1969 Pontiac GTO RAIII and RAIV Engines and Book

[fcneg4]

7/25/2011
Hi,sYc:
Starting the learning process for what may be a GTO or Judge purchase in my lifetime. Is the 1969 RAIII engine a 4-bolt main engine? It is a 400 CI engine, right? Is the 1969 RAIV engine also a 4-bolt main engine? It is a 455 CI engine, right? Do these engines develop maximum torque relatively early RPM-wise (like 3,600 RPM or so?) and is this the reason people like the engines so much?
Also, I need a book that gives me all the specs., facts, casting numbers, production numbers, etc. and all the information I need to determine whether or not a GTO or Judge is real? Please let me know the title and author of THE book. Can you folks give me the name of the most knowledgeable GTO or Judge collector here at the sYc? Thank you!

Fred Gustat, Illinois

[RAIIIT/A]

RAIII's and IV's are both 400's...

[tjs44]

69 IIIs were 2 bolt and IVs were 4 bolt.70 IIIs and IVs were both 4 bolts.Tom

[StealthBird]

Fred, there's lots of info on the web. Some very basic info can be found here.

http://ultimategto.com/cgi-bin/statsexpl...dataplate+price (http://ultimategto.com/cgi-bin/statsexplorer.cgi?year=1969&f1=style+popgto+clrpai nt+dtmatrix+vinmatrix+dataplate+price)

After you've read through some of that, click on the 1969 area at the bottom for more data on the 1969's.

Some good reference books are "The Original GTO" by Tom De Mauro:

http://www.amazon.com/Original-Pontiac-GTO-Restorers-1964-1972/dp/0760309973

An oldie but a goody, "The GTO Restoration Guide" written by the late Paul Zazzarine. This isn't a resto guide as much as a parts and diagram listing.

http://www.amazon.com/Pontiac-Restoration-1964-1972-Motorbooks-Workshop/dp/0879389532

There have been many articles in High Performance Pontiac and Pontiac Enthusiast over the decades about identifying a 1969 Judge. Much of that information is now scattered over the web, in web forums, etc.

As far as documenting a real one, the first place to start is to send the VIN to Pontiac Historic Services (usually referred to as "PHS") to see if it's a real Judge.

http://phs-online.com/

There are also many books on building Pontiac engines for the street and for the track, but it sounds like you're really looking for a restorers guide on the 69 Judge.

All 1969 Judges were either Ram Air III or Ram Air IV. Aside from the Judge decals and the rear wing, along with a Judge glove box emblem (and very early production versions did not have the glove box emblem), mechanically The Judge was a cosmetic package on a Ram Air III or Ram Air IV.

Since ALL Judges were Ram Air or Ram Air IV cars, when you see a Judge, you know it's a high-perf GTO. Colors also varied on the 1969 Judge. The first batch were called "pattern cars" and were all Carousel Red in order to gain exposure. After that run, any GTO color could be ordered on a Judge.

[68 Vert]

I would also strongly recommend Eric White's book:

"The GTO Association of America's Pontiac GTO/GT-37 Illustrated Identification Guide"

http://www.whitehouse-graphics.com/id%20guide%20book.html

[fcneg4]

Thanks, that helps!

[fcneg4]

7/26/2011
Guys:
Thanks for the information! I appreciate it. This site is great. I did go to the Pontiac Historic Services site and I joined the GTOAA. I thought I could answer each post one at a time, but I guess I can't, so thank you all!
Fred Gustat