VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION VCCA Judging Questions points

I have a question on points and parts. say I have a Delco battery would that get the same ponts as a reproduction? also how well does the battery topper judge? thanks

It depends. Depends on the year as early model Chevrolets did not use a Delco battery on assembly line. Some were available from Chevrolet parts. Later Delco batteries were factory installed. Also depends upon judges and location of battery. If below the floor boards like early models the judges typically don't bother to crawl far enough under to see the battery. In 40s and later where battery is in the engine compartment it it easier to see and judge.

The incorrect battery is a mandatory 5 point deduction, a Delco non-authentic replacement is a mandatory 2 point deduction. Considering that the cars did not come to the public with a battery topper it is to be considered incorrect and the above deductions would apply. Again this only applys to vehicles where the battery was a Delco and in those vehicles were the battery is clearly visable. It is an easy deduction to offset.
I hope this helps,
John Mahoney
VCCA Assistant Judging Chair

well a new reproduction battery is over 200, a topper is 49.00. and where the battery is on my car it would be hard to see the sides. and the topper looks just like the OEM delco. do the judeges pull on the parts to see if it is a topper? if they can not see the sides? trying to get a idea how the cars are judged and the componets.

I really can not tell you how to restore your car, all I can tell you are the rules that we play by. If you want to take a chance that is your decision. The real battery is different, and to be honest a good team looks close for a battery to be correct. Sometimes they get picked up sometimes they don't. I would rethink the cost issue, you would still have to buy an incorrect battery, and then this "topper" so if you subtract it from the $200 price, the authetic battery is only a few dollars more if that. It would be pretty hard to get an idea from here how a car is judged, you really would have to participate at meet to get a feel of what goes on. My advice it to make the car as authentic as possible, then all you have to worry about is workmanship and condition. What year and model are you talking about anyway?
Good Luck.
John Mahoney
VCCA Assistant Judging Chair

It is a 1971 Corvette, LS-5 454

Hello LKS454,
The VCCA judging system is 1,000 point based.It is very thorough and well detailed.IMO,it is above average when compared to the various national,marque specific clubs when compared to their stock class judged 1,000 formats.

If you seriously enjoy showing your LS-5 or want to start,it's the attention to the small details(like a correct battery)that add up.In a stock judged 1,000 class,it's what seperates a first place car from a second place car. Jim Downum VCCA/NIR

Hi John! When I first read this thread I did not know about battery toppers. Maybe I'm just stuck in the earlier generation (pre-car) cars and I hadn't heard of this 'topper' thing. So, I did a quick search and came up with the following: http://www.batterytoppers.com/

This kind of info is good to know as we are often encouraged to judge cars that we may not be entirely familiar with.

The battery toppers have been on the market for last 8 years or so.The most common is the GM R-59 topper which is designed to drop over a top post Delco series 24 maint free battery.It is held in place by the battery terminals.Clever idea.I use one on my 70 Impala driver/cruiser.My other 70 Impala that I show has a reproduction dry cell of the R-59.Excellent quality and unfortunately expensive but well worth it on the show field,imo.
The toppers are great for a cruise night car,non show car,etc..
They are actually easy to detect during field judging.They have a larger more pronounced lip that covers top edging of the battery.Also,the sides of the modern 24 series batteries have a much different look/feel than the orig style R-59 series.
Jim Downum NIR

Coach,
Now they are making fake 1957 Chevrolets so whats so bad about a make-believe battery.
Where will it end?

454 vcca judging is not a ncrs typ of judging on a 71 corvett you can not see any part of the battery . top , side , bottom it is not required to open . doors, hood, trunk, on cars with two sides the judge may ask to open the other side . usally the judgeing team does not ask the car owner any thing . in some cases a judge may tell you you have the ignition wire terminal on backward . you may want to attend a meet where there is vcca judging plus get a judging hand book . really it is a lot of fun to see what you thought was pretty much correct and a judge finds part of a cow chip on your tire and count off points . there is a lot of good people really good cars and if you take judging real serious the fun part goes away pushrod

Good point, Gene...just where will it end?
Maybe that's why authentic parts...like the '35 fender skirts on Ebay...are going for huge bucks!

I agree Gene.No one knows where it will end.Those 57's are very pricey,though.I do not believe they have a vin,right?It's kind of like assigning a title to a new kit car hot rod or homemade vehicle I would guess.
Hey I really enjoyed your 57 article and your Nomad.Beautiful car!
Jim Downum NIR

Thanks Jim,
I did get a lot of compliments on it. Thanks also to the others that said they enjoyed it.
Gene

P.S.
I guess I can't say too much about fake parts. The fender skirts on my '39 are fake. A member in our region made them. It began with him making the 1937-40 exhaust deflectors. I had a sample for him yo copy. Then he made the 1938-39 rear bumper gravel deflectors. He used the one from my '39 as a pattern. Then the next step was 1937-38 fender skirts. They were impossible to detect from the original. He formed the mouldingd from solid stainless. Then we discovered that the 1937-38 skirts fit the 1939 except the attaching method was different. My skirts attach with the two levers as the 1938 did. The correct 1939 skirts had the large chrome bolt head on top that moved the levers. The lower moulding is solid stainless and it matches the running board moulding as it should. He produced many of these parts and Kessler would purchase large quanities of them for resale. He also made a couple of pairs of 1935-36 skirts and mouldings.

The original 1939 skirts are about the most difficult to find. In all my travels through the years the only pair I ever found for sale were at the Anniversary Meet in Nashville in 1991. Their price was reasonable too.

For some reason the 1934 skirts were easy to find years back. I paid $25.00 for mine back in 1971. The 1934 skirts fit 1935 Masters and 1936 also but the trim is very different.

gene i think i was standing next to you when you were looking at the 35 with the fender covers they were really 34 covers and i dont think the judge knew the differance . they still looked good pushrod

OK when you have a meet and the cars are judged does each year car have book that the judges go by? are is it just a genrail guide line when the different years and cars are judged?

How about 38 coup skirts. Are they rare?...Oscar :)

LKS454,
Go here and you should find the answers to most if not all your questions.Also you can download the actual judging form I believe.
Jim

http://vcca.org/judging.htm

If anyone wants to see a battery topper in place in an engine comp I just added a couple of pics of my battery toper R-59 in my 70 Impala driver car.It's in the members photos section below. Jim

Oscar,
The 1937-38 skirts were easy to find years ago but like eveything else they are rare and expensive tday. There was another reproduction version of those made at one time also. I would rate them as fair reproductions. On the good repros and originals the rubber seal between the skirt and fender was barely visable. On the fair repros its easily seen.

Thanks Gene...Oscar