86 TX DPS with lightbar?
 

Is there any chance that an '86 DPS car would have run a lightbar? My '86 has a hole in the top right of the driver's side door jamb where a light bar wiring harness would have gone through. I assume it probably happened after it was decommissioned, but before I have it welded up I just wanted to check...

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Best,
Chris

I went digging for the following shot -

http://www.specialservicemustang.net...DPSMustang.jpg

It's an '83, but I had thought there were other DPS Stangs in the background that would help. Upon digging it up, I see that's not the case. Hope the picture helps in some way.

Its possible the 86 could have been sold to another agency after dps was done with it.

My 88 dps was painted all white and sold direct from dps to the bosque county texas sheriffs dept and used as a marked unit with them.

I think that's probably right, and Bill thanks for thinking of those pictures for me. I really, really doubt DPS ran a bar on it. I've never seen another one setup for a bar. I'm going to have it filled and fixed.

Second question, this will be a matter of opinion. If they VC label is badly damaged would you A) take it completely off, repaint it, and order/wait to order a correct replacement from Marti or B) leave as much of it as possible and paint around it. Mind you, this is a car that is being completely stripped and repainted from the ground up. Fire away...

I'd hold off as long as possible to strip/repaint that door jam, at least until you have a correct replacement from Marti. Until then I would keep the original in place.

Yes, there is a chance. Here is a pic from the DPS yearbook. Tony Scharp has it posted on his Fotki. I also have the book and need to scan the additional pics and post them here. This car is an '84.


http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/987/dpsk.png

Dangit! If that isn't a wrench in the spokes. Would the bars have been anchored down to the roof via screws, or anything similar I would find when sanding? Of course, that doesn't really prove if it was original to the car or not.

Kinda makes the car rare, if you are able to verify it. No screws, held on by "gutter" clamps. You should probably see evidence of the repairs during your sanding. Most bars left indentations in the roof and sometimes marks under the roof lip and on the molding.

I agree Mike. Did some more looking, it looks like the car was completely repainted brown after the original white/black. I'm thinking it was sold to a sherriff's office somewhere that ran a bar. They also very lightly trimmed the top back edge of the door, something I doubt that DPS would have done.

So I pose this question for you Mike, and anyone that will entertain it. Would you weld it up, or just leave it and put a plug in case evidence comes out someday that it was a lightbar car?

Thank you for all of the help/opinion thus far.

The Carfax should show you if it went to another agency. My '83 was also painted brown.

If TXDPS ran some four eyed cars with lightbars and yours shows evidence of having one on it then i would attempt to track the cars history like Mike said via car-fax. It really would depend on how you wanted to retore the car but it appears that with or without a lightbar would both be acceptable and correct for a restoration.

Another issue to look at is whether or not there is other evidence of the front and rear lights Texas ran on the slicktop cars. They would not have had both on them so if it was a lightbar car you may not have the holes associated with the other lights.

just food for thought.

I'll double check the carfax when I get home. The holes for the rear SHO-ME style lights on the rear package tray are definitely there. I was not able to track down the holes up front for the front two. I know the bracket must have attached to the bumper or the core support, but could not find any holes. Would you think that if the holes are there for the rear lights, it was most likely not a light bar car? That would be my thought...

I don't remember it showing it going to another agency on the carfax but I'm going to double check. Thank you so much for the help and advice thus far.

If you look at the pic I posted, it shows the front grille lights. Let us know what the Carfax looks like.

doh.....ok so I am blind....totally missed them on the front.

probably another agency used it after TXDPS with a bar.

Ok, here is the carfax. As with some of the other texas DPS cars, no police record to be found. What do you guys think? I don't think there is substantial enough evidence to leave the lightbar...

oops, see attached file.

Most cars do not show police use. I'm at work and can't read your file on my phone, but if it came out of service with 135k on it, that was probably DPS.

That file attached really small, here is a better read. I have no doubt it's DPS, I have the buck tag (one is missing) from the car stating that it is. Just no idea where it went next unfortunately.
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k9...8at74031PM.png

I wasn't doubting it was a DPS car, my statement was in respect to the mileage put on it.

The Carfax isn't much help. It probably didn't come out of service in '94 w/106K on it. It could have been sold earlier to an individual who didn't register it after the purchase, sold to another agency, or who knows?

I wouldn't worry about it either way. They obviously had at least one car with a lightbar and grille lights on it back then, per the pic.

Chris, do a Title History check through the state.

Tom

Hey Tom, I did the title history search. It goes back to 98, when the car was abandoned at a storage unit. So I guess a lien had to be applied at that time, and a new title was issued after it was auctioned. Unfortunately, because of that, the title history doesn't go back past there. And I'm not sure how I could get the history on the original title series, prior to the new title that was issued.

And thanks Mike, I'm not sure what would be best with the car at this point. I'm highly doubtful it ran a lightbar new... but there is certainly always that chance. What kind of bar do you think it would have been?

I did the title search, too, for my '83. They don't go back very far.

Looks like a Code 3 to me in the pic.

Yeah, kind of SOL there. My gut is still to put the car back to a normal state; if I ever find evidence that it really should have had a roof bar then I can re-drill it. I guess that we know for sure that DPS purged individual car records long ago right? There's no information within DPS I can look to tap?

Long gone. I went to DPS HQ in 2005 to drop some drugs off at their lab for testing and met the motor pool guys. They were super-nice, but all that stuff was tossed.

Damn, that is a shame! I guess there may never be a way to figure it out. And that means the chances of finding the original plate number, and the original officer are probably slim to none as well I suppose :(

Check my sig? :)

Checking... and I'm looking for??? LOL I'm a little slow today.

I think Mike was referring to his '83 DPS being the only SSP in his signature without a unit number.

Bingo. I may never know it, either.

Oh, DUH! Sorry, one of those mornings! I'm lucky that the unit number was still on the door jam. I'm removing it for the restoration, and am going to buy one of the label machines to remake it. The "M" was torn off of the front. Unfortunatley, the plate number seems unrelated to the unit number on texas cars, so the unit number really doesn't do anything to help me. Why couldn't texas have been more organized!?

It just goes to show...you never know with these cars.

I may have one of the most documented '83s out there (CSP), and one of the least, too (DPS).

Don't ever give up or totally despair about finding information about your cars. Once you get them done and start displaying them then eventually someone who knows someone who knows someone may just see them and that may lead to some sterling documentation being laid right in your lap. It happens...get'em done and out there!

Excellent point! The car will hopefully get to spend some good time on the show circuit once it is done. I'm looking forward to getting her back and putting the equipment back together!

This is so true. Robert King and I were at a show last weekend to memorialize the Lakewood 4. We brought out our Pierce Co. Mustangs. Pierce County also brought out their "still in-service" sister 88 out as well.

So, one of the PCSD Deputies starts talking with Robert about his blue PCSD SSP - and one of the other deputies joined in the conversation and verified that the car was a pool unit over in Lakewood.

A lightbulb went off with Deputy #1 - turns out Robert's car was the car he pulled from the pool his very first day alone without a FTO - and loved it!! And the other deputy told a stoy of taking a ride as a passenger in the Mustang and it broke down that day. Just never know what kind of stories will come out.

I can understand that with a smaller agency, like with Rhino's example, but not with a larger one. Some guys can't remember what kind of car they drove, much less anything specific about one they don't remember.

I really don't think that someone will see my '83 DPS at a show one day and be able to recognize it. I've also tracked down 2 DPS Troopers who drove them, so I haven't given up on finding out info about it. Tony S. says that he has a video of them all out at driver training, but I've never seen it.

I'm patient...and I never give up.