Greetings from Arizona.

This is my second attempt at an introduction. Unfortunately, my first attempt ended up in an unintended location of the forum. Well, I'll never profess to be a computer guru. What I am is a Ford truck enthusiast, who had his cherry '78 XLT stolen 15 years ago this month.

The theft was a heart breaker inasmuch as the truck was a gift from my wife's father, who purchased it new.

I kept the truck clean and garaged. It always attracted attention including, apparently, the wrong attention.

Besides reporting the theft to police in an attempt to recover it, I circulated reward flyers in the neighborhoods it was last seen. The flyers reflected a photo of the truck and offered $1,500.00 for its recovery. In 2000, $1,500.00 was worth a little more than it is now, and the reward amount was certainly more than the truck's value at that time.

About 3-4 months after the theft, I even went into Mexico and visited a consulate to inquire if the Mexican authorities had recovered it and had it stored in one of their many impound lots.

I told my wife that I'd like to get another '78 XLT, but she won't agree with that idea. She said to me that if I could somehow locate ANY part of our stolen truck, she'd agree to the idea of totally restoring it, even if all I can locate is the frame, or cab, or engine, or door(s), well you get the idea. It's just that the stolen truck had so much sentimental value for my wife and me. So, that's my dilemma.

Not knowing what else to do at this point, I thought I'd start visiting junk yards in search of '78 XLT frames, cabs, engines, etc., to see if I can locate anything left of it, assuming it was parted out and the rest of it junked. But first, I think I need to try and find out where the Ford Motor Co. stamped the serial numbers on all the various parts of the truck.

This endeavor may take me quite awhile, and I may never locate anything, but I won't know if I don't at least try. Call my crazy, but this is who I am.

I look forward to visiting this site often. Besides the truck's title and ignition key that I still have, I feel as though this site is the only connection to what we lost 15 years ago, and I look forward to any help I can get from members of the forum.

 

Unfortunately - about the only place on the truck easy to ident the original or any part of it is the VIN tag at the lower left corner of the windshield, which means that if the cab were stripped bare and ditched someplace that would be about all that might be recovered by now. That's assuming that tag was not replaced by one from another cab - they are rivetted in place.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but by now that truck has been stripped and redistributed in pieces all over the place.

There is ONE OTHER PLACE such a cab might be abandoned, and that is on an Indian Reservation.

In the late nineties someone I knew had a lifted Toyota 4X4 and was living in the same apartment complex as me in Escondido California. He came out to go to work one morning, and there was a pile of glass in the space where he had parked his pride and joy...

It was found in a week or so on a reservation nearby with it's engine and transmission hanging from a tree by a chainfall.
Footnote here: At the time, lifted Toyotas were at the top of the "MOST STOLEN" lists that the police departments maintain based on statistics.

FIFTEEN years is a long time though. I hate to say it but you would be very lucky to locate any part of it.

As far as scrap yards and salvage sites, they only call for title paperwork on trucks with cabs and identifiable VIN tags, not on sub-components. HOWEVER - no salvage yard will accept non-titled vehicles, and they are smart about it. If you bring them a cab, you better have the papers for it. Otherwise no sale!

SO if the cab itself is still out there, and the VIN tag still attached, that is about the only way it can be found. It won't be in a salvage yard though...

 

Greywolf:

Thank you very much for your input. I certainly appreciate your expertise and knowledge on this situation.

I have, however, noticed in the Phoenix paper that there appears to be three different sources advertising that they will haul away any car or truck as scrap from anyone's yard, even those cars and/or trucks that don't have titles/paperwork. I thought I'd phone those sources and ask them if they have any '78 XLT cabs, engine blocks, beds, and/or other components for my restoration project. If I'm lucky enough to have any of them respond that they do have such parts, I'll see if any of the parts have a stamped VIN # that matches the VIN of my stolen truck.

Ya, I know this strategy may be a pipe dream in an attempt to locate a part/component appropriate enough to begin a restoration with, but it's all I have, and the warden won't agree to a restoration of any '78 F-150; otherwise, I'd just pick up another '78 and start there.

BTW, would you know of any sources that would educate me about the locations of a '78's VIN numbers on the cab, bed, etc.?

 

Howdy midnite, welcome to FTE! Search the forums, as they have a wealth of info for your truck concerning vin locations, etc.

 

Welcome to FTE

Tony

 

It seems to me that people who restore all the way back to the original have a means to look up what all the original equipment was on anything that came out of the factory - spotting the block serial of an engine may be possible, but the locations of those numbers would make them hard to easily look at if they were installed.

People who do T-Birds and such have been known to hunt down the original engine...

YOU NEED NUMBER DUMMIES advice!!!

"NUMBER DUMMY" is a retired parts manager here who retired from FORD with all of his service manuals.

I'll post a shout to see if he can help out here

 

Welcome aboard

 

Considering where you are geographically, I would bet almost any dollar amount that it went to Mexico. I think your other half is being unrealistic, but good luck in the hunt anyway - if you DO by some means nail the b@stards, that's one more for the good guys scoreboard!

But unfortunately there are far more who get away with this kind of thing than are caught and brought to justice.

PS: If there are in fact people around Pheonix who accept as scrap un-papered vehicles, they are operating illegally and I frankly hope someone sets up a sting operation to BUST them


Only a THIEF likes a THIEF

A scrapper that operates like that is beyond the pale, and serves as a "FENCE" for stolen goods
They need to be shut down - HARD!

Option two is that IT IS a sting operation... I hope so