What do the judges look for at the big regional/national shows?? Local shows are pretty much just having a nice car that people like, no prob ;) But i am looking into seriously going to shows in the future and would love to get pointers as to what i should do now to help me in the future. TIA

what kind of show, if you go to a muscle car show, you most likely wont get votes. if you go to an all import show, there are usually many categoeies, engine, interior/exterior and such. to compete in any of those you need some major work.for engine, a clean chromed engine bay will most likely do. for int/ext, ud need a flawless paint job, you dont really need ground effects, but if you wanna go that route, get some that are origional. interior, you might need some color coordinating material. i entered a car show just for fun locally, and won best exterior. and my exterior is bone stock, i dont believe in ground effects(needless weight), i just waxed my car thats it. local shows are easier, but nationals like nopi or hot import nights, you need to be completely fast and furriousized.
later
chris

Well.....I am having evil ideas for exterior stuff....I will be going the body kit route. I do know that custom things are good for "points" My interior will be painted for now until i get the space for glassing. Then comes the ICE ;) Local shows are easy, i could have entered my car with half the interior ripped out and prolly could have taken home third place. And i know not to take my ricer to a muscle car show :P Although its funny to beat them at their own exhaust competitions :thumbsup

even if you don't much engine work done still make your hood is open..extra points

I know a guy that judged at shows. They look for interior/exterior/engine. Meaning, you can have wild body work, but if you don't have the custom interior to back it up, you're not gonna win. Your engine bay also needs to be immaculate. If you have a Civic, you better have a motor swap or turbo or else many judges won't consider your car "done". For us, a turbo kit is extremely helpful. It's like an eclipse is expected to have a turbo.

For body mods, a full kit, and 18"+ wheels are good, as well as a clean overall look to it. Get air bags or adjustable coilovers so you can slam it at shows. A headlight or tailight conversion will get you points too. It's really hard to win at the major top shows nowadays. Good luck...

I ain't really worried about national shows.....hard to compete monitarily to alot of them since they have a head start on me. But it would be sweet to at least place at a major regional show and local shows are, somewhat, no prob.

If u want the honest truth..... most Big shows are very political.Such as HIN, and HID, I also wouldn't be surprosed if Nopi was too. Meaning most of the cars that win are sponserd cars. If you hope to win, you need to start off at the smaller shows, and move up.