Restorations, Originality and Concours Judging

riverflyer · Mar 2, 2006

410SA said:

You're obviously entitled to think whatever you wish, but this particular piece (the epoxy encased steering wheel) was done for the purpose of preserving the original wheel - not restoring it. To the naked eye it looks exactly the same as a regular steering wheel would look if it had been well taken care since it was new. 40 year-old wood steering wheels, especially those on E-Types, are rather delicate items. They bend in your hands under spirited driving and most of them show signs of hairline cracking. They also tend to dry out in climates like Arizona and it simply makes sense to protect them, without altering them aesthetically.
The judge in question here had clearly seen this type of work before and he was determined to not let anyone get away with anything on his watch - otherwise, who knows, western civilization as we know it might cease to exist!
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I am with you on this. Being a long time woodworker, I can certainly vouch for the fact that wood is not meant to be exposed to the extremes fostered by car interiors and if you already have it, you better work to preserve it or it will dry out and break, esp. the wood in 3 dimensions like steering wheels, glove box lids etc.

BT · Mar 3, 2006

opus10583 said:

An epoxy encased E-type steering wheel sounds hideously over-restored to me.
...Surely it was obvious well before any meaurement.
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I thought that was a sarcastic joke. It seems ridiculous to me that you would get a deduction for a clear coat over a steering wheel.
BT

opus10583 · Mar 4, 2006

410SA said:

You're obviously entitled to think whatever you wish, but this particular piece (the epoxy encased steering wheel) was done for the purpose of preserving the original wheel - not restoring it. To the naked eye it looks exactly the same as a regular steering wheel would look if it had been well taken care since it was new. 40 year-old wood steering wheels, especially those on E-Types, are rather delicate items. They bend in your hands under spirited driving and most of them show signs of hairline cracking. They also tend to dry out in climates like Arizona and it simply makes sense to protect them, without altering them aesthetically.
The judge in question here had clearly seen this type of work before and he was determined to not let anyone get away with anything on his watch - otherwise, who knows, western civilization as we know it might cease to exist!
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You chose to enter your car in an originality competition, how can you whine when obviously non-standard equipment gets pointed out?

410SA · Mar 4, 2006

opus10583 said:

You chose to enter your car in an originality competition, how can you whine when obviously non-standard equipment gets pointed out?
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I'm not whining. If you read my post it simply says that I have come to the conclusion that I don't particularly care for this type of competition.
Whining would have been if I was upset that the judge's deduction cost me a trophy or was otherwise unfair and I was unhappy to the point that I wanted the situation to be redressed. The particular situation simply led me to make a decision regarding nth degree competitive judged events.

I still really enjoy showing my cars whenever possible at club events where the social aspect of the gathering is paramount and trophies and awards are merely incidental.

Looking back, I see it was you that commented, not having laid eyes on the original wheel mind you, that it was "hideous".
I understand your situation. Maybe you too will have the opportunity someday to own a "hideous" steering wheel, possibly attached to a "hideous" car.

ArtS · Mar 4, 2006

410SA,

I think we picked up a troll on this thread - opus...

I would recommend ignoring him and he will eventually go away.

Regards,

Art S.

Bryanp · Mar 4, 2006

410SA said:

The final straw for me was a Jaguar concours where the crusty old fart who was in charge of the E-type category, pulled out a cloth measuring tape to measure the circumference of my factory original steering wheel and deducted two points (out of 1,000) for the wheel being 2mm too large, because we had dipped the wheel in epoxy to keep the beautiful wood from drying out and splintering.
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2mm deviation measured w/ a CLOTH tape? that pretty much says it all . . .

134282 · Mar 4, 2006

410SA said:

I'm not whining.
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I see that you've edited your last post. Now it is no longer original and your attempt to preserve it has ruined its authenticity. Two points will be deducted from your post count.

285ferrari · Mar 4, 2006

NNO said:

I see that you've edited your last post. Now it is no longer original and your attempt to preserve it has ruined its authenticity. Two points will be deducted from your post count.
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LMAO!!!!

opus10583 · Mar 8, 2006

410SA said:

Looking back, I see it was you that commented, not having laid eyes on the original wheel mind you, that it was "hideous".
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Yeah... Actually, what I said, in the original, is "[a]n epoxy encased E-type steering wheel sounds hideously over-restored to me".

A distinction no less obvious.

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