Advice needed detailing my Challenger for show?

[JH27N0B]

It's really down to the wire for me now with my T/A, it's supposed to be back home Tuesday after a couple weeks in the shop fixing the problems the last "high end" shop inflicted on it.
I'll be taking off Wednesday and detailing the car in preparation for MCACN where I'm scheduled for concours judging, car will be at the show set up other Thursday or Friday.
I've never had a car in a show where a team of judges will be going over it with magnifying glasses!
They don't put cars on lifts there to inspect the bottom closely, but otherwise everything is fair game I guess.  I ordered some Griots tire product based on an interview I read with a guy who details cars for Pebble Beach.  But otherwise, any advice on what to make sure I do and clean and detail to impress the judges from those that have been involved in this type of judging?

[FlatlandTA]

Can't wait to see it [emoji108]


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[anlauto]

Can't wait to hear the results....I hope "that" restoration shop is there to take all the credit 

[303 Mopar]

Since you are new to this, and if it is really worth it to you, consider having a professional shop detail and wax it.  I did this for my Cuda when it was in the Denver Auto Show which was not judged but still on display for all to see and I wanted it to look good.

[JH27N0B]

Can't wait to hear the results....I hope "that" restoration shop is there to take all the credit 

They're right up front at MCACN unveiling a petty blue Superbird, so if you see its owner, might want to recommend he check his car's rear end for oil, make sure the nut holding the Pittman arm is on by more than a few threads, tighten all front end components, driveshaft retention is over finger tight etc, before he thinks about driving his car! 

[hato]

you can ask sonny at next level if he can come out an detail it inside the show while there setting up i had dft do mine that 1 year and wasn't impressed with his work. did u do any polishing to the paint urself. if you want to go the diy route the meguriar's mariane rv  vinyl and rubber is nice for the tops. not too greasy just the right amount of shine

[Gary]

Out of 1000 points,  there is only about 20 points for cleanliness 5 each for undercarriage, body, interior, and  engine compartment.  The other 980 are about correct parts and condition. Are you going for concourse judging or day 2.  Day 2 is not as concerned with numbers as OE. OE judging they will be looking at correct  hardware,  correct finish.  They don't like paint on suspension or drivetrain parts that are supposed to be bare metal.  At this point just clean and clean and clean is about all you can do.  Look at it as a learning experience, they will talk to you after they judge your car and you can learn what they think you can do to make your car better.{ maybe I should say more original]. Good luck and hopefully will see you there.

[hato]

i was also told the year i was in they look for basically showroom new parts so very little wear on anything i could be wrong i just did showroom stock if i recall the spare tire i think is worth 25points

[JH27N0B]

I'm in concours.
I appreciate the input, I did enter my car a lot as a learning experience.
Since they don't put cars on lifts in this class at MCACN, how close can they inspect the underside?
Some of my bare metal underside items, trans, center housing, tie rod, are painted bare metal.  Guess I'll be docked for those.
Most parts are OEM, date coded.  I'm confident under hood is nearly perfect.
To what extent should I provide documentation?  I really don't want to bring my Mr Norms sales paperwork envelope.  Would a copy of my advanced dealer shipping notice suffice to document the car is restored to as it as new? A repro fender tag is installed on the car, should I bring my original?  It's rusty by one screw hole but the one or two codes by that hole are not important codes as far as documenting the car.
I wish the shop it's at hadn't been so backed up this summer that they couldn't work on it until now.  Daily calls over the last 2 weeks on problems they found mostly with Magnums "work" has left me feeling pretty beat up and not even wanting to look at the car right now! 

[anlauto]

Can't wait to hear the results....I hope "that" restoration shop is there to take all the credit 

They're right up front at MCACN unveiling a petty blue Superbird, so if you see its owner, might want to recommend he check his car's rear end for oil, make sure the nut holding the Pittman arm is on by more than a few threads, tighten all front end components, driveshaft retention is over finger tight etc, before he thinks about driving his car! 

Being in the business, this really burns my butt....They should have at the very least given you a verbal list of "how they left it" , by that I mean...they should have told you face to face " hey, we just threw the suspension in the car....nothing is tight, nothing has oil in it...etc..." or if they were the least bit reputable, put tags on things like "no oil" or accompany the car with a list of things not yet complete....I understand that you chose to "finish the car yourself" , but they could have some courtesy when it comes to information...

[anlauto]

Good luck with the judging, I hope all your hard work pays off....No lift though ? Sounds like pretty basic car show judging then, not really "concourse judging" 

[JH27N0B]

They have a team of judges who are selected as people who are experts in the makes they are judging.  I'm sure the crawl around on the ground with flashlights trying to inspect what the can of the undersides.  But the only lifts used there are in the vintage certification class of top survivor type cars.

[Gary]

They will check numbers on the engine and trans to make sure they are correct.  They will check the fender tag to make sure you have the correct options.  They will focus on original parts and condition.  We were in the group of cars you were in 2 years ago.  The blue AAR - the olsonite Cuda That we restored and our orange 70 Charger RT.  They were both restored to pretty much the same quality.  The AAR was in day 2 judging because of the Olsonite changes on the car.  He got gold.  We were in concourse because we wanted to learn, even though we knew we had a non numbers  4 speed. which was a 40 point hit right off the bat.  We got a bronze.  We had a fully painted undercarriage -4 painted suspension and trans and exhaust.-8  A lot of wrong fasteners wrong finish on many parts.  Wrong tires aftermarket trim rings.  It was basically our first Mopar restoration and as the judges discussed things with us We kicked ourselves over and over because a lot of the things they brought up were things we had learned since we did the car. With harvest we just didn't have time to go over the car like we should have. You will be alright and will learn a lot.  Even if you don't get gold realize that most of the cars you see at local shows, even though they are very nice are not done to the detail and originality that you will be judged on.  I remember your car from 2years ago and agonized with you when we saw the scratch on it. IT was very nice.  Good Luck.

[Gary]

I don't think you will have to document anything It might not be a bad idea to bring the original fender tag to show if an issue comes up.  But we are not experts in this judging game.  We are still learning also.  A lot depends on the judge, different judges look at different things. That's just part of the game.  You can lose 50 points and still get gold.  If you have a lot of OEM date coded parts, I'm confident you will be alright.  Come look us up.  We will have an orange 70 Charger RT and going thru the same judging as you.

[JH27N0B]

I remember the Olsenite AAR well, I'm sure I'll recognize the Charger when I see it.  Where in the hall are they putting you, or don't you know yet?
I'll be away from my car mostly, since I'm working the show.  I'll be either watching the stage area or they said they may have me watch the Juliano display, which would be cool!
I still am baffled by the stripe scratch.  I don't think the stripes got even a little scratch in all the years I had it, including parked outside at my folks.  The '09 R/T, stripe is mint after 9 years.
First showing and 2nd time out of the garage after restoration the T/As stripe gets a guoge in it.    As another thread I posted says, the car is cursed (as am I). 
And the stripes are now in question again.  I got an NOS door stripe from a friend.  Happily it installed ok despite being almost 40 years old!  However the shop says the texture is slightly different than the other stripes.  He questions if they are really NOS.  I gave an NOS set to the other shop, who charged me dearly to install.  He's suspicious they damaged them and used repros without telling me.
My set had a 86 or 87 date code on the box, the door one I got was '79.  I wonder if the 3M texture changed slightly over the years?  Or perhaps the Jax Wax Hawaiian spray that was recommended to me for stripes at MCACN after the damage to help make the damage look better, made those stripes sheen look slightly different?
Whatever the case, it gave me another issue to feel stressed about!