To be fair to you and the NCRS I can only relate my expierence having my 79 flight judged in 2003. My car was 24 years old so a lot of things are not going to be "EXACTLY AS THEY WERE FROM THE FACTORY. Having said that, the judges when judging your car take a lot of things into consideration. for example, my car was 24 years old so the chances of it having the original battery, oil filter, weather stripping, distributor cap and so on is somewhere betweeen impossible and non-existant. So they try to work with you. For me I had perfect weatherstripping, but not the original, the correct make of tires, Goodyear, but the wrong exact model that came with the 79, RPO. OGR and they haven't been made in twenty years, So they only docked me two points. Again, the radio I had wasn't the one that came with the car, the radio I had was a aftermarket radio. So I hunted for two years for a radio, I used a Hollander manual but no luck. So I got a radio, and found someone in Ohio who rebuilds radios and had my unit rebuilt. When judged, they, the judges said the radio had the wrong numbers, BUT the radio according to the numbers WAS a 1979 radio, but it came out of an oldsmobile cutlass not a corvette. I explained the situation and since the radio worked perfectly during the 'operational check' they said OK, we'll dock you three points, and two points for the wrong battery. One points for the wrong oil filter, mine was blue and should have been white. but again, the white filters had been out of stock for ten years, so there's really no chance of me getting the oil filter right. The NCRS judges are looking for a really original 1979 corvette, but they try to meet the owner half way. There are some things that you can't be so critical about and unless you sealed the car in a vacume capsule for twenty years, it's going to be just about impossible to be just that, perfect. So they work with you. The NCRS judges arn't looking to knock you down points wise and they respect the fact that you've worked so hard to restore your car. Do people win 'Top flight awards' Yes, and when you go to a NCRS meet you'll see why. MOST of the top flight cars come out of a really expierenced restoration shops, into a covered trailer and then pushed, YES, I'm serious, pushed out to be judged. There was one guy from New York who had a 'perfect' black 77 corvette with only 41 miles on it! HOW? becaues he only drove the car backwards, that's right backwards. After the judging meet, he and his pal pushed the car forward back into the trailer. Is it fair, I don't know. some people will do anything to get a top flight award, year after year. Me? I'm looking to restore my corvette, not enter the pristhood. Just go over your car as best you can, match up enerything as per the judging manual, and the corvette black book for your year car and go for it. Also the NCRS gives you points if you drive the car to the meet. Like I said, they are looking for very good perserved corvettes, not to hurt anyones feelings or make you feel foolish. that's just my expierence! BTW, I won a second flight for my 79. I was three points short of a top flight.
I'm a museum professional and it drives me nuts! Its SO easy to do if you put your mind to it. What needs to be addressed is HOW the NCRS does things. If they want to be the benchmark of restoration, than the job should be done completely and exactly.
I guess I just have to wait for the ’96 manual to become available and see what the NCRS says on the Mobil 1 plaque. 
