[da judge]

In July of this year I traveled about 40 miles from my home to a small show in a small town. There I saw a Carousel Red 1969 Judge (Ram Air III/four-speed) that I've never seen before. It's always great to stumble onto something new. I met the owner. He was a great guy to talk to and we shared a bunch of old muscle car war stories. He said he's owned the car since 1990-91, but it rarely sees the road anymore. It's eventually going to be handed down to his son.

The Judge is an Arlington built car with a 02C (February - third week, 1969) time built code. The current owner (the 6th) at some point traced it's history back to the original owner, who bought it in Wyoming. The original owner was no longer living but he talked to his brother. All of the other owners he talked to wanted to buy the car back.

When he first bought the Judge (again, around 1990-91) it had a Ram Air IV engine in it. Years later, around 2008-09, he went back to the seller and bought the original Ram Air III engine. He didn't get around to installing it until 2019. So it had its original engine when I saw it a little over a month ago.
I have no idea what he did with the Ram Air IV.

When I first began checking the car over I noticed the #48 heads had a H278 (August 27th, 1968) cast date. I'm assuming the block was also right in that range. Oddly, the intake casting was B199 (February 19, 1969). The block had the correct WS stamping, but I remember it being in an odd location. And it lacked an engine unit number. The owner told me that the block had never been stamped with a partial VIN number. He also said the carb was a 1969 Ram Air III Firebird/Trans Am unit (7028273). All very strange for the original engine of a 1969 Judge.

Here's what the owner thinks on what happened to his original engine. The Ram Air III engine was built very early in the 1969 production run and was destined for use in a Firebird or Trans Am (which would be a WQ code 335-h.p.). For some reason the engine didn't meet specs and was pulled from the production line. It sat in a repair area for some time until it was fixed sometime in February of 1969. It was then repurposed for use in a GTO, so it was stamped with a WS code (366-h.p.). Because of the odd course it traveled the engine unit number and partial VIN number were never applied. But the engine kept its original, but then incorrect carburetor.

The theory sounds plausible to me but I have no idea on what actually happened to bum engines on the assemble line. I'm hoping that other members will share their thoughts.