1985 CHP Mustang Dream Car
 

I picked up my dream car, a 1985 CHP Mustang Four Eye - confirmed by our friends right here! It had been sitting in a field since 1992 in Orange County and I purchased it off a nice 19 year old kid who bought it wanting to restore it but sold it for college money! Good luck Jake! He did not know it was an SSP or what that was. $1000 bought me a rust free (surface rust only) body, all buck tags in place, three of the four wheel caps, steelies, original seats in great shape, door panels in great shape, and still running with a new battery and fresh tune i gave it yesterday. Runs sluggish though so it may either be dirty fuel filter, rust in the lines, etc, who knows but I will be taking it to JBA in San Diego to have them tune it and get it running right. At that point, the fun will begin. I will post pics as soon as I take them, but this one will be fun!!

Congrats again! That was a super deal you got on that SSP. Were you able to find the CHP unit number above/below the VIN label on the driver's door?

i havent looked for the unit number as i was too busy trying to get it tuned and running. however, i notice the vin label is gone from the driver side door and there is peeling black paint and underneath its red and primer so either the door was changed out sometime or someone took the vin label off. However, I will be going through it after I get it running and reliable and I hopefully find something. Aside from the $700 in back fees, its was a steal! I have three of the four wheel caps so I am short one. Even the trim is in great shape, as well as all glass and package tray. Fresh carpet and dash pad and freshening up/dye of all the panels and door panels will make it look near new. Thick coats of dust/dirt cover the majority of the motor and interior which fit the story of it sitting for all those years, not to mention all the lien papers I got with all documentation of who owned it and where.

Welcome to the 85 CHP family!! We look forward to your progress.

Congrats on the purchase. :)

Thanks Ryan! I am at work now and all I can think about is going home to work on my 85! So much to do!

Sal,

This is important info, not to scare you, but this is what you will have to do to register your car.

Being a retired CHP officer, I hope that you received a title and sales receipt to the car. I also hope that you have good previous owner info... cell phone, address, maybe even a driver's license.
A removed vin plate would make me suspisious about it being a possible stolen vehicle.

Every CHP Office has a vin officer that can verify the vin ( usually on one or two hidden areas on the car ) You will have to make an appointment for that.
Make sure that you have a sales agreement or something from the owner.
Take in all of your current paper work for the car when you go in.
I'd do it as soon as you can, I'll tell you why shortly.

The manufacture sticker on the door is peeling off ? It could have been put there from another vehicle to look as if it was original. Red paint under primer black paint ? A fast paint job to cover the original color after it was stolen ? Does that plate on the car match the title also?

This might be why there are back fees on this car. IF it is stolen, they weren't about to take it in to register it and get caught.

Just a little warning to you, when you make your vin appointment ( which DMV will require you to do with a removed vin plate )
Be prepared...... IF while at the CHP office the officer finds that the car is stolen, you WILL be arrested for auto theft. Just purchased it or not.
They will hook and book you right there in the office and take you to jail after
getting your statement on the car.

My advice........... IF there is a vin # somewhere else on the car besides the door sticker, call a CHP office, see if it is stolen or not. Ask them if the plates you have are correct for that car. If not, give them the plate on the car see what that brings up.

You may be able to go into DMV and get this info also. IF it comes back stolen, and you are on the phone or at DMV, just tell them that you are looking at buying the car.
But most likely they will want to know where it is at and call an officer to come talk to you. They will want to recover it.

It may be clear title, no problems, get a new vin attached by CHP.
but primer black over red, a peeling door sticker and no vin plate are signs of a stolen vehicle. Just my thoughts on this is all.

Anyway, I hope there is no issues with the car. I just want you to be aware of what will happen IF there is a problem with the car.

Good luck
John

Sounds like the VIN is gone from the door, not the top of the dash. Doors get replaced often.

Just checked the entire car and all vin tags are in place and matching. All dmv paperwork is complete. The kid I.bought it off was very.nice and about.to start college. He just couldnt pay all the back fees and figured hed rathet sell it and get some college money. His mom was extremely nice, as well. She handled the entire transaction...good looking out though bro, glad we take care.of our own here on the forum!

I just logged on on heard 1985 CHP....... Awsome!! I am here to help if help is needed..... :D :cool:

I will definitely need help in parts location. Im Vince, glad to know theres help out there. Ill be posting pics soon

Maybe you can do a title history check to find the first plate, then you get the unit number. Interesting to see if it is an 83xx # or an 84xx #.

There is the slight chance that there might be another 85 with a unit # one or two #s off like Rich's(CHP8336) car and mine. Unlikely that that would happen, but you never know ;)

Taken from your other thread -

I'm looking forward to see what the temporary registration says because it most likely includes the license plate number (i.e. the CHP Unit Number).

Bill, thats a great idea! Once I get home I will check the temp reg and look for any evidence of a unit number. Great tip!

Vince,
Where did I get Sal from ?? lol

Ok good deal. I guess I read your blog wrong. Glad everything is there.
Door stickers are an easy fix through Marti Auto Works.
They did a great job on mine. Get the Marti report while you are at it too !

I may have a couple of CHP items for your car if you are restoring it back to a patrol car. Might have a trunk box and a 33 book and a CHP ET backboard.

Congrats on the car ! Sorry for the misunderstanding.

John

Thanks john, no.worries on the.confusion! Just checked the temp and no unit number but it looks like it went to sacramento. Ill.post a pic.tomorrow and of the.car itself. I would love those items when im at that point. Im very excited I wish it was done tonight!

All cars went to Sacramento from the which ever dealership the cars were ordered through(does it say on the temp at all?)

Here are some pics including the temorary registration...any thoughts? Currently, I have sent out the steelies for powdercoating so for now it has to ride on pony wheels...

Here are some more pics

Congrats on the purchase and what a steal! Nice to hear your excitement about the car. Mine is yet to wear off!

Thanks for posting the pictures! You found yourself a BARGAIN! :D

Thanks guys! I doubt the excitement will ever go away! I will keep posting pics as I progress with the car. I got lucky there is no rust on the car. The undercarriage has some surface rust but incredibly solid. This will be fun!

Looks like a great project! Congrats on the find.

Vince, congrats and thanks for picking this CHP notch up. I'm glad to see it got a good home!

John, you confused my name with Vince 'cause I posted the original thread on the craiglist ad for this car.

Just came back from DMV. They told me they could not give me a print out of the cars history so I could find out the unit number. I cannot find it on the car yet. Any ideas how I can go about finding out the unit #? $769 in back fees but Im thinking its worth it

I'm not surprised to hear that the folks at DMV were unable to get you the information. I suggest that you read the following thread...

http://www.specialservicemustang.net...ead.php?t=2676


...and follow the instructions to get the form to request the Registration History on your car's VIN. The people at the coutner probably do not know the procedure to get that information.

Good luck, and let us know how you make out.

Vince, do you have any updates on your 85 CHP?

Update on my 1985 CHP Dream Car: After finding out I owed almost $1,000 in back fees for registration, the woman at the DMV was kind enough to knock off a few dollars so I got away with paying only $661. A small savings but every penny counts. I then had the original carb rebuilt, lines and gas tank checked for rust (none), fresh brakes all the way around, new belts, dyno tuned, new wires, plugs, cap/rotor, and now it runs like a new car!!! Smooth shifts, easy clutch, nice brakes, and smooth idling. Next step is freshening up the suspension. I may upgrade the rear end to an 8.8 still thinking about that. The original steelies are back from powdercoating but I will wait to put those on until after a fresh coat of paint/body work. For now, it is rolling on 93 pony wheels. After the suspension I will tackle the new exhaust front to back. Not sure if I want a true dual exhaust or stick with the single pipe cutting into two pipes out the rear. Anyone have ideas or thoughts on the dual exhaust and upgrading to an 8.8 rear? I am dying to get this car restored, but driving it daily now to work and collecting all the restoration parts such as for the interior is a great experience in the meantime!! I will post pics tomorrow...

I have updated my dream car - CHP - above - more to come!

1985 CHP Dream Car Continued
 

Hello everyone, I am in my fifth month of owning my 1985 SSP/CHP that I found in a field filled with weeds, rotted tires, some surface rust, and faded interior. I have since rebuilt the carb, installed new brakes, radiator, tune up, fresh fluids, entire suspension, and general get up and go maintenance. Up until yesterday, this was my daily driver as I searched for stock parts and scoured ads for anything CHP/SSP related. Last night, I turned in my beloved CHP to my friend Mike, who will tear out that motor with 128K original carfaxed miles, disassemble it, fix anything that may be wrong inside (doubt it because it runs stronger than any 85 ive driven) and regasket the entire motor, paint/detail it, and pressure wash/steam clean the entire undercarriage. The only thing left will be to get it to the paint booth and massage out any dents (minimal), sand down that surface rust, and apply a fresh coat of black paint. I will then put back the original steelies with fresh meaty tires and restore that interior. Pics to come. This has been the most exciting car I have ever owned and even driven and I have owned an 03 COBRA with a kenne bell, various saleens, a 93 COBRA, and the list goes on. My thanks to everyone here whose posted pics and kept me motivated. I am almost there!! I cant believe its happend so fast!

Just a thought for you to consider on the engine. This would be the time to replace the timing chain and gears. You might also want to take a close look at the harmonic balancer. They are notorious for worn rubber between the outer and inner rings. Replace it - cheap insurance to keep it running for a long time.

Good luck and enjoy it!

Good call, Gregg

Great idea sir, I will do that

Nice ride Vince glad u have another SSP. Thankyou again for the fullsize spare/board/antennas for my '93.

Definitely would love to see some before/after pictures!

Ahem, Hey Vince..... break out the camera and post up some pics................ Or do I have to stop by and take them myself??

Pictures are good. :cool:

Pics are coming soon guys, my buddy texted me some pics today and it looks factory fresh underneath as does the motor. New timing chain, oil pump are all it needed. It will be mechanically restored within two weeks!! Now all I need is a good paint job, interior, and some chp lights....this project is getting exciting!

Congrats on the quick progress. Now show us some pictures, darnit! :D

Lol, he don't listen................:p

LOL! Pics definitely coming soon....I will pick it up on January 5....I cant wait!