Early 63 wheel well undercoating questions

[Thomas C.]

On an early 63 (Dec. build) I recently completed a local Top Flight judging event and the judges commented on non-typical black paint showing in the wheel wells and white fiberglass was required. I recently stripped the fiberglass tubs which included rear tub that extends down the rear wheel opening. On pg. 104 of the 7th Ed. of the judging guide it references the undercoating but also areas that are not undercoated. Does anyone have pictures of the proper undercoating application front and back including the raw tubs? Thanks!

[Patrick H.]

Re: Early 63 wheel well undercoating questions

Tom,

I've said it before, and I'll say it again -
I'd be happy to come over and go over your car with you.
Now that you have judging sheets, it may (?) be easier.
If I recall, you do have a lift, which will help with some of the underneath items.

Or, the 63 convertible is back here, and you can look at this one for reference. It wasn't here when you had the car judged as we needed the space for the event.

Patrick

[Thomas C.]

Re: Early 63 wheel well undercoating questions

Patrick, I will take you up on that. I'll send you and SMS as I converted the judging sheets into an interactive Excel spreadsheet to track things. Thanks!

[David H.]

Re: Early 63 wheel well undercoating questions

On an early 63 (Dec. build) I recently completed a local Top Flight judging event and the judges commented on non-typical black paint showing in the wheel wells and white fiberglass was required. I recently stripped the fiberglass tubs which included rear tub that extends down the rear wheel opening. On pg. 104 of the 7th Ed. of the judging guide it references the undercoating but also areas that are not undercoated. Does anyone have pictures of the proper undercoating application front and back including the raw tubs? Thanks!

Thomas

First, did you by chance photograph those wheel wells before stripping them?

Second, your car's history, has it been restored before? Believed to be original? Mileage?

Reason I ask - "Running Changes". 1963 saw over 600 "Notice of Production Changes" (NPC) or average about 3 per day. These were changes to 63's Assembly Instruction Manual (A.I.M.) - how the car was built. The A.I.M. we have for our cars is generally the LAST copy - incorporating all those changes.

Problem is, just how your car, or anyone else's for that matter, was ACTUALLY built remains a question because there is no copy of the AIM that was in effect when YOUR car was built.

This is why you never change an original car to make it match a Judging Guide - doing so just looses history of these cars. Also why you don't trust a judge - we don't know everything! Do your research before you change things. For example, current 1963-64 Judging Guide is 7th edition. Always learning more about these cars - don't throw history away.

If a car has already been restored, then the AIM and our Judging Guides are your goto resources.

Below is a link to John Hinckley's article on the Assembly Manual and Running Changes - worth a read.

Dave

http://www.camaros.org/AIM.shtml