Thanks Jim, that's what I figured it might be too just trying to be accurate on the information.

As I find more information, I will post it here. The other ISP car that surfaced this year was at Idaho State University in Pocatello after it was at ISP. There are 7 state universities and colleges there in Idaho along with the private colleges too and who knows the other potential departments that could have used this for drug cars or D.A.R.E or a number of things. The surplus program in Idaho states that they can without bid "transfer" to another municipality or state sponsored organization as well as donating to an established charity too. I think that there are some blank times on these cars - check the Autocheck on the recent Idaho SSP sale here on eBay (click on the auto report to see what I mean):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=...AIT#vi-content

You will notice that it was government registered in 2002... what happened before? I have a similar deal but not showing any government use at all nor any activity until 1996.

I'm going to contact Idaho's online DMV service today to see if there is any benefit to paying a $95.00 subscription fee and $8.50 per vehicle search and get any better information than what I'm getting from Experian. It might be that the electronic records only go back ten or so years, who knows. I don't know if "CarFax" is any better either.

I know that information is sometimes a WAG in these cases but I look to find answers and I'll keep digging. If anyone else has a suggestion of where to look, let me know.

Congrats on the purchase!

Thanks! It's a bit of a challenge since I've never really done that much with Mustangs in the past or a restoration of a department other than my local departments here in Ohio.

I did however have some good progress today in historical searches. Worked out what looks to be the location of the correct Ford dealer today in Idaho that delivered my and Jim Y's cars in 1986. Along with that, I found possibly the cache of ISP radios that were in the Mustangs too with original ISP property tags still on them (no worries Jim, I'll get one for you too!). Have now multiple confirmations from the Boise Coroner's office, the radio firm that sold the GE radios and a US Marshal that have stated that ISP used GE Phoenix UHF radios from the early 80's on. I've also got an interesting note that they may have also used Federal PA 15, 20 and 200's rather than Unitrols... back to the drawing board maybe?? :headscratch:

awesome news.... thanks for all the work you have been doing... :)

Still working on the car... but it is looking better!

http://images45.fotki.com/v1310/phot...CN5116M-vi.jpg
http://images51.fotki.com/v628/photo...CN5117M-vi.jpg

Temporary tire...

http://images42.fotki.com/v1374/phot...CN5118M-vi.jpg

Car is running strong... now it's just got to stop!!!!:eek:

Brakes are next...:2thumbs:

Found traces of the front mud flaps...

http://images54.fotki.com/v77/photos...N5119M1-vi.jpg
http://images58.fotki.com/v510/photo...CN5120M-vi.jpg

Not sure what these holes are on the floor board... anyone (and no build sheet still)?

http://images42.fotki.com/v1374/phot...CN5121M-vi.jpg

Found something interesting here...

http://images51.fotki.com/v303/photo...CN5122M-vi.jpg

Which is the speaker mounting for the Phoenix radio...

http://images59.fotki.com/v684/photo...CN5123M-vi.jpg

One more time... no rollbar marks showing...

http://images57.fotki.com/v256/photo...CN5124M-vi.jpg

That doggone build sheet is still on the run somewhere under that carpet!!!!!!

http://images54.fotki.com/v77/photos...CN5125M-vi.jpg

Found the patched roof mounted antenna hole... means this car had a CB radio and a UHF antenna...

http://images59.fotki.com/v684/photo...CN5126M-vi.jpg

So some progress this week... Next week the exhaust and brakes... Now, any other suggestions where else to look for the doggone build sheet???:headscratch:

And to note, I just ordered the Marti report on this car just a few moments ago. That should help get me in the right direction this week and confirm what I found last week!

Got the Marti report last night. Looks like my research so far is fairly accurate except for two items:

1. Marti found that the car originally had a Canyon Red stripe on it. Is this a pinstripe?? Anybody have an example that they can post? I have not been able to find any of the ISP cars with this stripe on them in the photos that I've been able to see in my research. I've got to wonder if they removed it when the car had ISP paint the roof on it.

2. The car was sold July 28, 1986 for fleet duty. No indication to ISP but definitely Idaho SP DSO specifications.

The confirmation of the original dealer is now in place with this Marti report too so I feel good about the direction of my detective work so far. Moving on to verify other information with an ISP patrol sergeant that drove an 86 just after he came on and the head of ISP fleet so we can get this restoration going!

Does the image of the door tag on the Marti Report match the door tag on the car? Or is the tag on the car missing or not legible? Can you post an image of your Marti Report?

The "TAPE" column on the door tag is for paint stripes (painted on at the factory), and Bright Canyon Red would be code "E". That code, and the other five single letter paint stripe codes, is for the LX trim levels (coupe/hatch/convertible) only.

LX tape paint stripe codes/colors
A = Black
B = Bright Regatta Blue (coupe/hatch only)
E = Bright Canyon Red
Q = Medium Academy Blue
W = White (convertible only)
Y = Medium Champagne

If the stripes were deleted at the factory it would have been indicated in the comments on (at the bottom of) the build sheet. I have seen a few 1986 Saleen build sheets that have the comment DELETE PAINT STRIPES. i have also seen a couple of 1985 CHP build sheets that have the comment DELETE STRIPES. there may have been other ways for the factory to build an LX without the stripes, but I don't know.

The door tags match from the report with the car, I simply did not notice the tape stripe designation on the tag itself. I'll post the report when I get to my computer.

Marti Report as sent to me attached. First time for me to use Marti but have seen his previous reporting.

http://images51.fotki.com/v303/photo...6ISPSSP-vi.jpg

I noticed that it didn't really say anything about Idaho SP but the buck tags do.

Door tag for reference:

http://images53.fotki.com/v249/photo...Idaho11-vi.jpg

Buck Tags:

http://images59.fotki.com/v683/photo...Idaho29-vi.jpg
http://images15.fotki.com/v2/photos/...Idaho30-vi.jpg

I'll have to get to them and get a better image of what is there.

The build sheet could be on the trans tunnel, or it was taken out at the factory(?)

I have not had time to dig this week. I've been between Weirton, West Virginia and Dearborn, Michigan this week for work so the car is getting worked on while I'm away for now. All I can do is gather parts and research the history for the time being. I think I have to remove the front seats and then pull the carpet further so that I can get a better idea of the other items that can tell more of this car's history from the build sheet.

Odd that the DSO on the door tag and buck tag is 76 (Denver), as is the door tag image on the Marti Report, but the dealer code starts with 56.

So the closest available Ford Fleet sales office to Idaho is in Colorado? ISP did not use Fords at all until the late 90's. Typically, Idaho used Chrysler products for many years and in the mid to late 80's started going with Chevrolet. I can only speculate without talking with Ford Fleet that due to the lack of Ford police vehicle sales to Idaho, they would have to order any package or special service vehicles from a sales office that normally specifies them and most likely has available order slots. The part that is strange is why Colorado and not Utah or Washington or Oregon or any of the other bordering states that did actually provide sales offices for Ford?

Which DSO a car is ordered through has to do with the "region" (first digit) and "district" (second digit) that the ordering dealer is in. I don't know how Ford went about assigning dealers to which ever DSO they ended up.

I have ALWAYS seen that the first two digits in the dealer number is the DSO, that's why I thought it odd that the DSO on the door tags (actual and image) and the buck tag are 76 but the dealer number starts with 56. I thought that the dealer number would have started with 76 as well.

My 86 Idaho car also has a Denver DSO.

Do you know which dealer it was ordered through? (I assume the same one since it has the same DSO.) Do you have the original window sticker or invoice, or owner card (they sometimes have a dealer number written on them), or a Marti Report?

no Marti Report or Eminger on the 86 ISP. Kevin does not have the Eminger invoice however I will be ordering a Marti Report eventually.

Both my 83 Idado and my 86 Utah have the Denver DSO 76.

On Monday I will be talking with ISP fleet and get confirmation that the dealer was the same for all their orders.

Dealer codes couldn't be the same as the DSO in many cases, because the DSO codes, like you mentioned above, are regional (districts).

From the DSO page here:

http://www.specialservicemustang.net...s/DSOscan1.jpg

I will have to go through all of the window stickers, invoices, reports again but if I remember correctly, this is the first time that the dealer code did not match the DSO. Granted, the documentation that I have seen is only but a very small percentage of total production.

When I say "region" and "district", that is what is on the build sheet. Put the two together and it's the same as the DSO.

Again, this is how all of the Idaho fleet cars have been ordered from my research.

Here is the door tag for the recent Idaho car that was sold out of the Cleveland area:

http://i803.photobucket.com/albums/y...9-19111629.jpg

...same thing. And here is the buck tag for that vehicle:

http://images59.fotki.com/v684/photo...pig60_3-vi.jpg

Hopefully that helps you guys out with your search for the answer to the Idaho mystery... more info when I finally dig out the build sheet.

I might be missing your point, but we have tons of documented cars with DSO codes from adjacent states, ie. Oregon cars with 74 DSOs. If the ordering dealer was in OR, as in these cases, then the dealer codes don't match the DSO code.

I can always call the Denver sales office no?:thumbsup:

I doubt it!

I have their telephone number...:cool:

Good luck with that. :) Let us know if they tell you anything good.

I aim to please... and find information!! I've gotten this far, might as well go "all out"!

I think you're misunderstanding what I'm saying.

Anyway, did find more where the DSO wasn't the same as the first part of the dealer number. Most of them are the same though.

I was curious about this DSO/dealer number consistency and just checked something out. The actual DSO for Cleveland is 42 from what I see and the dealer prefix's for this area shows 44 whereas Cincinnati is 47 and 47 for a match with Columbus having the 47 code too. Toledo is 48 which is actually Detroit's prefix and in some ways makes sense since Toledo is within an hour of Detroit. Regions will make that happen from what I see.

I guess it's how Ford decided to cut things up!

More information now on the car from one of the guys that potentially prepped the car actually! Jim and Jeff I'll need you two to look for some markings on the radiator supports on your cars. When I get to my car, I'll have to look too. I don't know if they will be there but if they are, I'll have more historical data for these cars.

Digging away...

I am looking at my dash panel (not the pad itself) is really jacked on my ISP car and was wondering if there are any suggestions to fix it or should I be looking for another panel?

Can you post a picture?

I just realized I didn't take a photo of that area. Let me go take one and post it. The dash pad just needs to be redyed and should be fine but the panel has a warp over the speaker cover area and doesn't look that great so wasn't sure if there was something that could be done.

Thanks!

My bad... I guess I'll need the whole dash pad unless someone has a suggestion...

http://images49.fotki.com/v1555/phot...SCN5130-vi.jpg
http://images16.fotki.com/v258/photo...SCN5131-vi.jpg
http://images112.fotki.com/v386/phot...SCN5132-vi.jpg

...Kind of a problem when I haven't looked at the car in a while since it's not in my garage.

Confirmed the dates of service and mileage on this vehicle this week.

7-28-1986 In Service
7-25-1989 Titled for auction and sold in Bliss, Idaho
72,793 miles when the unit came out of service

So the car did basically follow the rotation that ISP Fleet mentioned of three years.

Update... Clutch cable has been worked on to make sure that it's adjusting right. Was feeling like it might need a clutch but the cable wasn't self adjusting as it was supposed to. So no clutch for now, maybe down the road. Brakes being worked on next and the exhaust is almost on. I got an estimate for the paint already too in the basic black and white... Might be able to get this one out in public earlier than I thought. Will have to get carpet and the dash replaced and the seat covers maybe to make it look right too. All the emergency equipment is in my hands now so it can be installed right after paint and just before putting the interior back in.

Glad to hear it's coming along Greg! Can't wait to see her back in Black/White!

That makes two of us waiting!! I just got the NOS siren speaker yesterday in the mail so now all the equipment is in hand.