going to first concours tomorrow. any tips?

[Planter91C2]

hi guys,

going to first concours. are they fun? have you been to one this year yet? should i spend all night detailing?



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Daryl 964 Targa

[Doug Zielke]

Good luck, Daryl. Just don't let the judges catch you with dirt under the lug nuts!

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'81 SC Coupe (aka: "Blue Bomber")
Canada West Region PCA
The Blue Bomber's Website

[davis911s]

I can't offer any advice, but Good Luck and really it isn't about winning. Have fun and learn

[tmctguer]

depending on the category you are entering, the competition and judging varies. if it is "wash & shine", you can have fun without getting TOO serious. if you are in "street" or "full concourse", it is tough competition.

if you are really competing for a win, hopefully you have spent the past few weekends cleaning your car with Q-tips. i am not joking. otherwise, the "pros" will blow you away.

there are some really anal folks on the concourse circuit. i am pretty close to being anal, but there are folks who actually disassemble their cars to get ALL the dirt out. i take apart only those components that are easily done.

i compete with a low miles '89 speedster. folks think that it is easy to win with a low mileage car. i can attest to spending TONS of time getting mine really, really clean. and even when you think it is clean, a good judge will find dirt somewhere. i have a lot of respect for folks who use daily drivers for their concourse winning cars.

take the judges feedback with a smile and learn from their observations. and have fun looking at all the beautifully clean porsches.

[Porsche911NYC]

With (2) First Place Trophies, and as a former U.S. Marine, I speak with experience. It IS about winning, or else why even bother participating and embarrassing yourself and everyone else. If you're not going to do it right, why even do it at all. You're either an active participant in life, or a lifeless spectator. With that said, assume nothing is going to be available to you other than a place to park your car. Run to Home Depot and purchase one of their 5-gallon orange paint buckets with the lid. The lid has a rubber seal so that you can safely carry water with you; you can throw it off a building and the water won't leak out (carry it on one of the back seats on top of a towel so as not to leave any bucket indentations in the seat). Also bring a couple of towels (one to sit, kneel, lay on), Wool Wash Mitt, California Blade, P21S Drying Cloth, lint-free paper towels, an alcohol-based window cleaner and a box of Q-tips. Get there REALLY EARLY (there's never enough time to do everything). Register, park the car and IMMEDIATELY GET BUSY (there will be plenty of time to "bs" after the judging begins). Gently rinse down, from top-to-bottom, the entire car using the Wool Wash Mitt (remember, the car has attracted road dust, etc...), then quickly California Blade off the car followed by the P21S Drying Cloth (naturally, it's assumed you'll be drying those areas where water always seeps in - under the front hood, door sills, engine compartment, etc...). Closely inspect the car: make sure there is NO dried wax visible anywhere (the night before, if you find yourself removing dried wax, use a SoniCare toothbrush so as not to leave any brush marks). Also, clean very well in the door handle areas and under the wiper blade arm (stick your pinky up in under there, see all that dirt?). Remember, attention to detail & appearance is everything; if you can, try to arrange your wheels so that ALL four Porsche crests are straight-up and pointing down. Good luck.

[Superman]

And practice holding your nose up and your pinky out.

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'83 SC

[dtw]

Originally posted by Porsche911NYC:
With (2) First Place Trophies, and as a former U.S. Marine, I speak with experience.

Marine experience helps w/concourse prep? Had to swab decks or something? I thought you made the Navy boys do that. Sell your car yet?

Daryl: NYC is right, true concourse competition makes pro-rugby look like ring-around-the-rosy in the schoolyard. It isn't likely that you will win a serious one the first time out. You should go and have fun, but make sure to soak up all the knowledge you can. Put the heavy-hitting cars under a microscope, pick 'em apart, talk to the owners, wheedle the secrets out of 'em. Give an 'aw shucks' grin when you get your sheet, then go home and start preparing for the next one, where you will brutally pound the competition into the dust.

I guess we needed a qualifying question: what kind of concourse are you going to

-d



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Dave
'72 911T to '73 RSR Replica Project

[Planter91C2]

thanks superman, but i have the nose and pinky thing down pat

dtw, i don't know. i'm going in blind. all i know is that there is going to be a number of classes. i joined the pca last year over the net and didn't meet any of the guys yet. i thought this would be a fun way to meet the fellow enthusiasts and local pca guys. i'm a little concerned now that i am ill-prepared to seriously compete. i've got a pretty clean car with 49k miles, just waxed, new tires, and good interior. tonight i'll be getting out the q-tips.

i guess i'll just take it casual and have fun and then do better next year.

what was anyone elses first concours like?

i was thinking of only spectating at the first one, but said what the hell, i'll give it a shot.



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Daryl 964 Targa

[Peter Kelly]

Daryl,

I assume you are going to the Niagara region's concours in Akron park tomorrow... I will be there too.
The best way to describe this is a "fun" concours... you won't (I hope) see anyone bringing cars on trailers. Most of the cars that will be there (except for the 356's) are daily or weekend drivers.

I do track events with my car, and I won my class last year!

see you there!

-Peter

89 Carrera

[Porsche911NYC]

It's common knowledge that no one knows how to prepare for an inspection, or war, for that matter, like a Marine (or has that southern sun baked your brain to a crisp; you're only surrounded by how many military bases?). Of course we make those nice Navy boys swab the decks for us. We appreciate the rides they give us to "far-off places" so that we may protect this great nation of ours (seems like we have alot of us Wall Street boys who have served our country; can't seem to find any accountants who have - and I know alot of accountants - why is that?).

[Clark Griswald]

Originally posted by Porsche911NYC:
It IS about winning, or else why even bother participating and embarrassing yourself and everyone else

Oh Planter..... you obviously have the wrong attitude and have no business entering your car in a concourse. I am already feeling embarrassed for you.

[KTL]

Someone please explain the concours thing to me. I like to have a clean, shiny car just as much as the next guy. I feel mine is cleaner than most others I have seen. This type of competition seems crazy. I can see judging cars for wear or dirty valve covers or rusty mufflers. To me, some of the things the judges use to penalize you are down-right outrageous. Cars (especially Porsches) are for DRIVING.

I guess the whole concours thing is to see who can maintain their car the best as it ages? Thing is, some cars are such garage queens that i'll bet it kills the owners to drive them. If you don't drive it, it's quite easy to keep it like new or better. That's just wrong.

I just don't like my car being picked apart either. Nothing's perfect. Including myself. I know exactly what's up with my car. I'd like it to be brand new, but it's still the same 911 if the front rubber spoiler is nicked in a few places. That's because it's been driven! I don't need some concours "expert" taking points off for having a bright spot on one of my fuchs where the wheel weight used to be attached. That's a little too anal if you ask me.

Good luck Daryl. I think you'll be amazed by how clean some cars are prepped. I saw a Parade Class winning 944S2 Cabriolet from our Chicago Region last year and was astounded at the cleanliness of the car. Unbelievably clean. Too clean. I'd never want to drive it for fear of ruining the beauty. That's why I sold my last car and got the 911 in order to have something to wrench on and enjoy driving.

Daryl, you aren't planning on winning!!!!? WHY YOU LITTLE MAGGOT!!! YOU MAKE ME WANNA VOMIT!!!

The above is a quote from the Drill Sergeant in the movie Full Metal Jacket. No offense intended!

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Kevin
87 Carrera coupe

[This message has been edited by KTL (edited 08-10-2001).]

[tchanson]

I love the smell of Zymol in the morning...smells like...victory.


As noted above, go with a good attitude your first time. No matter how thoroughly you think you've gone through the car, if you are in any kind of serious judging you will be amazed at the things judges will find.

Take tons of notes, ask lots of questions and you will build upon your performance in later events (assuming you enjoy your first event...lots of people don't) by not making the same mistakes twice. Once you accumulate an idea of all the details that are importatnt, its much easier to take care of them as a part of your concours prep.

Have fun and good luck. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts after the event.
Tim

[Clark Griswald]

KTL, well said. To be competitive you have to not drive your car. Huh? I appreciate a well maintained car as much as anyone, but my cars are for driving

I would like to see a concourse/cup race. A combined event that includes concourse judging and on track racing. The winner has the best combined score / time.

Now were talkin real cars that get driven hard, no garage queens need apply.

[jlex]

I don't do the concourse thing, but I'll pass along a tip from my uncle who was a body man and had some great cars.... don't wash your car if you can help it (unless its outrageously dirty or has accumulated a lot of road oil); instead, take a bucket of clear water with you to the show and a good CELLULOSE (not foam rubber) sponge with you. Get one of those that is about 8"x4"x1"... they're not easy to find.
The first few times you use it, it won't work that well, but once its broken in it works great. Just dip the sponge in the water, wring it out real well, work it very lightly (almost no pressure) over a small surface area using both sides/ then rinse it out & repeat. The trick is to wring it out real well each time so you're not leaving any water drops behind to dry and leave marks. Caution: don't accumulate hardly any dirt or grit on the sponge before rinsing... it can eventually act like a piece of sandpaper if you're not careful.
I'll wash my car only one time for every 3 or 4 times I give it a "sponge bath". Try it... saves lots of time, work, rust, & drowned out electrical components. Good luck tomorrow.
regards,
jlex.

[KTL]

Chuck,

That's a good idea. Then, if there's someone you want to beat in concours points, just get up beside them and put a nice big BF Goodrich donut on his door- if you're fast enough. All's fair in love and war. Like dtw Dave said, the concours is pretty serious.


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Kevin
87 Carrera coupe

[This message has been edited by KTL (edited 08-13-2001).]

[Superman]

I'd agree that our Marines are the best. Israeli infantry personnel are pretty good too, but that's O.T. And our Marines have the finest dress blue uniforms in the solar system, hands down.

But having said that, I'll also observe that the US Marine Corps is a branch of the Navy. And it's my understanding that Marines, as well as Rangers and everyone else, stands up straight when a Navy Seal walks by. So there!

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'83 SC

[Drew_K]

I've only been to one concourse event and really enjoyed it, mainly because it was my first chance to meet the local PCA members. It's definitely a serious competition and it was very obvious people had spent a lot of time prepping. On the other hand, I didn't find it unfriendly at all or extreme, as some would make it out to be.

Does your PCA region have a 'show' class? It's basically a chance to display your car but it doesn't get judged. That way you can participate without having to worry about Q-tipping your A/C vents, etc., and, more importantly, you get a chance to meet the local PCA members.

[KTL]

Super's flirting with death here. Don't taunt the Corp.! This one may chase down the cool collar if it gets out of hand.

I personally like the smell of Meguiar's #26 and/or 3M hand glaze in the morning. Smells like easy on, easy off. That Zymol is a pain in the back side. Super funny nonetheless!!!

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Kevin
87 Carrera coupe

[R22tech]

I went to my 1st concour in MAY/01 with every intention of winning. All humbleness aside, after cleaning every square inch of my car and removing countless amounts of deterioration/oxidation I KNEW I WOULD WIN. Wrong! I took second place. Mine was full concours and the judges found all the places I missed. Some things you just can't get any cleaner unless you replace them. Once you start doing that, you will end up in the restoration class where the cars are much cleaner than they were when they were brand new! The best advise I can give you is to remember the points system:
exterior=100 points
interior=100 points
engine=100points
trunk=100points
You don't want spend all your time waxing and polishing the paint when the trunk counts just as much! You gotta do it in phases: Phase 1-clean everything in all 4 areas with mild soap and water to remove all the surface dirt. Phase2- clean it all again only paying more attention to area that are small or hidden. Phase3- clean it all again only make sure you use a white towel or rag to make sure its still not getting dirt out of the area to be cleaned.You must be able to rub everything and anything down with a white cloth and not see any dirt on the cloth.Phase4-now you can start detail work on corroded fittings, oxidized paint and fan, ect. This is wher most of your time will go and you must budget enough time to get to ALL the problem areas, don't spend 10 hrs. on the engine fan if you only have 15 hrs. to give to the rest of the car. Phase5- cue-tips, lint roller, "porsche" glass cleaner, both intereior and exterior, and a quick detailing kit to bring to the show. Go early and have fun once the judging starts. Remember, no grease on ANYTHING, even if it needs it to function properly! I will be happy to fax you my score sheets to show you exactly what was judged at my concours. My score was 345/400 in class C, 911 78-89.