1985 CHP Unit #8395 Found!
 

Quite a discovery, but etched into the outside glass of my driver's side back window near the top edge are the remnants of a number -

8395

I don't have a camera handy to take the pic, but the number is visible in certain light. I think I have finally ID'd my car's CHP Unit Number!

Alright!! You are getting somewhere.

Cool deal....haven't heard of this before, so post up some pics when you can.

I'll try. The etching is so subtle that my cruddy digital camera may not pick up the numbers. If that's the case, then I'll have one of the parents from Scouts take the picture for me (he's a professional photographer).

To clarify, the numbers are not engraved into the glass. Rather, it appears as though they applied it with a paint pen. Over the years the paint has worn off to the point where the surrounding glass surface is weathered but the area under the numbers is smoother, giving it a ghost image.

To my surprise, my cruddy digital camera was able to pick up the characters written at the top of the driver's side rear window -

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


The numbers 8395 are fairly clear. Notice how the characters with loops caused a pooling effect, like the letters were raised and water collected in those cupped areas.

I am 99.9% certain that my car is CHP #8395, and that would be consistant with CHP #8397 which has a similar build date and data tag info. So my question is, at what point was the CHP unit number written above the data tag on driver's door? Was this done when the cars were delivered, prior to the cars being painted and marked? Just curious why the CHP would write the numbers on the car like that. I'm thinking since there is no CHP number written on my door, that they wrote it on the window instead.

Looks like an old crayon marking. If it was put on there by CHP Motor Transport, I'm shocked it's still visible. Temporary crayon markings like this have also been spotted written on the front plate bracket. It identified the car's assigned CHP ID# as the unit was taken from new car inventory and sent to the upfit assembly line where that number was painted on the door (always) and the corresponding license plates were attached. It might have also been applied during strip out and sale after the unit was run out.

Hey, I just remembered that the ID# is written on the back of both my rear seat cushions in black felt marking pen. Pull your rear seat and check yours.

My rear seat may not be original anymore :-( but I'll check. THX!

It is only 93 units away from my '85. I would say you are safe that is your unit number.

Not only that, but I spoke with Andy who owns CHP #8397, and his VIN is only 49 numbers away from mine!

So I took a hair drier and Gorilla tape to the area above my door's data tag, and was able to lift enough of the gray paint to reveal NOTHING written on the white paint. Still has a little shine left in it too. No CHP number though.

Say, what's the trick to removing the bottom rear seat cushion?

The numbers were above the sticker on some, and below on others. Did you only check the top?

You just have to pull pretty good on the seat bottom (at the rear, where the lower cushion meets the upper, then up towards the front seats)....it's a friction fit. The rear seatback should have a couple of bolts holding it down, then it goes straight up.

I only checked above the door sticker. I'll try lifting the paint below it too and see if I can find anything looking like the remnants of painted numbers. Given how smooth the topcoat looks, I don't think I'll find anything underneath but we'll see.

Ahh, you yank from the back of the seat cushion! That made a big difference. Just as I suspected, the back seats are not original to the car either.

This SSP reminds me of an old hot rod, being cobbled together with parts from different cars:

• The original 15x7 steel spare tire I have will not fit over the front hubs because the brakes have been upgraded. Paperwork from the seller says they are SVO brakes, but the hubs are 4-lug. So what brakes do I have that are larger than the stock 85 brakes?
• The 8.8" rear-end with disc brakes also are said to be from an SVO, but they too are 4-lug. Judging by how the tires fit in the wheelwell, it doesn't appear to be the wider Turbo Coupe rear-end. So what 8.8" Fox rear came with disc brakes?
• The front-end body work shows no signs of having a hole for a front speaker. May not be original to the car as a result of a prior accident (post-auction).

I know I'll find more "irregularities" as I dive deeper into the car. I'm by no means frustrated at all. It's all part of the car's past, and as the current owner it's my job to sort it all out.

They are probably the '87 and up 11" brakes.
The rear disc 8.8, I'm not sure. I think you can get some rear disc swap out of a Lincoln. So maybe they are different from the turbo coupes. Or could be SSBC set up.

THe front are more than likely 87+ like Mikes said. The rear are probably Thunderbird turbo coupe probably swapped the whole rearend into the car. It's a pretty easy swap.


Good luck.

I rec'd a FAX copy of my car's CHP Assignment Card -

http://users.erols.com/hopup/chpcard1.jpg
http://users.erols.com/hopup/chpcard2.jpg


So now I have confirmed that unit number #8395 matches my VIN. :2thumbs:

How did you go about to get the info?

Good stuff....and definitive documentation that it was a B&W. :thumbsup:

PM sent... :)

Grab the bottom of the rear seat cushion with both hands. Push rearward and then pull up.

Decided to bump a VERY old thread - By looking at some of the pictures from Sam's Motor Transport Picture Thread, I saw one Mustang that also had its unit number written on the side window as a run-out:

http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/...tangs/mt15.jpg


To this day, my etched numbers remain on my side window. I'm glad because I may have never learned my car's unit number otherwise. :)

Yep, every car at MT had it's license # written in some kind of a white crayon on the windows somewhere. I believe they also used yellow.

On new cars just the unit # was written on the windows. I found my dads 02 Camaro in the line up this way, #1685 was written in the upper left side of the windshield when it was new.
I have another closer photo that shows the window # better
http://i1171.photobucket.com/albums/...camaroatmt.jpg