Well, after reading the whole Chandler's Stolen Maverick story, it really has gotten thinking about how to prevent this. I'm not sure that it can actually be prevented, but if its possible to make it so difficult that its not worth it, I'm all for it. Its not like we're all driving around in Porsches but after we spend way too much time and sweat on these cars, its just wrong to have them stolen. Am I wrong to assume that due to the age and design of these cars that it is much easier to steal compared to todays cars? What can we do? For some reason the "Transporter" keeps popping into my head with his keypad ignition system.:16suspect
ever watch thoes...repo shows...on TV? if the want it they'll get it... put an alarm on that is so loud that it kills the bat. in about 30 secs... ...:Handshake...
I locked my keys in my Comet once. I had a buddy at work who performed our lock-outs (when customers do the same thing as I did). I grabbed him and walked him out to my car. He said, "I bet you 5 dollars I can open the door in 5 seconds." I said, "I bet you 5 dollars you can't do it 3 seconds". I lost 5 dollars that day. Moral of the story: Ignore the doors, disable ignitions and make it audibly uncomfortable during a break in. I'm liking the GPS solution; when it no longer becomes theft prevention but instead theft recovery.
It's pretty easy to add a kill switch. Just wire it in with the Neutral Safety switch, and hide a switch under the edge of the dash, or as something else.
OK for newer cars with intricate wiring. Awful easy to get an old Mav running with a few jumper wires. Make sure you have a good hood lock along with that unit.
All the disable stuff dosnt matter when they use tow trucks to yank your car. My friend used to park his 70 F-100 right in front of his bedroom window. He had a kill switch also. This he did because my dads 71 was stolen across the street the same month. Well my friend cam out one morning and his truck was gone. Now way they could have started it without my friend hearing it. We think they just pushed it down the road a bit and used a tow truck to get his and my dads. these of 390 trucks with glass packs arent easy to start without the whole house knowing it. I make sure my car stays nice and secure by not driving it and keeping it locked in the garage.
I bought a 69 Mach I project and some days it would start and some days it wouldn't. I later figured out someone wired a dimmer switch between the key and coil and my son was playing with this extra dimmer switch. I never notice the extra switch on the floor because it was painted black and it blended in with the carpet.
Security is just about making things harder for the thief. Seems like with a couple of relays and hidden switches the starter could be disabled, electric fuel pump (if there) could be disabled, distributor lead could be grounded to defeat a quick hot wire, and set off an alarm in case of a hot wire. Alarm could be placed to blow the ear drum of the thief. Aw, but then he'd sue you and take your house instead. How about a hidden, motion activated security camera where its usually parked?
An old school trick is to plumb a shut-off into the fuel line ... potentially, the handle could extend up through the floor and be hidden under the drivers seat. The thief gets the car started ... it runs on the fuel already in the carb ... maybe a minute if they are lucky. Then the car shuts off, and they can't make it run again without turning the fuel back on. Makes them waste time, stuck with the car. I would work great as long as a tow truck isn't involved.
on my 70 F-100 my alarm has the siren under the hood and the hood has a pin switch on it. And inside I have a piezo horn that is unbearable to be in the truck when it goes off.
The reality of this issue is just how bad does the thief want the car. If they really want it, they'll get it. Otherwise, the idea is how to protect the car from the idiots. So, here's what we have so far: 1) Horn so loud that they bleed from their eyes thus discouraging them to find... 2) Kill switch, hidden somewhere. 3) Fuel shutoff switch (nice idea). 4) GPS to help recover the car. So far so good. Just how dedicated is the crook with these three options in play? Wasn't there some sort of electrified chair used in Robocop?
Battery powered electric fencer with one electrode grounded to the chassis and the other strategically placed under the fabric of the drivers seat. You'd only forget to disable it once.
I still think that the best alarm is to just insure the crap out of it. As has been said, if they want it bad enough...they will get it. Given enough money you can rebuild anything. I understand everyone's attachment to a particular car, but the fun for me is in the building of it. If mine were stolen today I would just take the insurance and build a better one. But that's just me.
