[jasonblair]

Originally Posted by geeteeohguy

Meth people (tweekers) become non-people in a hurry and ought to be euthanized, IMO.

Off topic, I find it strange that no matter where I go in the country, people always tell me "After all, [insert city presently located] IS the meth capital of the world!"

Why is it that everyone is so quick to claim THEIR town as the meth capital? (From data I've read, which is fairly subjective, southeastern Missouri has the most meth arrests per capita... But that could only signal increased police enforcement, not actual increased use there.)

The other one that I hear everywhere (except California) is... "Well, you know what they say about [insert state you are located] weather... If you don't like it, wait a couple of hours and it'll change!"

[gtohurstjudge]

Originally Posted by jasonblair

I would actually be surprised if lots of GTOs are stolen... They aren't exactly low profile, and chop shops probably don't have an easily fungible market to sell the parts to. That's why I always hear the most commonly stolen cars are Camrys, Civics, etc...

I'm sure people would love to steal a GTO for the joy-riding aspect, but I would think the vast majority of professional car thieves would move on.

In my area Mexican gangs steal most of the cars and they prefer the old cars as
they can work on them themselves. If you park an 87 cutlass supreme outside overnight
where I live you'd better have an armed guard standing beside it or it likely will be gone by
morning, no matter how trashed out it is.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by jasonblair

... southeastern Missouri has the most meth arrests per capita...

That's where my parents are from originally so I would not have guessed that. Maybe it's cause there's no people down there....

Originally Posted by jasonblair

... The other one that I hear everywhere (except California) is... "Well, you know what they say about [insert state you are located] weather... If you don't like it, wait a couple of hours and it'll change!"

We don't say that here in Michigan. We only have to wait 15 minutes.

K

[Deadhead]

Originally Posted by jasonblair

Why is it that everyone is so quick to claim THEIR town as the meth capital?

It is b/c when you live in a place that has ANY level of this problem at all and you have to deal with it you realize what a huge problem it is and how it is nearly impossible to surmount. It seems untenable, and you are overwhelmed by the totally irrational behavior and lack of recourse. It is then hard to believe that it is like that anywhere else, which it is. These people are sub-human by choice, and they cost us all huge amounts of tangible and intangible damages. The worst part is how long they can go on in their condition without croaking.

It is awesome that your tank was found and at the same time unbelievable that it was obviously stolen just for the gas. I wonder how many times they have done this for the $70+ pay-off. No wonder there is a dent. A tank with gas sloshing around in it is an ungainly beast even for 2 guys. You would have to be on meth or crack to deal with maneuvering it and dealing with the gas that you got all over yourself in the process. Another bad part about it is that nobody said anything. There is no way that this circus act went unobserved.

[Chris65LeMans]

Originally Posted by jasonblair

The other one that I hear everywhere (except California) is... "Well, you know what they say about [insert state you are located] weather... If you don't like it, wait a couple of hours and it'll change!"

They all think that's an original joke, too.

In my business, every so often I'll get to go have a $70 steak on someone else's dime. There's always somebody in the group who will refuse to eat the steak because "I'm from _____, and nobody has better steak than us." They're always from a place that makes me question that statement, too. (Miami, Jersey City, etc.)

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Did the tank look like it might have had a build sheet on top ?

Damn document hunters are getting too far over the top now.

[GT182]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

We don't say that here in Michigan. We only have to wait 15 minutes.

K

Delware has ya beat Keith. It's 10 minutes or less around here. LOL

[jasonblair]

Originally Posted by Baron Von Zeppelin

Did the tank look like it might have had a build sheet on top ?

Damn document hunters are getting too far over the top now.

I have no idea what all the build sheet comments are about.... Fill me in?

[PonchoV8]

Originally Posted by Chris65LeMans

There's always somebody in the group who will refuse to eat the steak because "I'm from _____, and nobody has better steak than us." They're always from a place that makes me question that statement, too. (Miami, Jersey City, etc.)

Or San Francisco. Don't have the salad either!

[David Jones]

Lots of times the cars build sheet will have been put on top of the gas tank when the car was put together. That's where I found my cars sheet.

[PonchoV8]

Originally Posted by jasonblair

I would actually be surprised if lots of GTOs are stolen... They aren't exactly low profile, and chop shops probably don't have an easily fungible market to sell the parts to. That's why I always hear the most commonly stolen cars are Camrys, Civics, etc...

I'm sure people would love to steal a GTO for the joy-riding aspect, but I would think the vast majority of professional car thieves would move on.

On the contrary. Very nice cars get stolen like that, frequently. They have a VIN and title to a junker and just swap them on it and, Voila. Several have been stolen locally in the past year or a little more. Some go overseas where you don't need a title from America. Some to Arabs and some to Central America in shipping containers.

[Jack Peters]

Search for build sheets. It is the sheet that was with the car with all the codes for every item that was put on the car. All of them had codes for not only standard features (such as the vinyl floor covering for Tempests and T-37's or if carpet was ordered for that specific car it had a different code. Engine, disc brakes, a/c, optional equipment all had codes. They told the assembly plant what was supposed to go on the car.

[66sprint6]

I had a '69 Camaro SS/RS Convertible with original paint and everything. At the time, I had a house with a shared drive (many homes in Toronto are like that). I had to park the Camaro on the street in front of the house when I was too lazy to take it back to storage. Nothing ever happened to it, but I never slept when it was out there. It's sad, but I don't trust anyone, anywhere, anymore.

[zeebo]

Originally Posted by gtohurstjudge

In my area Mexican gangs steal most of the cars and they prefer the old cars as
they can work on them themselves. If you park an 87 cutlass supreme outside overnight
where I live you'd better have an armed guard standing beside it or it likely will be gone by
morning, no matter how trashed out it is.

same in detoilet..i didnt figure my 82 cutlass was worth its weight in gold until i started looking on dub websites...lol...all my large cars i love..caprices, park avenues, etc are stolen more than new $40k cars!

[zeebo]

Originally Posted by geeteeohguy

"It's a waste of effort to try to figure out why people steal stuff, there's just no logical reason for it..."
People steal stuff because they don't want to pay for it. Trying to see the criminal's side of the equation is like trying to negotiate with terrorists or trying to talk a shark out of biting your leg off. Meth (and drugs in general) has been, is, and will be the downfall of this country. It is politically incorrect to hold drug addicts and recreational drug users responsible for the border wars, drug cartels, and murders that occur to keep our population steadily supplied with drugs. Meth is particulary bad...worse than Heroin when it comes to health issues, crime, and hospital bills you and I pay in medical insurance increases in order to treat these guys when they blow themselves up. Earlier in the year, a house blew up a mile from work...it felt like a truck hit the building. Leveled the house (meth lab run by two illegals). One ran away and escaped, the other was burned over 80% of his body. Guess who's paying for his hospital bill of $2 million? We are. And thousands of others like him. Meth people (tweekers) become non-people in a hurry and ought to be euthanized, IMO.

i could not agree with your last sentence more! without getting off topic, they should let those druggies OD and let em die..no ambulance!

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by jasonblair

I have no idea what all the build sheet comments are about.... Fill me in?

Some guys will go crazy looking for build documentation inside the car.

Here's the one from above the tank on my '65 GTO:




K

[PonchoV8]

That one is in great condition. It must've come from SOUTHWEST Mi.

[geeteeohguy]

Coming from a car that has less than 6,000 original miles since new helps a bunch, too!

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by jasonblair

UPDATE - THE GAS TANK HAS BEEN FOUND! They recovered it in a ditch off of state road 67. It's scraped up on the bottom, and there is a small dent in the corner, but not so bad that it will affect the tank capacity (maybe a quart less will fit). When I bought the car, the tank had a thick black coating on it (not as thick as Zeibart undercoating, but thicker than normal paint), but due to the scrapes, now has bare metal exposed. No straps or brackets to be found though... so I'm still waiting on them to arrive.

As an aside, when I was driving home yesterday, I had news radio on, and they mentioned how Indiana just passed a bill requiring all pawn shops to hold payment on all platinum and catalytic converters for ten days, as a deterrent to cut down on theft!

Congrats, and good for you that it was found!

Others here, more skilled than me, can detail how you can use compressed air to pop that dent out and return it to normal capacity.

Thank you for sharing your story Jason and thank you especially for maintaining a sense of humor during all of this. I for one greatly appreciate it!