[jwood82d]

Having my dad’s 69 Judge restored after nearly 40 years in the garage. I have never seen the car even with an engine in it, so this has been a dream of mine for a very long time. The car used to be drag raced in the 1/8 mile before my dad bought it in the mid 70’s and I still want to keep it’s heritage and character intact, so we’ll be repainting the stripes and graphics. The original owner bought it new and quickly swapped the 400 out for a Pontiac 428, which we’ve had magnafluxed and cleaned up. We’ll be having it rebuilt to go back in along the process (almost as exciting as the car itself imo). I am no mechanic, so the work will be done by a reputable car restoration place in the Finger Lakes area, NY. Anyway, thought I’d share the progress along the way for anyone interested in this stuff!

[will slow gto]

Originally Posted by jwood82d

Anyway, thought I’d share the progress along the way for anyone interested in this stuff!

We practically live for this stuff! Great car and story, wishing you success with the project.

[comanchefirebird]

That's awesome!
Get her together and on the road. Your dad has waited a long time.
Best of luck in your resto
Steve

[Gator67]

It looks like it's in pretty nice shape...Have you considered leaving the exterior as is (just clean it up and fix and blend any issues you can't live with).

[jwood82d]

Originally Posted by Gator67

It looks like it's in pretty nice shape...Have you considered leaving the exterior as is (just clean it up and fix and blend any issues you can't live with).

Thanks it did have some rust-through at the bottoms of the quarter panels and fenders. The flower stripes are actually decals that we want to actually paint on. I will say that we since polished up one of the quarters and it came out nicer than I expected. The underside is actually in great shape since being indoors the whole time and I think had been oiled for some rust protection.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Scarebird]

I am sure it is a wonderful story but cannot read it because the PICTURES ARE SO DAMN BIG!!

[jwood82d]

Oops! Mobile. Thanks for the heads up.

[MatthewKlein]

Originally Posted by Gator67

It looks like it's in pretty nice shape...Have you considered leaving the exterior as is (just clean it up and fix and blend any issues you can't live with).

This paint is fantastic

[JSchmitz]

Very cool car and story! Keep the pics coming! Good luck!

[Pepper Judge]

Originally Posted by Scarebird

I am sure it is a wonderful story but cannot read it because the PICTURES ARE SO DAMN BIG!!

Originally Posted by jwood82d

Oops! Mobile. Thanks for the heads up.

The full-size pictures are perfect on a desktop.

Subscribed. Good luck on your project!

[Tenney]

Too cool! Thanks for sharing ...

[OCMDGTO]

Car looks to be in surprisingly good shape and might clean up better than you think. Regardless, it's a great build and tribute to your Dad. Pics are perfect size on my phone btw.

[jwood82d]

Some new pics of the quarter panel progress. Trunk pan has quite a few rust holes so that will be getting replaced also along with the cowl panel under the windshield. Next week It’s going on the rotisserie to clean up the welds and prep the body. Frame will get de-rusted and painted next week too!

[kingbuzzo]

What a cool GTO and backstory... (popcorn moticon)

[jwood82d]

Scott70 was actually able to find some old pics of the car back in its race days. Dan Miller was the original owner/driver at the time and I think that's his name on the fenders but can't quite make out the rest of it. I never knew the guy but I think it fitting to put his name back on it. It got super faded over the years so I never knew what was in some of those spots.

[4dblnkldude]

No effing way! super cool! I wish you the best.

[jwood82d]

UPDATE! My father stopped up to the resto shop for a different project and grabbed some pictures of The Judge. Unfortunately he took the pictures with a potato so they are pretty low quality. The quarter skins are on, the old cowl panel removed and underneath shot with POR 15, and now the new cowl panel is also on. The body is on the rotisserie to start body work and the frame getting the rust removed.

[1965gp]

Such a cool project!

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Do you have the 4th Hurst wheel ? I see 3 on the car .
Do you know how valuable and rare they are ?

Would get them off the car immediately so they don't get "lost" or stolen while its at a shop for work.

Your car also appears it may have been one of the early built Pattern Judges .

Pictures fit the screen on my tablet no problem.

[jwood82d]

Originally Posted by Baron Von Zeppelin

Do you have the 4th Hurst wheel ? I see 3 on the car .
Do you know how valuable and rare they are ?

Would get them off the car immediately so they don't get "lost" or stolen while its at a shop for work.

Your car also appears it may have been one of the early built Pattern Judges .

Pictures fit the screen on my tablet no problem.

Thanks for the heads up. We do have the 4th Hurst wheel and I did not know that... I'll have to see if they can be cleaned up.

I believe it is one of the early ones. It came with the trim behind the rear tire and does not have the Judge logo on the dash. I sent the VIN to the Pontiac Historical Society to get the original dealer order sheet a while back also.