Hey I'm doing my first car show this weekend, if the weather is good. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone had some hints and helpful advice on properly cleaning for a carshow inspection, inside, outside and engine compartment? Anything most judges will pay close attention too? Also its a convertible, are they shown top up or down points for either? Any help would be awesome. Thanks

 

A tip someone told me was to buy some cheap mudflaps and paper-clip them to the real wells using those black folding paper clips. Then, when you get there you can take them off and your rear fender well and rear panels are spotless.

 

Make sure the car is very clean inside and out as they mark big on how clean the car is....everything else IMO is subjective and political which I wont get into here. Get into all the nook and crannies like the door jambs and the area for the gas cap, the fenders in front where they are attached to the car and around each bolt that holds on the fenders. The trunk drip edges and shine the exhaust tips. Wash out the wheel wells and DO NOT spray armorall on them after...that will just pick up the dust and debris on the drive to the show. Instead leave them after you wash the car and apply Mequiars Quik detailer to the wheel wells and wipe off....leaves a non greasy satin shine and hydrates any "rubber like" (undercoating) material in the wheel wells...trust me on this one. Apply your tire dressing of choice after you get to the show so no slinging of product happens on to the paint you just freshly- washed, clay barred, polished, glazed, and waxed (Tech wax 2.0 works great). Degrease the motor if needed and follow with CD2 engine detailer...all of the above you can find at any automotive store and plan on at least 4 hrs of work to the car the day before (the closer to the show date the better IMO).

I have spent 13 hrs underneath the car "detailing" in one day....yes this is extreme and I had one hell of a pain in my neck but the rewards are worth it and you really get to know every screw, nut, and bolt of the car.

Make sure there is no streaking of the windows and windshield and dont put any product on the convertible top. Ask when you get there if they want the top up or down during judging...not sure on that one.

During the judging tell them it is your first show and ask for pointers

 

The rules for judging American cars are so much more lax than for British cars. Every concourse winning convertible in the Jaguar Clubs of North America competition has never had the top down, as that would cause wrinkles.

When I was into the JCNA shows, I saw brand new cars that were beaten by cars that had been restored to conditions beyond factory. It's weird.

If streak-free windows are important in judging, use glass wax rather than Windex or something like that. You can find glass wax at pretty much any hardware store.

If you have a dark finish car, get a good feather duster. (The California dusters are fine for everyday cleaning, but the streaks they can leave may mean the difference between getting a trophy or going home empty-handed).

 

Monkey- that is true except for the best of the best concourse judging that actually does take place for very high end cars or exotics or the very old and restored to concourse standards.....not many in the USA that i know of....

 

Fantastic tip!

 

thank you sir!

 

thanks for all the advice, I will take it all into account next show. This one ended up being just a show with no judging so i had the wheel wells and the engine the only 2 things i didnt go into alot of detail on, but have another in a few weeks so im gonna try to get it ready for that. thanks again.