How do you protect your Hot Rod when traveling and staying overnight in a motel?

<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100&#37;" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" width="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">good ins is the only way. some one wants it ,its gone. tow truck, gone in 15 sec tires sliding and all. then in a bldg close and its gone.
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Here's one of my favorite pics. haha...but its The only real way to ensure not getting stolen! His wife made him take it back outside later though because it smelled up the room like gasoline.
There was just a recent thread about rigging the ignition so that you have to push the lighter in order to start the car. anyone??
Also, you could take the coil wire, but I think a lot of people know that one..I think taking the rotor is good because you can't visibly see that its gone.

 

didnt somebody here lose some valve covers at a hotel

 

Depends... where you stayin?

 

I was thinking the same thing. Allen/torx hardware, or something most thieves won't have tools for

 

If you are worried about someone stealing engine parts put a chain on the hood, feed it down to the frame and lock it with a good padlock.

 

Thats good, IF you have a hood.

 

Buy a cheap car cover.. it is one of the best protections as folks can not see what is under it.

I have had to do different things for different cars
On the wagon, I pull the battery cable, install a steering lock and lock the doors (and bunged the rear hatch so it could not be opened... no lock)

On the sedan, I made a cheap plastic cover (3mil) that covered the roof and half way over the doors and I made a wedge that kept the pass door locked (no locks on it) and I had a secret Ignition cutout switch wired in. I also had a plastic cover (3mil plastic and duct tape.. like the roof cover) that went over the carbs and generator..

 

Man, is this a paranoid bunch or what?!! A couple of voices of reason, but most of you guys need to get a life. Do you also think people are always talking about you and watching you too?

Do what's reasonable:

• kill switch for safety and security
• lock the doors and take the keys
• stay in a decent place
• carry insurance

They're cars guys and gals. Drive 'em, use reasonable care, enjoy 'em. Outside of that... go to sleep and don't fret yourself over evildoers.

 

You know , I've been doing this for a long time, and maybe I've just been lucky, but have never really worried about it here in the mid west. Seems like there are always so much stuff going on in the parking lots late at night that i never ever considered something happening to my car..I ve have read the stuff about valve covers being ripped off and stuff but really don't know of any of this happening out here.Maybe I'm just to naive

 

i can tell you a horror story about this several years freinds of mine were in route to the street rod nationals and stayed in a motel that was in a labor/union dispute unknown to them at the time. during the night some one poured paint stripper on several cars. one of my unstable high school buddies spent weeks looking for the perps with a gun. glad for him that he never found the guilty party.

 

The valve cover thing: I believe that the vehicle that they were stolen from had the "T-Bars" which you can take off with you hands.

If you have really "rare" stuff that you are worried about in an open hooded ride - I suggest using "Socket Head Cap Screws" or "Torx". As most small timers aren't going to be carring Allen wrenches or torx bits.


JimV: The Pad lock in the rotor thing is kind of interesting - any pictures of that?

For the tough guys with Guns - you cross state lines with them?

 

Lock the doors and take the key.
Use hidden kill switch.
Kill switch in electric fuel pump.
Tear gas cannister with fishing line trip lines connected to door handles. Little smelly, but will stop nearly all perps.

Also found that shaving all external handles and latches give many potential perps pause. ( They tend to lack common sense and creativity and usually can be down right stupid).

Also carry excellent insurance coverage just in case a smart perrp happens along.

 

lock my wife in the car

 

Again, locks, alarms, etc keep honest people honest. A true crook can get into anyhting, even if you sleep in it. Get a car cover, put it over your neighbors junker and spray it with primer, etc. Make it old and nasty looking. Put it over your car. Most punks will not give a second look at a messed up deal like that.

 

Having ridden harleys for 15 years becareful of the disc lock, have seen more then one guy ride off with the lock in place = dropped bike and damaged brake parts. I have one, its bright yellow and I run a bright colored dog lead from the lock to the bars - yes Im one of the guys mentioned above.

I pull the rotor cap from my rod and leave the box in R. It looks like its in P and wont turn over. If they figure that out it then wont fire. Have another mate with a manual fuel tap in his line. It may start but wont get too far.

 

my dad and my uncle has stayed in the cars over night while we stayed in the hotel there not some one you would want to steel a car from

 

Do it right!

http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1084302517

 

That "Trunk Monkey" is great!!

 

Get one of the parking cops wheels locks !! They lock around the rim on both sides and have a big t- bar They use them in all the big citys!! lol

 

A buddy of mine built a super-slick setup on an old truck he had that would work well in a hot rod. He mounted the ignition, fuel pump relay (converted to EFI) and radio in real solid homeade steel center console. It had no visible locks, hinges or handles and a padded armrest, so it didn't even look like it opened. The truck had originally been column shift and he converted to floor shift so he took off the shifter, filled the hole, then painted it all so it looked like a normal column. He then mounted a microswitch under the truck below the original shifter arm so that if you grabbed the column and rotated it by hand, it would trigger a popper to get into the console.

The only place those wires entered the passenger compartment was inside that console, and it was mounted to the floor by sandwiched plates like a rollbar, so you were not hotwiring that truck without a torch and a lot of time!

Excessive, maybe, but he'd had a nice truck stolen previously, so I can't say that I blame him. He's the same guy I learned the lighter trick from

 

I will pull up as close as possible to the parking berm with front wheels turned one way or the other, put the car in park (stick in reverse) and set the hand brake. I have a "Club" like device I bought years ago that hooks to the steering wheel and to the brake pedal. Then I throw a cheap car cover over it, somebody said "out of sight out of mind"!
If they try to load it on a flatbed or hook it it will not track stright, makes it a little harder to steal.

 

I would unhook the battery cables & then pull the coil wire and take it with me. Of course that would not of stopped anyone from towing it, but better than nothing.

 

i sleep in mine

after they see a big fat bald mexican sleeping in the back seat

they wont mess with your car

 

i usually ask for the room overlooking the parking lot (just like i have at home) or at least a room with a window facing your vehicle.i dont have to worry too much about my car since the wiring to the battery has a short and i have a battery disconnect on it anyway,plus the shifter is so screwy i'll hear them flooding it before they get it out of neutral!
creepy

 

i second this

 

if it worries you that much pack your strap and sleep light.... thats my 2 cents

 

I had a 74 K-5 Blazer a while ago with an electric fuel pump and a hidden switch. While I was in Oaktown with friends it was stolden but I found it about a half a block away where they ran it out of fuel. They got a few things out of it but it was still mine. That being said, you have no idea how many times I ran out of fuel about a half a block before remembering that I turned the fuel pump off. But then again a friend had his 65 Mustang removed from his garage late one night while he slept. If they want it they will get it, you can only keep the honest ones honest.

 

PS Really loud exhaust helps too. Better then any car alarm. Loud pipes don't just save lives.

 

At most shows I've been to if you stay at a decent hotel/motel near the shows location there are people hanging out/cruising aroung in the parking lot till the wee hours of the night, so that is one thing (as long as they're not goonies). Also, lock your doors, trunk, etc.
Just my 2 cents.