As an engineer for one of the Big Three, I find it ironic how we spend so much effort on getting the NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness) out of the new ones, but the NVH of the old ones is a good share of the fun!!!!

The other part of the fun is the distinctive styling of the older cars....generally the results of one man's genius...not the results of "design by committee" and "designer focus groups".

Give me the reliability of the new ones and the uniqueness and character of the old ones any day!!

Sorry to get a bit off topic, but couldn't resist having a little fun. :D

 

Dave - Best of luck at the upcoming PVs! :yesnod: This has been an interesting thread for sure. I'll be lucky if I can get top flight with my '70 one of these years. :lol: PV seems like an almost insurmountable hill !! I give you guys a TON of respect for having passed that test! :cool: :cheers: :thumbs:

 

Ed, I did the PV in about 89 at Cypress, give or take a year. To make a long story short, I got real disgusted with a rookie judge, who'd never judged NCRS before, being allowed to judge at the Atlanta regional and making some deductions against guidelines based on his NCCC experience. One flagrant example was a white glove under the fenderwell, and a pebble in a tire tread, even though the judging took place on a grass field. Of course NCRS encourages driving cars and NCCC judging at the time was a witch hunt for dirt, but that's the direction it went and the team leader recommended a change, but wouldn't downright overturn. The car scored 96 and change and the remedy would've been to ship it to Joplin for a higher score, and then to Anaheim for the national which we were already taking a 67 435 to. The 67 belonged to one of my best friends and although I didn't do the car, I'd always helped him with preparation and presentation. The 67 was clear and we decided to abandon the Joplin trip and just take the 67 to Anaheim and concentrate on it. It got the Duntov, but I was so weary of the whole process I just never got back to it. I had Top Flights with both my 69 L88 and 69 L89. Both cars had been to Bloomington and were certified, the L88 in 88 and the L89 in 89, with the L89 scoring about 98% and at the time pursuing the Duntov on top of the aggravation involved didn't seem as important as it does now in retrospect. The Anaheim national was the last time I participated in a judged event.

 

Solidlifter, I am sorry to hear about your bad experience with a rookie judge. This is not an uncommon situation, thought this is usually more common at a Chapter meet than a Regional. I think anyone who has had their car Flight Judged numerous times has some sort of similar story to tell. I know that the NCRS has tried to address this issue, but as in any organizaton you are depending on proper training and good execution to prevail.
Your collection of Corvettes is very impressive.
The whole Duntov exercise is exhausting and I know I would think twice before attempting it again.
Ed