1985 CHP #E408395
 

RE-CAP
Back in October 2008, I picked up a 1985 SSP Mustang from the gym teacher at school. He said the car used to be a California Highway Patrol car (1 of 155 Mustangs the CHP bought that year). He had it for about 10 years having bought it from his brother in LA. The car was slightly modified, and needed paint, body, and interior work.

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...8207607649.jpg

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...9c2924c0ca.jpg

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...9c29293528.jpg


The seller had zero verification that the car was what he claimed, although I was fairly certain that it was an SSP. The 2nd Buck Tag was missing, but the trunk release button was moved to the right of the steering column, the a-pillar trim had holes for spot lights, it had the 140mph speedo, and it used the single key for all locks. The 6-digit DSO on the door tag was consistent with other CHP Stangs. After purchasing it, I found the CHP unit number ghost-written on the side glass -

http://users.erols.com/hopup/chp8395.jpg

[continued]

Joining the SSP forums was a great resource for learning more about SSP's in general, and my car in particular. I'm still learning!

Locating the unit number was the first step in finding out more about this car. As everybody here knows, SSP's are rich in history, and doing research is a huge part of the attraction of these vehicles. Knowing the unit number, I contacted the CHP via several methods and was VERY LUCKY to get a copy of the CHP Assignment Card directly from CHP Motor Transport:

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...d3e779bb24.jpg


I learned that my car served at Quincy, California Station #165 for about a year and a half. Afterward, it was repainted silver by the CHP and sold at auction for $4,650.00. The history afterward gets a little fuzzy, but along the way it was repainted "Toyota Gray". By the time it came into my custody, the car's specifications/modifications included:

- Carbed 5.0L with 5 spd (tremec)
- Hurst shifter w/ stock handle
- Centerforce clutch
- CARB-legal JBA shorties w/ full cats and 2.25" dual 3-chamber Flowmasters
- 93 Cobra 8.8" rear-end w/ disc brakes
- 87&up 11" front disc brakes
- Racecraft suspension with KYB shocks and aftermarket springs
- Aftermarket panhard bar
- Subframe connectors (welded)
- 225/60R15 (front)
- I painted the rims black, and added larger 255/60R15 BFG's out back.

[continued]

MOVING FORWARD

I had a REALLY hard time deciding how I wanted to repaint the car. There are so many colors to choose from! I have no intention of restoring the car to its in-service condition. I've spoken with several members here, and their experience helped me decide that my SSP would be ALOT more fun to have as an unmarked driver. So the decision was made to go black, although I seriously considered stealing Marcos's idea for #8302 and going with a white top and inside door edges with the rest black. But I think I will enjoy all-black, and it gives me the option to paint the white on later if it ever is decided to take it back to its in-service condition.

In the middle of February 2009, I put the car into John's Body Shop in Wilmington, DE. I knew they wouldn't be able to start on the car for about a month due to a 1962 Autocar fire truck slipping in ahead of me. I will post up pictures once they tie into it.

Here's a pic the day it went into the body shop (note the silver paint under the removed side molding)

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...82075c51b4.jpg

As stated, the plan is to rebuild it as a fun driver that looks like an all-black, unmarked Fox cop car. Authentic CHP lights and antennae are in-hand, and I will post up pics of them soon. I will also update this thread as progress is made and new parts arrive.

Past Sins Uncovered
 

Well, I knew my CHP Mustang had lived a hard life. The Assignment Card listed that the car had been wrecked while in-service, but the car was not sold as a wreck. They repaired the car prior to it going to auction.

As most of you know, when the 85's were originally equipped by the CHP, they would cut a hole in the bottom of the plastic front bumper cover for the loud speaker, but my car had no such hole on the driver's side. Turns out the nose had been replaced. Once the bodyshop removed the nose, they saw that the metal bumper and the driver's side impact absorber were damaged from an accident.

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...22dc90bf4e.jpg


It's tough to see in the picture, but the bumper and absorber ARE bent. Replacements are being sourced currently. There was also damage on the hood in the front driver's side, which was apparent when the paint was removed.

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...22df35c9aa.jpg


In this shot, you can see the original white paint under the removed side sail panels -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...22dc9b5d4a.jpg


So as of today, this is how my SSP Mustang looks at the body shop with much of the trim removed -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...22dc970c2b.jpg


I plan to stop by again on Friday, April 3rd to take more pictures of the car's progress. There is evidence of additional body damage on the passenger side rear quarter panel, so it will be interesting to see what is found as the paint is removed.

Can't wait to see more progress! It's going to look very slick in all black.

Great post....nice to see your assignment card, too.

WOW!! Car is coming along just fine. Can't wait to see it fininshed.

I stopped by the body shop today, but didn't have my camera with me. That's OK, because I left the shop with a small momento.

Neal (one of the body shop guys) removed the rear bumper, and had difficulty reaching one of the bolts on the passenger side. This is the area with the known body damage. He started probing the area just under the gas cap with a screwdriver, and was able to pop off the following slab of Bondo from the rear 1/4 panel -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...abd82985f8.jpg


Once I got the slab back to work, I weighed it on a postal scale - it's over 2.5 lbs of body putty!

Brought my camera this time! :-)
 

Here is a picture of the 1/4 panel where the slab of body filler was removed -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...b6373aaec5.jpg


The other quarter panel is where the CHP whip antenna was mounted. Here, you can see where the CHP braized the holes closed -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...b63734eaa6.jpg


Here are two shots where the spot lights were located on the A-pillars. Note how rough the holes are -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...b63953f00a.jpg
http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...b639581e09.jpg


I will bring the spotlight brackets into the body shop by Friday so they can determine how much work will be needed on the A-pillars to make them look good. Not pictured is where the hole in the roof was re-opened for the shorter CHP roof antenna. The headliner was removed, but a new replacement is in-hand.

Here is a shot of the bottom edge of the door where they removed the rust under the caulk. The rust wasn't as bad as it looked, and hadn't gone through to the outer door skin. Parts of the door have already been treated with POR-15. The other door will receive the same work -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...b6374187ad.jpg


This shot shows where they removed the small dent from the driver's side front fender -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...b6394f0c1c.jpg


Here is the new replacement front passenger fender -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...b64a9531d5.jpg


And here is a shot of the car as it sits this morning -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...b67215508e.jpg


So as you can see, progress is being made on the car.

Some of the CHP parts are in
 

There is a gentleman at the CHP named Robert Read who privately sells some of the obsolete CHP parts that were on many of their SSP's, depending on vintage. I know other members have bought parts from him for their CHP restorations. These parts were not inexpensive, but highly necessary for an accurate build-up.

Below are the a-pillar spotlights. California law still requires that their police cars have a steady-burn red light as part of their emergency lighting. The red spotlight meets that requirement, and will again be mounted on the driver's side post using the original hole. I probably will not make the red one functional, as my car will be a driver and I do not want to be hassled by the local police for having emergency lighting on my car.

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...9a1fe1cf41.jpg


The rear emergency lights sit atop the rear package shelf inside the rear window. These also will not be wired up, in order to keep the local police from being concerned while I drive around. I also plan to buy some off-road light covers to keep everyone happy. Here is a video clip of an SSP Mustang with these lights.

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...9a1fe72dd9.jpg


The final CHP parts (for now at least) are the spring-ball base for the long whip antenna on the passenger rear 1/4 panel, and the shorter roof antenna.

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...9a1fec2ad1.jpg


Down the line, I will probably purchase the original radio equipment and locking shotgun rack. I figure the CHP-specific parts will only become more difficult to find as time goes on, so I will pick them up as opportunity and funds allow. I do not want to put Mr. Read's contact information on the internet, but he his agreeable to me forwarding his information along to anyone interested in buying parts. So please send me a PM if anyone wants to contact him.

Nice pics. :)

I also have a contact for NOS spotlights if anyone needs them. They are (or were) $50 each. The shafts are incorrect (length), but you can't beat NOS, especially at that price.

I've also bought from R. Read before and he has a ton of hard-to-find parts.

Man they really messed up those pillars. I can't believe what was under that bondo. Good thing they found that before it was painted and it popped out later. :)

I could see that slab of Bondo falling off from hitting a pothole on a highway and then going through the windshield of the car behind me. Scary!

Solid Metal Found!
 

After seeing so much body filler behind the passenger rear tire, I wasn't sure what the rest of the 1/4 panel would look like. The initial sanding showed putty all the way up to the door jam, but more effort revealed that there was in fact Ford steel under all that Bondo. The C-pillar and roof were slightly flexed from the accident, so that's why you see body filler there. Notice the 4-lug rear disc brakes...

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...74aa5a1ec6.jpg


This shot shows the car as it sits today. The roof is sanded, and the antenna hole was reopened. The driver's side 1/4 panel is being massaged around the area of the CHP whip antenna mount.

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...74aa60e6f0.jpg


The removed body panels are being prepped for cut-in. New taillight lenses are enroute, which I will install into the light panels next week. A Ford NOS headlight header panel is enroute to replace the busted one behind the bumper cover. The old one had been damaged and very poorly repaired, so a new one was needed. New weatherstripping and doorchannel strips will be installed.

I decided to return the original window trim back to its polished state, however I will be straying from stock by painting the roof rail trim in body color. Dark colored 4-eyes just look too cluttered IMO when all the trim is left bright on the car. Below is a comparison that shows Marcos's car on the top (prior to restoring) with the bright roof rail trim, and Scott's car without it:

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...75155adccf.jpg


It's a subtle difference, but it reflects my personal taste. As a point of reference, my car when finished will look ALOT like Marcos's car at the top, with the spotlights and antennae. The most obvious difference between his car in the above photo and my car when done will be that I am keeping its non-original blacked-out 10-hole wheels because the car has the larger '87-up front brakes.

So that's all for now. I will post up more pictures next week...

Great progress.

You're not really straying from stock just the year. The '86's roof trim is charcoal. This pic below is the best I could find to really see it.
http://www.specialservicemustang.net...HP/1986FHP.jpg

Do you plan on doing the moldings in charcoal?

I guess you'd call it that. I was figuring on a matte black finish for the rubber moldings, but charcoal is probably a better way to describe the color.

I'm getting REALLY stoked about getting this car back from the body shop. Once it's home, I'll peel the window tint, install the lights/antennae, replace the dash pad, speedo, carpet, headliner, package shelf, and install the new seats. The seats still need to be cleaned - the cloth is pretty dingey. I thought about contacting a local auto detail shop to see if they could professionally clean them up. I also have an Insignia (Best Buy in-house brand) radio/CD/Ipod unit for the dash. I bought that one mainly because the backlighting is orange like the dash lights. I picked up four new speakers right before Circuit City went outa business.

where can I get pair of Unity lights for a CHP car? I would like the red and the clear - thank you guys!

PM sent :)

The top trim on '86, moldings, and sail panel should be SEM Trim Charcoal Gray.

Top Trim panel chrome, sail panel same color as roof, and moldings SEM Trim Charcoal on '85.

Top Trim chrome, sail panel same color as roof, moldings SEM Trim black on cars up-to '84.

I two like the top trim and sail panel in SEM Trim Charcoal. I might go that route even if it is not correct.

Get a GMP model of the chp car! look way cool with your car!

My car is gone...
 

...or so I thought. When I came into the back of the shop today, Bacon wasn't there (yes, Debbie named my SSP "Bacon").

The rough-in bodywork is finished, and they moved the car up to the final prep area. This is where the detailed finishing of the car will take place. The car is nowhere close to being ready for primer (yet), although most of the body panels that have been removed are prepped and primered.

Here is the driver's door awaiting prep & primer -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...9db7847e53.jpg


Here is the view from the back. It's nice to see the car sitting back on all four tires!

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...9db8f5789f.jpg


Here is a shot of the much-massaged passenger 1/4 panel -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...9db776e86a.jpg


And here is a picture of the car sitting in the new bay of the shop -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...9db3573d67.jpg


There is still quite a bit of detail work to be completed, but Bacon has at least moved into the next phase of the body work.

Looking good!!

Sidewayz6.0 is a Site Moderator at Mustang Forums where I am an Administrator, and he posted that my SSP looks alot like another famous police car -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...9db3573d67.jpg
http://www.famouscars.de/images/blue...dgewrecked.jpg


We Got a Full Tank of Gas, a Half a Pack of Cigarettes, It's Dark and We're Wearing Sun Glasses

Lol! the Blues Brothers Mobile!

Progress is evident!

After several weeks of the car only making minor progress, the shop had some time available to hammer out some work on Bacon. When I came into the shop today, my SSP was no longer in bare metal - it's now black! My first thought was "Shoot - I didn't even get to see the car in primer!"

The car was in the process of being rubbed out, and all I had in-hand was my cruddy camera phone -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...16c514897e.jpg

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...16c521e0f2.jpg


I will be bringing in the side moldings tomorrow, which will be painted along with the bumper moldings. I have to install the new taillight lenses into the stock housings tonight I guess, since they are getting so far along now (that's a good problem!).

Next time I will bring my better camera!

That's looking nice!

Coming along very nice....

Thanks guys!

Space was tight today, and my camera batteries died after only 3 pictures. Strong backlighting and direct sunlight made it difficult to get good picture quality too. But here are a few more shots with a better camera showing the car all rubbed out -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...2b7814522a.jpg

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...2b7818ce40.jpg

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...2b781ed4c1.jpg


It's nice to finally see paint on the car that actually reflects an image (the old gray was dull). I am very happy with their work thus far. I did notice a couple of very minor things, but nothing worth having them re-do the car. They are now prepping the removed parts, and should have them painted soon. Most of the window trim has been stripped and polished too. The side moldings were dropped off today for prep & paint (best described as matte black). The windshield cowl panel and side mirror buckets will also be painted a matte black.

It's so nice to see the car coming along!

The car is looking great!!!

Looking awesome! and it didn't take a year to paint.:whistlin:

I too am jealous!! Mine still need a ways to go to finish doing time.

The word from the body shop today is that they hope to paint the rest of the body parts next week, and then finish the assembly the following week. So I MAY have the car back by June 12th. It's gonna be a long couple of weeks. Once it is home, then I'll need to:

• Install new dash pad
• Install new speedo (mine's broken at 140 mph)
• Install new stereo and speakers
• Clean the new seats and install with new carpet
• Install new rear package shelf
• Install new headliner
• Remove all window tinting (without damaging the rear defroster)
• Install CHP rear deck lights
• Install CHP spotlights
• Install CHP antennae
• Complete a minor detailing of engine compartment

Nothing glamorous to report today, but I did replace the tail light lenses over the weekend.

I popped out the old lenses, removed the 5 retaining clips, and scraped out the tar strip that sits inside the channel of the tail light bucket. In addition to getting new lenses, you need to also order a new installation kit with a fresh tar strip and new clips. After a thorough clean up of the buckets, I popped the new lens in for a test fit and compared it to the old lens. The one on the left is the factory lens, and the right one is the new lens -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...3cbe2d26f0.jpg


I installed the new tack strip around the bucket, and then inserted the clips. Pressing down on the lens with the bucket on the workbench, the lens clipped into place. However, each lens needs a little motivation to stay in place while it is setting up, so I taped each lens with duct tape while pressing the lens tight in that area. I will let them sit like this for about 48 hours -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...3cbe36e0c4.jpg


I see a problem with these. The lenses are so nice looking that the buckets now look cruddy. If I had it to do over again, I would have painted the top edge and inside of each bucket near the license plate area prior to installing the lenses. Once I remove the tape, I may mask off the lenses and paint the visible edges of the buckets. It would just be easier to do had I not already installed the lenses.

The only step that I do that you didn't is that I normally spray the inside of the buckets with a chrome spray paint to give the light more to reflect off of. It makes the hole tail light look brighter when it goes back together. I think the finished products works better because there is a better reflective surface to work with too. The old normally looks as though there is hardly any reflective surface left from all the years.

Yours still look pretty good though! Keep up the good work.

That's a great idea! My buckets weren't all too shiney, but not too bad either. I considered doing that, but decided to proceed with assembly. I'll remember that trick on the next SSP I restore (did I really say that???).

It's an addiction. :yes:

Things are moving forward at the body shop! :yes:

The rear bumper is being prepped. It doesn't look too pretty at this point -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...959f2d55ae.jpg


The doors, the rear decklid, and the hood were being placed into the paint booth while I was there. They'll be painted black today -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...959f331833.jpg


On Monday they plan to paint the bumpers and side sail panels. The matte black trim paint will be done right after that on those remaining parts. Unless something sidelines their schedule, they plan to start the reassembly on Wednesday, June 10th.

:thumbsup:

Getting closer!

I stopped by today, and the body shop was prepping the front bumper for primer and paint. The rear bumper is ready for the black topcoat, and so are both front fenders. The side sail panels need prep, but the fuel door is ready for primer.

They decided to reshoot the driver's side door - something messed up the finish so they are going to re-do it. The passenger door was hung on the car -

http://www.mustangcollective.com/ima...d424eaa3bc.jpg


I'll bring the good camera on Wednesday, 6/10 to capture the progress.

Looking good Bill. :yes: