1957 Buick Judging Manual?

[1957buickjim]

Is there in existence a "judging" manual for the 1957 Buick Special? There must be some type of documentation that is used to determine if the car is factory spec or not? How does one get a copoy of that for restoration purposes? I am assuming it is not a classified DOD document and that all restorer's of a 1957 Buick have to do their restoration hit or miss? I do like digging and communicating with everyone on the forum for nuggets of information, but from a baseline standpoint, shouldn't there be a manual available to those who are trying to restore their vehicle? Would love to hear comments on this.

[buick5563]

Write one.

There aren't specific judging manuals on any car, just a bunch of guys who think they know what is correct. As has been discussed, the real way most cars left the factory is not how we restore them. 70 Electra had the best point (and I'm paraphrasing):

Nobody who is restoring these cars wants to cad plate backing plates and then spray satin paint over top of them. Or dip their control arms and wait for the drips to run up, or spray undercoating all over a freshly powdercoated frame, etc.

The best we can all do is get them as close as we can, while sometimes interpreting and taking some liberties with modern finishes. That is why original cars in good to great shape need to be preserved instead of restoring with liberties taken.

I know that I am "overrestoring" my 55 convertible, but it is going to be as close as I can to how it left the factory.

[1957buickjim]

Mike, not a bad idea. A couple of things come to mind on that though, relating to your comments on the restoration process.

1. Having such a manual would open up the judging to perhaps something akin to a standardized test. If the factory ready cars were less pristine than the ones that you or anybody else is restoring, but met the requirements for "factory" they could score the 400 pts.

2. What would be the benefit, except for intrinsic purposes, of "over-restoring" your vehicle, and would you have points deducted for this "over-restoration" or would it be like an additional bonus, extra points for additional correctness or detailing?

I do think that even a checklist of what the criteria being judged is for the vehicle would be very beneficial for the amateur restorer to work toward the "factory" restoration. Items like we have been posting on engine compartments, detail colors of components, accessories, etc. would be great things to start off with.

I like the idea of having such a manual or checklist or something to start with just to make sure you are not wasting time and money on things that need to redone because you just didn't know or couldn't find the information. Thanks for the idea...I will keep working on that concept.

[buick5563]

One of the things that the BCA judging states is that no points will be taken off for over-restoration. The problem is that sheens of paint could be considered over-restored, but they are incorrect... My 55 Special is a Gold Senior car and I have a glossy air cleaner and gloss paint on my inner fenders. These weren't correct from the factory, but since I also drive my car to every National, I wanted finishes that were easy to clean. (ever tried cleaning satin paint without hardener in it?)

As mentioned before, should my Century have cad looking brake backing plates? Yeah, kind of, that is the finish they were BEFORE they had a thin coat of black sprayed on them. But wait...my Special got a Senior with black paint all over everything. While possibly correct, it sure doesn't look as good. Cleanliness is much more important to the chassis judge than paint sheen. I know, because I am usually judging chassis since I am (usually) the youngest member of any judging team that Thriller isn't on .

Like I said above, we (as the restorers and stewards of these cars) need to do our best. There is no hard and fast rule on so many of these individual parts. We always judge our car harsher than any field judge.

[Pete Phillips]

There is a checklist; it's called the Judging Form, and a copy of it is in the BCA Judging Manual. It's not specifically for a 1957 Buick, though; it is designed to accommodate all rear-wheel drive Buicks. There is also the judging worksheet which has check lists of what you look for. If you read through the judging manual and all of its charts, you will pick up a lot of information that is specific to '57 Buicks, such as tire size, engine color, paint color, etc. If we were to try to design a judging manual for each and every model and year of Buick, the work would take years. If anyone wants to start, I'm sure Chief Judge Alan Oldfield would be happy to incorporate year-specific data into the judging manual the next time it is published, but that is not the way it is set up now. One of the things I try to do when I do an issue of the Bugle on a specific year, is to point out what is correct and what isn't and what the common pitfalls are when judging or restoring one, but I can't be comprehensive and cover every single item or the Bugle would grow to be 200 pages per issue. We did do an issue on the '57 Buicks some years ago, and with your relatively high BCA #, I wonder if you were a member then and got it? The Pittsburgh Portholes Chapter sells back issues of the magazine.

Pete Phillips, BCA #7338

[1957buickjim]

Pete, thanks for the reply. No, I did not receive that issue. I just joined in the past year. However, I can understand that it would be quite comprehensive to put one together. I have gone through the judging manual as it is posted on the BCA website, and that is what prompted me to post the question to this thread. There is some detail, but most of it is not model specific, which could be good or bad, depending on the judge at the event. However, if you are trying to restore a vehicle to factory conditions, the items in the judging manual are not detailed enough to help you figure it out. I also understand that the judging is somewhat subjective to the knowledge of the judges as well. Just trying to see if there is a standard somewhere out there that an amateur restorer can have to work on his / her car.

As for the issue of the Bugle with the 57, do you know what issue it was? I would like to get that for my files and work. Thanks

[Bhigdog]

The trouble with a diffinitive, final authority, "this is the way it is list" is that in many cases it can be incorrect. That, and it will lead to nit picking. I've found lots of minor differences in all the cars I've restored that were obviously factory or supplier done. Most of the major stuff is pretty well known but even then some factory differences pop up or the "experts" will differ. Back in the day the main objective was to just get the damn cars out the door................Bob