Hi Alan,
Excellent points. The judges are just that....judges. They don't ask you if parts are NOS or not. They look at these parts and it is their job to tell if it is original or not. When parts like "generic" carpet is installed and it is done correctly, it is almost impossible to tell the difference. The only way to really tell is because it looks too nice to be old and original. How far can you take this line of thinking? Look at all the people who say their car is 100% original when in fact they use hardware from AMK or R/T specialties. Many times the hardware is made by the same supplier but it is manufactured in modern times. How can a judge tell the difference when they are exact? And are the owners of the car "lying" when they say that the car is 100% original regarding repo screws or gaskets? Maybe not intentionally. I don't think that these items are even included in the thought process when someone is asked about originality. It goes back to some parts getting a "pass" while others are scrutinized to the nth degree. Concerning my carpet, I advertised MONTHS in advance as to what I was doing. Really now....what blue carpet did everyone think I was having made and for what reason? Same thing with the package trays. I didn't hide a thing! And again, I did have original used package trays that I decided NOT to use because they would have pulled the appearance of the car down. Those are decisions others may have dealt with in a different fashion but I opted to do things the way I did. That is pretty much the story in a nut shell. The question is.....what TYPE of nutshell did I use and was it the correct one?

PS....Original parts, in good cosmetic condition will ALWAYS take top billing!!!