SVO is home

[SVOKip]

Well.....after a six hour trip, the SVO is home. Here is the run-down. The car is better than I thought. The front bumper cover will need to be replaced and of course it needs paint all the way around. Needs new tires of course. You can smell the old gas and the inspection is from 2001, so I am going to have to give it a little TLC before trying to start it. The intercooler is missing, but I will probably go with a FMIC anyway. The interior looks to be in good shape. It looks like someone tried to take off the door panels and then gave up, so they kind stick out from the door some. The leather seats look almost brand new. No rips or tears and they are clean. He told me he had almost decided to take the seats out and put them in 90 5.0. He also threw in an extra set of T-Tops. There is no documentation for the car, but he said it came from a retired Trooper from Durham. I'll see what I can find out. The guy seemed really genuine and told me that he knew he could have gotten more from parting it out, but thought it would be a shame and wanted to see someone fix it up the way it should be. Of course, he told me he originally bought it to put a 460 it in, but after he learned a little more, he decided not to mess it up.

[SVOKip]

Couple more including the extra set of t-tops in the back. There is also a turbo dash out of some type of Mustang back there.

[hsean]

great find and with t-tops i love it ,good luck restoring it.

[Blue86]

Nice car! Looking forward to seeing the progress.

[gdniel]

Nice find.

[myler]

awesome! glad to see you got it

[StangBoy]

i didnt think they ever made a svo with t-tops. only sunroofs.

[FoxChassis]

The T-roof is NOT original to that car.

[SVOKip]

Thanks for the compliments. Not bad for $800. There is a lot of discussion about the T-tops in SVO's. There were several cars that were ordered with t-tops and there is a lot of debate if it is an official option or not. I believe that cars and concepts did all of the conversions for Ford as well as other automakers, so a customer could order one from the dealer and then the car could be fitted with t-tops before it was shipped. I don't think it's fair to say it's not original, just that there is not much information on how many SVO's were made with T-tops and therefore there will always be those who say it's not real or whatever.

[FoxChassis]

There were ZERO made with T-tops. It was not an option.

"Made with T-Tops" = D code on VC label and TR code on Body/Buck Tag.

Anything else is aftermarket add-on, regardless of who did the ordering and when.

[1147]

The FOXCHASSIS has spoken.

[85 GT Kid]

There were ZERO made with T-tops. It was not an option.

"Made with T-Tops" = D code on VC label and TR code on Body/Buck Tag.

Anything else is aftermarket add-on, regardless of who did the ordering and when.

Wheres the proof that they didnt make one Factory. My friend Mickey had a 69 Boss 302 that he restored and he spoke with the original owner he said it had been ordered with a high gear in it (cant remember the size i'll find out tomorow) and everyone said that you couldn't order that ratio but he had one. What im sayin is they always say you cant get something but then one pops up that is FACTORY. By the way nice car the color ROCKS.

[SVOKip]

I don't want to start static here, I understand what he is saying about it not being an original option. I think everybody knows that in certain circles(especially automotive) that if there is no documentation, then there is no proof. I was just asking about the tag in hopes someone could clarify it for me. I got my chops grilled for backing a guy up on another site because he said he had a rare blue 84 SVO. Everyone said it wasn't original and it got a little testy, but he found the info on the buck tag and found some paperwork and it did end up being original. It's kind of like the t-top thing, without some type of record or documentation, who knows. In the 60's, there were lots of "Rotunda" stuff for the old Stangs. They didn't come from the factory but it was available through Ford. If you had any of that stuff, it is considered correct because the stuff was available. T-tops were "Available" even if it was a dealer ordered option, so in my opinion, T-tops were an un-official option for the SVO. I'm not trying to start anything, I just was hoping there was more info out there.

[7t9cobra]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't want to start static here, I understand what he is saying about it not being an original option. I think everybody knows that in certain circles(especially automotive) that if there is no documentation, then there is no proof. I was just asking about the tag in hopes someone could clarify it for me. I got my chops grilled for backing a guy up on another site because he said he had a rare blue 84 SVO. Everyone said it wasn't original and it got a little testy, but he found the info on the buck tag and found some paperwork and it did end up being original. It's kind of like the t-top thing, without some type of record or documentation, who knows. In the 60's, there were lots of "Rotunda" stuff for the old Stangs. They didn't come from the factory but it was available through Ford. If you had any of that stuff, it is considered correct because the stuff was available. T-tops were "Available" even if it was a dealer ordered option, so in my opinion, T-tops were an un-official option for the SVO. I'm not trying to start anything, I just was hoping there was more info out there.

+1

this isnt the first time ive heard of a t-top ordered SVO. if it was sold new with t-tops whether a different company put them in or not, i would consider it original, but thats just me.

[KCoker]

I don't want to start static here, I understand what he is saying about it not being an original option. I think everybody knows that in certain circles(especially automotive) that if there is no documentation, then there is no proof. I was just asking about the tag in hopes someone could clarify it for me. I got my chops grilled for backing a guy up on another site because he said he had a rare blue 84 SVO. Everyone said it wasn't original and it got a little testy, but he found the info on the buck tag and found some paperwork and it did end up being original. It's kind of like the t-top thing, without some type of record or documentation, who knows. In the 60's, there were lots of "Rotunda" stuff for the old Stangs. They didn't come from the factory but it was available through Ford. If you had any of that stuff, it is considered correct because the stuff was available. T-tops were "Available" even if it was a dealer ordered option, so in my opinion, T-tops were an un-official option for the SVO. I'm not trying to start anything, I just was hoping there was more info out there.

I have the Blue 84 SVO and you are correct on that one, I have the buck tag and the build sheet. I also own two 84 SVO t-top cars. One I have documentation where the dealer sent it to the local t-top shop to have them put in. The other was bought at the Dealership with them in it but have not verified how they were installed. Neither has a D on the door data sticker. Both have Cars and Concepts t-top stuff and everything is the same as some of the other t-top cars I have that were factory (Cars and Concepts Factory) installed. The SVO's dont have the extra bracing in the doors, you might check your passenger door for the bracing but the GT Door should have it. I did notice form looking in Junk yards that the ealy 80 throught early 84's didnt have bracing in the doors either. later Kendal

[FoxChassis]

Wheres the proof that they didn't make one Factory?

Not one has been found that has the D/TR codes. Not one. This one is no exception either. SVOKip posted his Body/Buck Tag codes in a thread in the decoding forum. No TR code was on it. Therefore, it was not ordered from DAP with a T-roof. It was installed after it left DAP.

[SVOKip]

That's interesting about the GT doors as mine have GT doors. I'll look for the brace. I found out that the car was stolen and recovered about 7 months later back 89-90. Maybe it was stripped down and that explains the GT doors... I just don't know. Did you buy the blue 84 from the guy who got blasted "over there" or were you the one who got blasted? I remember talking about the car and I sent a PM to whoever was getting a hard time and told him to keep looking for documentation because it sounded real, but I can't remember if it was you or someone else. I think that car is by far one of favorites and I would have loved to have found and bought it myself. By the way, you know I was probably the only person "over there" that believed that the 84 could have been blue. Just remember that if you ever decide to sell it, I'd like a shot at it.

[FoxChassis]

What do you all mean by "GT" doors? How do you know they're from a GT?

[Ken P]

I've posted this before but I'll add it just for the record. It is an 85.5 SVO T-Top which was a Ford executives car with the Cars & Concepts paperwork. I don't know any of the details about when the order was placed for the T-Tops. It is currently in the Hatfield collection. I hope to make it mine someday

http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...t=61845&page=2

[SVOKip]

I know they are GT doors because it has a different VIN on the door sticker. I decoded it and it comes back to an 85 GT. It does have the "D" in it. LIke I said, I assume that when it was stolen years ago, it was stripped down and these doors were put back on it. I am working on getting the previous owners info so I find out as much as I can.

[FoxChassis]

I've posted this before but I'll add it just for the record. It is an 85.5 SVO T-Top which was a Ford executives car with the Cars & Concepts paperwork. I don't know any of the details about when the order was placed for the T-Tops. It is currently in the Hatfield collection. I hope to make it mine someday

http://vb.foureyedpride.com/showthre...t=61845&page=2

The paperwork says the car had 537 miles. So it certainly wasn't done before it left DAP.

[FoxChassis]

I know they are GT doors because it has a different VIN on the door sticker. I decoded it and it comes back to an 85 GT. It does have the "D" in it. LIke I said, I assume that when it was stolen years ago, it was stripped down and these doors were put back on it. I am working on getting the previous owners info so I find out as much as I can.

The VIN will not tell you if a car was a GT. The LX model had the same body and engine codes in the VIN.

The only two codes on the Vehicle Certification Label ("door sticker/label") that will tell you if it's possibly a GT are the BODY and INT. TRIM codes. The GT model could not have been built on a coupe body so if there is a that code on the VCL you know it wasn't from a GT. Hatchback LX models could not get the Articulated Sport seats so if there is that code you know it was either from a GT or an SVO (and the engine code in the VIN would tell you which one of those two).

[SVOKip]

I assume it is a GT because the VIN shows it has the 5.0 and the data tag has a 2 under the A/C. When I decoded this it says the the 2 under A/C menas "Tape/ GT decal colors". I would assume that meant it was a GT.

[Johnie Ryall]

i always have heard that the t-tops were never factory fit onto SVOs, but could be installed at the dealer level. you could add t-tops to anything from a 79 pace car to a 93 cobra if you wanted too. factory installed no, but original as to when the car left the dealer, maybe.

[FoxChassis]

Say a dealer had an SVO that was NOT a "comp prep" and they made it one. Is that SVO now an original comp prep car because it was done by a dealer?