A question about date codes and casting/part numbers

[Guest quadfins]

Regrettably, I have only the time and means to attend 1 national show each year, and Gettysburg was it for 2009. One day I'll get my pilgrimage to Hershey.

I thank you guys bringing the cars, trailered or not, to the meets, as that gives me the only opportunity I would ever have to see them. Next year I'm lucky - New Bern and Blacksburg are close enough that I can squeeze two events in.

Maybe what is so frustrating to me is this; you get the car ready for that once-a-year opportunity. You know it is good enough (you even find out later that is truly was), but the multi-millionaire, who has his cars professionally restored as a hobby, drops it out of the trailer, complete with personal minder, and beats you on the ten point rule. And then it happens next year. And the next. That was my introduction to AACA. "Thanks for coming - you have a great car, but you lose." At what point do you stop wasting your time and money? Fortunately, I was too stubborn (deluded?)to quit, but some of my friends have. Too bad.

Funny, too, it was at that rainy Charlotte when I received First Junior. When I checked in, who do you think had a car in my class? Same one from the first time, so I consoled myself that it was a fruitless trip, and just enjoyed ogling the cars. But due to the rain, only 2 of us dared bring our cars out. Mr. Trailer didn't unload. My car was the same old one from before, only now with 3 more years worth of wear and tear, so it must have been good enough all those times prior. The other thing that hurt was, all those years, some meets, particularly in the west, had few cars registered, and none in the class. So it also occurred to me that the ten point rule burns selectively, depending on where you are, and what class you are in. It is my misfortune to live in the East, with a car in a popular class. I understand the ten point rule is designed to improve quality, but couldn't that be done by raising the points, too, and not raising false hopes and expectations.

Fortunately, all that is over, and I can stay in Repeat Preservation.

Now, for New Bern, I am going with the full understanding that my car has no chance of placing. Oh, and having perused this years' meet results, guess who else is almost guaranteed to be there??? But I'm reconciled to that - I'm going as a spectator, and registering the car just gives me preferred parking.

Maybe I'll see you there.

[junkyardjeff]

Maybe its time for most shows to have a seperate trailered class if it wont cause too much more work for those putting on the show and most of the high point cars I have seen are better then when they left the factory so maybe its time for them to get the 10 point deduction for being better then they left the factory.

[Guest quadfins]

And this brings us around, right back to your original question.

The Mustang Club of America does this, in fact even has several levels of trailered cars (and driven etc...).

At that lofty level of perfection, the details that set one car above the others, and garners the awards, are the date codes, paint daubs, and factory grease-pencil marks.

This might be practical for one model of car that came out of, at most, 3 factories. Literature and documentation can be found, and judges can research, learn the details,and become certified experts.

The cars arrive in their trailers, the judges spend several hours on each one, paint daubs and date codes are checked, judgement is made. Cars go back into trailers, not to see daylight again until next year.

But AACA is far too inclusive for this to be practical. My class, for example, includes every American production car offered in 1960 and 1961. Who could possibly know every detail for every car from every factory? Yikes!!!

So AACA is what it is. Yes, there are flaws, but no organization is perfect. The club establishes its focus, guidelines are clear, and we do our best with our cars. Even for all of my gripes, you'll notice which club I am a member of.

In a way, the AGNM constitutes the "trailered" class for AACA shows. The best of the best, high standards, 5 point spread, cars that are wonders to behold - models for the rest of us to aspire to.

And OH!, we've had some real hotheads on this forum, a couple about a year ago who just completely lost their sense of reality.

So I'll shut up for now, before I step on any more toes, and go and wash the car, and see if I can adjust those carburetor floats. Oh, and probably drive it to fetch a cup of coffee.

Edited October 4, 2009 by quadfins (see edit history)

[junkyardjeff]

I was joking with the guys at the shop next door to where I work who are restoring a boss 302 mustang and said you better put the over spray back the way it was and with all the other imperfections from the assembly line but they said they were going to make it look better.

[Guest quadfins]

There was a discussion on a Mustang website some time ago about what color the primer overspray would have been from the San Jose factory, as opposed to Dearborn or Metuchen.

To each his own, but I have better things to do - like drive mine.

[junkyardjeff]

The mucsle car crowd goes nuts over crazy stuff like that but I see no sense in most of it.

[junkyardjeff]

Right now I have too many vehicles to spend time on keeping clean so they are all drivers,maybe when I retire then I can make a couple real nice and will have plenty of time to keep them detailed top and bottom.

[GrayCav56]

The wife's 64 1/2 Mustang is in the paint shop now and I too am in the overspray conundrum. I am leaning to NOT being sloppy, because the designers and engineers sure didn't want it to come out that way, plus where is the consistency on that point anyway?

I'm sure SOME cars made it out of the paint booth the way it was supposed to be, with proper masking lines and such. I'm just going to say mine was one of the lucky ones.

[Restorer32]

I agree, restore them as they were designed to be built. How can anyone say with authority how much overspray there was and where it was located? As in political polls there is a "margin of error" in restoration. Some cars certainly left the assembly line as they were designed and I suspect overspray was not designed in. By the way...there is no such thing as a '64 1/2 Mustang in AACA competition, just an early '65.