Judges

[gtaa9]

It seems that every person I've talk to is in the no on Judges.Its nice to have a website like this to ask question about your special car you have or any other car for that fact.I have appreciated all the input I've gotten from the people on this site.Thanks.But of course I probably have more questions so I'll be back.

[gtaa9]

Why was the 70 Judge 455 so rare?Was it because people did'nt know that it was available?Or was it alot more money?

[yellowjudge]

My thoughts not many people wanted it. The RAIII was a better mtr. I this case raity<desirabilty. Not a real popular engine.

[gtaa9]

The first 70 455 Judge I saw was at the GTO Nats.This one was Palladium Silver I ask the guy if it was orginal to the car and he said yes.Well of course I thought he was BS me so thats what spark my interest in doing research on Judges.Later on I found out that there were 14 HT's and 3 Verts made.

[GOAT72]

You can email John Johnson at [email protected].
I believe he calls it "The Judge Registry" and he has been compiling Judge stats for at least 3 years that *I* know of. (When I first started getting "The Legend from GTOAA).

On a side note, a friend of mine Paul Bourbeau is doing a registry for '70 thru '73 455 GTOs only. (HisandHersGTO@aol).

Mac

[gtaa9]

Like I said in another post I've heard of John Johnson and his knowledge about Judges I appreciate you giving me his address I might mail him in the future.Even with out any color break down available for the Judge colors it seems that alot of people are interested in finding out this information.Its too bad that PMD did'nt keep more detail records.

[442w30]

I think it was introduced in the middle of the model year for the Judge. That's one reason.

Another is that the RAIII was standard on the Judge. The 455 really is not an improvement.

For years, we didn't know this engine was available on the Judge. It stands to reason why - apparently, no one knew in '70 either!

[gtaa9]

I suppose thats why cars are considered rare today because of that fact.Whats the difference between the 70 455HO and the 71 455HO?

[DaJudge]

A 71 455 HO has an aluminum intake, round port heads, essentially a RA IV top end. A 70 455 has iron intake, d port heads, it was basically a big car engine in a GTO. A 71 455 HO is much more desireable than a 70 455.

[Steve_Hoog]

Jeff

Of course if you’re a factory HP nut, then the 70 455 is hands down the winner. Rated at 370, the 70 455 is right there with RAIV ratings. Only topped by the 69 428 HO at 390.

The 71 455 is a mere 335 which puts it in the category of the garden variety high compression 400. Even a 69 350 HO is rated at 330 HP.

Obviously you can tweak any motor around any of these figures, this just makes for some good table top racing.

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