Inline Tube - 69 GTO Judge
Inline Tube's Judge Featured in High Performance Pontiac May 2003
Car History
This car was purchased from Keller Pontiac in SC. It was bought by a female which I have never been able to contact ( Maybe married now and the last name changed). It was very strange to have a female owner on a Judge. The first owner put all the options on the car, the base price was around $3000.00 and $2000.00 of options were added. The original owner was either a Pontiac Nut or had heavy coaching on what options to add. This is also one of the few Judges that was not ordered in the orange. The color is Liberty Blue with a Parchment interior. By the 80’s the white interior looked a bit out of style but now in the 2000’s the color combo always draws a crowd.
As you can see from the photos no detail was overlooked. This car was completely apart and every nut, bolt and piece was bead blasted, plated or painted and put back together.
The engine was Bored, balanced, ported, polished and a little more horse power added, as if 366 was not enough. All engine compartment marking, labels, and tags were reproduced to match the factory markings.
The body was striped, sanded, patched, primed, sanded, sealed and painted all to the original specs. and colors. All Judge decals applied over the liberty blue mirror finish. All the stainless steel trim was polished to look new.
The interior is completely new, recovered seats and door panels, replaced headliner & carpet, all interior chrome re-plated, all interior plastic pieces re- dyed to match the seats and door panels. The shifter knob, seat belt covers, and gauge faces were also sanded and polished to new.
The trunk still has the original spare, but the rim was repainted. the jack was restored and the correct spatter paint applied.
The underside is as clean as the rest of the car. The bottom is equipped with new inline tube’s, Brake, Fuel And transmission lines, new brake cables, rubber flex hoses, brake & fuel clips, and Inline Tube's Front and rear disc brake conversions.
The handling was improved with the addition of a late model Monte SS gear box. this cut the steering ratio down by a third. The front and rear sway bars were also increased to the Max Diameter. The front is a 1.5" and the rear is 1". The bars keep the car more level and the sway at a minimum. This GTO is also 1.5" lower than stock so it cuts down under chassis air flow and gives the more aggressive stance. This lowered stance is achieved with lower custom made springs and drag air bags in the rear to prevent any potential wheel hop. The 15 x 8 wheels with factory height tires fill the wheel wells a bit more than the old 14 x 6 and provide more meat to the road surface. If you go fast you have to stop fast. Look closely because the front brakes are 2" bigger than stock, and the now parallel control arms will negotiate a turn at any speed. The now parallel tubed upper control arms provide late model geometry that eliminated the tire toe problems. The rear has both upper and lower boxed control arms to provide all the corning capability you can handle. The wheels stay straight and parallel thru and curve at any speed. The front brakes are 92 Trans am rotors to provide a full 12" of stopping power. The spindle, caliper are from a 78 Impala wagon with big brakes, and the backing plate is 77 chevelle. Put is all together and you have serious stopping power. The rear brakes are no exception to the mix. I of course chose rear disc. This is a Chevelle kit that has been cut, modified, and welded to fit the Pontiac housing. The axle was also turned down to accept the 79 Trans Am disc, with 79 Cadillac caliper with build in parking brake feature. Of course the rear cables were modified, custom hoses and lines were needed but that is why I own Inline Tube. The rears are a full 10" of stopping power that most people think were an option on this car. This judge is equipped with a Ram Air III that packs with in plenty of extra horse power. The compression is factory 10.75 to 1 but the the oil flows since all the rough edges in this block were ground to provide a smooth oil flow to the high volume pump. The factory modified carb delivers more CFM thru the ported intake and heads which are also matched to the factory high performance exhaust manifolds. The flow continues thru the 2 1/2" custom exhaust. The engine would not get to high RPM’s with out the Hei Distributor backed up up a MSD box quietly hidden away. The driver side solid motor mount helps in the launch and keeps the power plant steady. I have estimated conservatively at about 450 HP. Being a long time GTO owner has helped me recognize the performance down falls of the original car. This car competes at all area shows and has always taken best car in class.
The best of both performance and originally can be achieved. This car has all the modern convinces without noticeable altering the car. Most restorations achieve one or the other but rarely are both showcase technology and classic styling.
