you have a fully charged fire extinguisher for each and every vehicle you bring. You are not allowed to move the extinguisher from vehicle to vehicle, you are not allowed to borrow one from your neighbor. Not having a fully charged fire extinguisher is a MANDATORY DISQUALIFICATION. No exceptions.
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Sorry for the hijack, but Susan, read this thread:
http://forums.aaca.org/f169/internet-explorer-10-a-351974.html
It will help you understand a setting change that you can make to fix your issue.
It worked Matt.
Thank you soooo much. I have been fighting this for months. -
Hi AJ.
Thank you very much for your kind words. I honestly do try to help. The reason I asked whether it was your first National Meet was based on your question about the mirrors. That is something that is commonly done at local shows and especially seen at mixed shows where there are vehicles that have been modified, street rods and hot rods. I was going to mention that things like the E-Z Up tents, roped off areas around the vehicles are also prohibited. There again, something commonly found at local shows and cruise-ins.
Regarding the headlight deduction, yes this year they changed the guidelines when it comes to both non-matching headlights and Halogen headlights in vehicles where they were not a factory option or factory installed. The new deduction for non-matching headlights is now three points. And the deduction for the Halogen headlights as described above is also three points.
And brand doesn't matter as long as they match within an era. An example of this is that you don't want to mix GE headlights with General Electric headlights. Same brand but two different eras.
Also, make sure to take off any non-authentic items like license plate frames if they did not come from the factory or were in the factory accessory catalog for the year, make and model of your vehicle (even the one that the dealership might have put on. They are considered advertising and not allowed without a deduction) and non-authentic plates on the front with your name on it or somewhere you visited, a painting of your pet, etc. You don't want to give away even one point because that one point can possible keep you from getting that First Junior you are seeking. Be sure to bring any documentation you have just incase the Team Captain comes to you with a question from one of his/her judges.
Relax and enjoy.
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If you plan to show your vehicle at AACA National Meets, then don't do this. If not then no issue. Would be major points off for a modification like that.
You do not have to own an antique vehicle to become a judge. You do have to be a current member of the AACA National club. You do not have to be a member of a Region or a Chapter. I went to my first Judging School on Sept. 7th, 1990. Served on the Apprentice Team on Sept. 8, 1990 and have been judging ever since. I am a Certified Team Captain with 102 credits as of the Carlisle, Pa. show last Saturday, June 1st. My husband got into judging before I did, he is also a Certified Team Captain, and I think he has 114 credits now. This is a great side of the hobby. Yeah, when it is 94 degrees and humid (like it was at Carlisle :cool:) or raining and cold (like it has been at Hershey :eek: from time to time) you will question your own sanity. 
But not once have Bill or I said, "I had a bad time, I wish I hadn't done this". We have judged some amazing vehicles and met some great people. 
Too young to get respect at a car show?
in General Discussion
Posted
By pulling out and passing the leader of the tour you broke the hard and fast rule of touring with a group. There is a leader of a tour, they set the pace and the route. Then the vehicles are lined up with the slowest vehicles right behind the leader and then they line up to where the fastest vehicles are in the back of the line. And each person is responsible for the person behind them to make sure no one gets left behind. If you didn't want to travel at that speed you should have prearranged to meet them at the destination rather than do what you did. Hopefully you just didn't know the protocol of touring.