1970 Judge Convertible - Basket Case Rescue

What's more rare than a '70 Judge convertible? A '70 Judge convertible with an owner who wrote his own story about his prized Pontiac so eloquently that large portions of it will be printed here verbatim.

To that end, your humble editor will tackle the sidebars, photos, captions, and some of the story text. But by and large, this saga depicts the trials and tribulations of a dedicated hobbyist in his own words, who recovered from some bad luck during the restoration of his Judge convertible. So buckle up and let Gary Dickinson of Brentwood, Tennessee, share the tale of his '70 Judge convertible with you.

The 366-horse YZ code Ram Air III engine was rebuilt and features the original No. 12 heads with 2.11/1.77 valves and the factory intake and exhaust manifolds. The carburetor and distributor are correct but not original to the car, and it took Gary two years to find them. Cam timing is a little hotter than stock, according to the owner, but specs were not available. Since none of the Ram Air system came with the Judge, Gary went the reproduction route.

Gary'S Story
"We know a Judge convertible is rare, and a Palisade Green Judge convertible is even more unusual. Surviving serious rust was not easy for this '70 beauty. After a five-year frame-off restoration, including some complications and setbacks both during the restoration and after, I was approached by the editor of HPP to photograph my documented Judge at the '04 Pontiac Southern Nationals.

"Originally sold by Russell Pontiac in West Hartford, Connecticut, this Judge spent the first 12 years, two owners, and 107,000 miles of its life in the Northeast/New England area of the country. Last registered in Connecticut in 1980, this Judge finally retired, completely worn out, badly rusted, and a basket case. The third owner moved it into an old building in Oklahoma in 1981, and that's where I entered what was left of its life in 1997.

"After having searched for a Judge convertible for a few years, I was sitting in my office one day when a friend in Texas--Don Watts--called to say he found one sitting in the [aforementioned] old building in Oklahoma. I went home, packed a bag, headed to the airport in Nashville, and caught the first flight to Dallas.

This is what Gary started with. It was not a project for the lighthearted.

"The next day Don and I were in Oklahoma inspecting a basket-case '70 GTO Judge convertible with a numbers-matching motor, transmission, and all the necessary documentation. Its color was horrible---years of salt, rust, Bondo, and neglect made the car look some hideous shade of green never intended by Pontiac. It appeared to be a complete car, although most of the wiring and underhood pieces were in the trunk, while all the motor's working parts were in the back seat. A deal was struck on this basket case, and in August 1997, the Judge moved to its new home outside of Nashville, Tennessee.

Here is the incomplete Ram Air III engine as it sat in the Judge.

"Power steering, AM radio, Safe-T-Track differential, Turbo 400 with a console, and a wood wheel are about the only options--other than "The Judge" package. It was made to go fast, but no one thought about stopping it with manual drum brakes! [Do we see a pattern emerging here with manual drum brakes on convertible Judges? Our '69 Judge convertible feature car has them as well.--Ed]

"The first task was to find a 'metal surgeon' who was a master craftsman that could return this Pontiac to its original glory. After 16 months of searching, I found the surgeon. Bob Connell of R.C. Paint and Body in Pembroke, Kentucky, was a street rod builder and a fellow member of the POCI Chapter Pontiacs of Tennessee--and a master at metalwork!

Many of the engine parts were in the back seat

"A rust-free '70 LeMans two-door hardtop donor car was found in Texas and moved to Bob's shop in Kentucky. Another donor frame was used to set the body on, so work could begin on the Judge's chassis in my shop at my house.

"The chassis was dismantled and inspected for factory markings. These markings were photographed for replication before every piece of the chassis was chemically dipped and sandblasted. The frame and all the associated pieces were powdercoated. I worked in my home shop to sandblast every bolt and nut for the chassis. Each was reblackened with Black Oxide, ready for the reassembly with Moog OEM suspension pieces. The original XH Safe-T-Track rear was completely disassembled, cleaned, sandblasted, and powdercoated.

"This Judge has a complete set of five JL-coded Rally II wheels, which are correct on this car, built during the first week of September 1969. [According to historian Roger Hanska, JL-coded wheels were used from July 1969 and produced through 11/24/69. Then, on 11/25/69, JT-coded wheels began production and would begin to show up on cars when the new wheels got to the assembly lines.]

The rest of the interior wasn't much better than the back seat. But at least we can see a Judge emblem on the glovebox door and an optional Custom Sports steering wheel.

"While I was busy working on the chassis, Bob Connell was removing rusted metal from the Judge and replacing it with good metal from the donor car. Many of the original factory welds were drilled out on both cars and the clean metal was welded in using the original spots. The front and rear floorpans and the trunk pans were cut out, as were the rear quarters and inner fenders. The donor car was simply so clean and rust-free that the doors were used to replace the rusted ones on this Judge. N.O.S. fenders are on the front.

"The paint was duplicated by the local PPG store from the original GM number, Ditzler No. 2171. After the body was blocked 12 times, it was covered with three coats of PPG Palisade Green basecoat and five coats of clear. Wet-sanding with 2,500-grit paper finished the procedure. Included in the paint process was the duplication of the original paint flaws. Intentional 'runs' were put into the right door jam and on the inside of the trunk. Finally, the body was married to the completed chassis and moved to my shop for final assembly.

"I found an engine shop in Nashville to do all the engine's machine work. The YZ block was badly rusted both inside and out, so it was bored 0.030. I built the motor in my shop, using TRW pistons, Hastings rings, Clevite bearings, and the original head bolts. The motor was balanced and is stock except for the Lunati cam, which was specially ground to be a little more than the standard Ram Air III. Gardner Exhaust Systems supplied the entire factory replicated exhaust. [The Turbo 400 trans was rebuilt and a stock replacement torque converter was installed.]