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.
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.
In this shot, you can see the original white paint under the removed side sail panels -
So as of today, this is how my SSP Mustang looks at the body shop with much of the trim removed -
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.