Finally arrived!
 

Well 2 am this morning my 88 FHP was sitting in my driveway,finally. I gotta say I am a little disappointed in the condition of the car. I saw alot of pictures of the car but in person it is much different,but never look back. I found the buck tags w/ 22 yrs of road grime on them and could use some help decoding them. First one reads like this-

0097 66B LX E2 240678
AC
SK
FY JF 0509 240237
1 240678 MBW

And the second one-

24-0237 FLORIDA

PAINT ROOF&REAR DECK
AREA CREAM WT 1677
REMAINDER IC BLACK

Obviously the second one pretty much explains itself,but is the 0237 the unit number? I really want to find the options and interior color this car was. I plan on spending some money on her and want to make it as close as possible to original. Unfortunately I havent found any other tags or info on the car but tomorrow is another day,seats and carpet are coming out followed by the dash. This car needs a makeover.

Congrats on finally having her home. Don't fret about the condition. These cars were used hard and are getting some age on them. It sounds like you have some good ideas about bringing her back.

I'm guessing that "24-0237" is your entire DSO number. IIRC, some FHP owners would find their unit number identified in their glove box. Sometimes it would even be written on the title.

Post up some pics after you've had your morning coffee. :D

I'm not an ace on the '88+ Buck Tags like I am with the '87 and earlier tags, but I'll do my best....

0097
66B = Mustang 2-door sedan
LX = LX model
E2 = 5.0L engine (E), T-5 transmission (2)
240678 = 40,678th 1988 Mustang asigned a VIN at Dearborn Assembly
AC = factory air conditioner
SK
FY = cloth seating, low back front bucket seats (F), Sand Beige interior (Y)
JF = 1988 model year (J), Dearborn Assembly (F)
0509
240237 = Jacsonville district sals office (24), special order # 0237
1
240678 = 40,678th 1988 Mustang assigned a VIN at Dearborn Assembly
MBW = manual Borg Warner (T-5 transmission)

Does that jive with what you have?

+1 to what Fox and Bill said (minus one thing).

The DHSMV number in the glove box is just a property tag, and not the unit number. The numbers were usually handwritten on the original titles at the time of the sale at auction, so that's something else to think about, as Bill mentioned.

Do a search for the unit number threads and you can read about others' experiences and that might help some, too. Good luck with it and glad you are going the resto route. Not many '87-'89s running around out there.

Congrats on finally getting it home. :cool:

thanks for the decoding, I had a feeling it was a tan interior car when original,she is gray now and the trunk release button is in th glove box. I am gonna need a tan interior(complete). Let the search begin for a donor car, I could use alot of other fill in pieces. Hope to get some pics up tomorrow.

Hey Paul - glad to see it finally arrived!

Are you going to be posting up more pics?

What's your starting plans with it?

First I need to acquire an interior or a donor car(with beige interior). I really want to get it back to factory color combo. This car is rough, the pictures make the paint look good, but there is alot of dirt in it. I plan on pulling the motor and trans and freshen them up and reseal them. Definately will replace all weather stripping and window channels on the car. Of course now that I finally got her here the weather in Jersey has been beautiful so all my spare time has been out in the yard, or at the park with my kids. It will be a slow paced project,unless I can find a donor car sooner than later. Thanks for the interest.

my car has the same dso. cool.