Stumped by a broken horn, Westbrook’s automotive whiz kids came up short in the national Ford/AAA Auto Skills competition in Dearborn, Mich., but they impressed the judges with their workmanship.

Anthony Perron of Scarborough and Joshua Beeler of Raymond, students at Westbrook Regional Vocational Center, were flown to Michigan to participate in the national competition after winning the Maine state competition last month.

Teams from all 50 states competed by trying to find and repair “bugs” that were placed in a 2011 Ford F150 pickup.

The all-expenses-paid competition ran from Sunday through today. The pair didn’t win, though their actual standings haven’t been posted.

“They had a perfect score on workmanship. They should be so proud of everything they accomplished!” said Daniel Wood, Ford Motor Co. judge, according to a statement released by the company today.

Beeler said they struggled with one malfunctioning component.

“As part of the competition they disabled the horn and we just couldn’t figure it out,” he said in the statement. “It was fun anyway – it was kind of like a mini-vacation in addition to the competition.”

Perron said in the statement: “I really enjoyed the Henry Ford Museum and coming to Ford for the competition. It was also so cool to sleep in the hotel beds – they were awesome.”

The pair will now fly back to Maine to resume their automotive careers here.