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Getting ready for Charlotte


Guest George V.O.

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Guest George V.O.

I'm taking my '55 Chevy NAPCO Suburban to Charlotte in two weeks to try for a Senior Award and had a couple questions for the judges.

I blew one of my T3 headlights while driving on the show field in the cold, early morning hours at Fall Hershey. I have been struggling to find a replacement, but finally found the correct size T3 in a 1954 Chevy school bus. The only difference in the bulb is that the small triangle in the center has vertical lines in it, while the other does not. Most people would never see it, but I'm sure a judge will... is this a deduction?

Also, I got a copy of the judging sheet for my truck from Fall Hershey and it shows that I had 3 total deductions:

1. Distributor- I assume I lost a point here because I didn't have the metal Delco tag in place. Action taken: It has since been riveted on.

2. Radiator Core- I have no idea how I got a deduction here, but I'm sure it was a valid reason. The only thing I can think of is that the radiator has a metal shroud on it, which is rare for 6 cylinders. Action taken: None yet.

3. At the bottom of the judging sheet, there is a note that says "Other- Oil fill cap". I'm assuming this is because I didn't have the crankcase decal on the cap. Action taken: I ordered this the other day and will have it in place next week.

I know it's hard to guess when you haven't seen the vehicle, but are there other deductions concerning these 3 parts I might be overlooking? All items are completely rebuilt and look new, so I'm fairly sure the deductions were not for poor condition.

Thanks for any help/advice!

George

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As you said "without seeing the vehicle..." I'd say you probably corrected the items. About the headlights. AACA does not require the T-3 lights (no specific brand). I would how ever make sure the lights match from side to side because that could be a point deduction.

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Guest George V.O.

Thanks Novaman. I guess I'll see if I can scrounge up a headlight somewhere. Today looks like a good day to hit the local junkyards... for me, any day is a good day at the junkyard!

Take care, George

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Guest George V.O.

Found a good matching T3 this morning at the junkyard! I should be ready for Charlotte now. Hope to see some of you all down there.

George

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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Mickey McChesney</div><div class="ubbcode-body">However, the ruling as I see it is that AACA really isn't after "originality" in this area of judging.

Mickey </div></div>

The "powers that be" made the decision quite a few years ago that it was far too complicated to expect judging teams to know which model of T-3 went into which vehicles. That was added onto the problem at that time of finding T-3s at all, working or not.

From what others have posted there is now a supplier of repo T-3s that even the purests find acceptable. Those folks need to band together and petition to have the rule reversed and supply the chart to the teams and then the AACA can go back to requiring proper

T-3s.

I don't know if you are a judge, but we volunteer to do this. Lots of time and money is spent by us to travel to help keep this hobby alive. If owners or other judges have information that could help the AACA help the judges and Team Captain then it would be a great thing to jump in and help the hobby in that way.

Some things are so unique that the average judge just has not come across...yet. grin.gif We would welcome the information that owners of those vehicles could share.

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All I see in the rules is "Cadmium plated spark plugs. First year - 1956.)

The person that you should ask about gold vs. silver is Terry Bond. That guy has probably the largest spark plug collection ever. A portion of it was on display at the AACA Library and Research Center in 2007.

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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Restorer32</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It's not just spark plugs. I've seen Model A generator cutouts gold cad plated as well as carb parts on a '37 Packard. </div></div>

May or may not help. Corvette used silver cadmium 1953 through 1961, gold cadmium in 1962, and zinc chromate thereafter.

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  • 2 weeks later...

George hope your day was a success in Charlotte. One of my favorite sayings the judges often use at my Daughter's dance competitions is:

These are the results today as seen by this team of judges, on this stage, in their opinion, on this date. A different set of judges may see it differently.

If you think about that every time you show your truck and hear the results you will be much happier!

Good Luck

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Guest George V.O.

Thanks, It was a beautiful day, I met some great people, my truck won a Senior and we made the 6-hour drive home safely... not too shabby!

Thanks again, George

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Guest George V.O.

Susan,

It's in 22C. I've been planning on going to the Gettysburg show since last year, but I'm not sure now. I've read some recent post's here on the hotel issues and it's swayed me a little. If I decide to go, I might just drive to the show early Saturday morning and leave that afternoon. I'm not sure, but I can probably get there in about 3 hours.

Take care, George

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George, don't let the hotel issues mentioned here stop you from attending. Pretty much it is a case of the host hotel is full anyways. They over booked, and bumped 18 of us out. What's made those of us that were bumped is the fact that they bumped those with one night reservations. in our case it appears to be taking a new three night reservation over a three month old, one night reservation. In someone elses case that's a 6 month old reservation. Just poorly handled on thier part.

I did find out this weekend that they (gettysburg region) will have shuttles availble to other hotels.

I stopped by your truck Saturday but nobody was around. Nice truck and congrats on your award. Maybe I'll get to met you in Gettysburg.

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Guest George V.O.

Thanks for the pic Don! I think my kid's only took 2 pic's of the truck while we were there and I was standing in the way of both of them.

Take care, George

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