keeping your car... anti theft devices?

Hell, sometimes I wish someone would steal my car. I left it in my driveway with the windows down for a week and nothing. Damn this safe town!

 

any suggestions for keeping what's under the hood safe? I don't want to have to worry about removing the battery every day (especially when it hits 15 degrees outside or in the rain)... but i dont want to come out and find parts missing either. There was a post awhile back about putting a chain on the hod to keep it from flying up while driving, so that's an option. Any other ideas?

 

i just disconnect the battery when it's parked for awhile (most geniuses can't figure out the double catch on the hood anyway), and mine has the fabulous swing away steering wheel - swing it just a little to the right and the car won't start, but ya can't tell it's out of place. (one of the guys in my club tried for an hour to start my car before callin me and tellin me it was dead - i'm sure he felt special when i asked if the steering wheel was locked in place... ). my gas gauge is also wired backwards, so my car always looks like it's on empty, even though i keep it full.
oh, and if you don't wanna get towed, turn your wheels hard against the curb when you parallel; a cop buddy of mine showed me that one, and after years of living in new orleans and working in the french quarter, i parked illegally every night and would always have the only car not towed from the block.

 

Many years ago, a friend lived in a neighborhood with only curbside parking. One neighbor had an old Nash parked a**** much newer models. One night the Nash was stolen...and the owner was proud as punch. He told everyone "of all the cars here, he WANTED MY NASH!"

 

I use a coated bicycle lock to hold my hood shut. Keeps the curious out. Cable type lock with either a padlock or built in lock. I have done both. Hook it through the inner structure and something on the core that you can get to.

 

I am planning on putting in a ball valve in the fuel system somewhere between the tank and the fuel pump . Its a simple 90 degree on /off mechanical shutoff, maybe in between the seats a small handle can be camoflagued(sp)

 

When my hood popped while doing 70 (only the first latch - not all the way), I considered using hood pins upside down, so they would be almost hidden. There used to be barrel-key locking hood pins.
Also, my hood release lever is so short, I usually have to open it for the oil change boys (when I feel like having someone ELSE do the dirty work)

My anti-theft is shaving the door handles, NOT permanently mounting the inside door handles. When you get out, don't forget to leave the vent windows unlocked & take the door handles with you. If someone gets in, they're stuck. Sort of. I suppose they could break the window!

 

My model A pickup was stolen right out of a locked shed. It appears the thieves broke off or cut the padlock and rolled the A-bone out. They replaced the lock with a $1.98 K-mart jewelry box lock and it is supposed they rolled the pickup into an enclosed trailer and took it away...never to be seen again.
I once bought a nice 64 'Vette coupe from a friend in Portland, Or. He was sick of finding the car down the street with no wheels and tires. The perpetrators would wait 'till late at night and simply push the car down the street with a pickup truck. They'd usually nab his carb and wheels. I bought it outta a body shop where they'd repaired the back of the body and replaced the bumperettes and wheels and tires...Cragars and red line tires.
It was never messed with again in the small town I lived in.

 

[ QUOTE ]
My anti-theft is shaving the door handles, NOT permanently mounting the inside door handles. When you get out, don't forget to leave the vent windows unlocked & take the door handles with you. If someone gets in, they're stuck. Sort of. I suppose they could break the window!

[/ QUOTE ]

My car is the same way. I've gotten some mighty strange looks walking across the parking lot with my keys in one hand, and a door handle in the other. So far so good.

But like has been said, if somebody wants your car bad enough, they'll take it no matter what.

On another note, I plan on installing some sort of kill switch also, and I really like the cigar lighter trick idea mentioned, a tech of it would be cool! *hint* *hint*

 

Yeah. I like the cigarette lighter kill. Nobody's gonna smoke in my car anyway.

 

I like the baby monitor idea, yeah,,,,,,,

I always yanked the rotor like 4ever4. Kind of a pain, but effective and very low tech!

 

I have seen a hydraulic lock used on the brake line (mounted under the seat) can't remember who sells it but is was cheap

 

I used an electric fuel pump with a power switch and hid it up under the dash. The only problem is that it will start and run till the carb is out of gas. I work for volkswagen and lots of the new cars come from the factory with these battery kill switches that we take off before they are sold, so I grabed one of those to use on the 54.

 

LO-Jack sticker on the window ...... and a magetic switch for a coil/starter kill ........ no toggles and noone will ever know where to look ........ (the kind of magnetic switch thats on most home windows for alarm)

 

shaved door handles and mechanical fuel shut-off.

Of course you could always chain the bumper to a parking meter

 

I hid a push on/push off ****on switch underneath the carpet inside of the rocker panels in an old falcon, and hooked it up to the coil....would crank forever but wouldnt start. Just had to know the right place on the carpet to press the switch to turn it off....Could just hook up a flashing red LED in a chrome bezel to the ignition switch so it flashes when the car is off...might look a bit gay flashing but would be a deterrent as well as some switch setup.... I kinda like the idea of the magnetic reed switches though..might have to use me one of those next time I think.

 

I'm thinking seriously about installing a removable steering wheel on my truck (in addition to a kill switch, of course)- they make a bunch of different styles of wheel disconnects for roadracing and circle track cars, like this:
http://www.jegs.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=963&prmenbr=361
(I'll probably get a splined version, and make sure it is SFI-approved. If it's good enough for a 150 mph GT-1 Camaro, it'll hold up well enough for me). Figure if I can lock the wheels against the curb, and take the wheel with me it'll be hard to drive OR tow away.

 

Or have a manual transmission.

People can't drive them anymore.

 

Darby...those types are not tight enough for the street, Speedway sells one that is splined it works much better, I ran it on my 27 and that was my anti-theft too.

I have a master kill switch on the Buick, and electronic solenoids on the air ride. On the frame, its not going anywhere.

 

Hmm, I wonder if I could do the "lighter trick" with the on/off switch on the original radio? It would be kinda like lighting the mags on a airplane, haha.

 

I just keep a socket and wrachet in my glovebox, take it to the nut holding my steering wheel on and walk away with it........and I drive a ******* car If I wanted to get really busy, I pull the coil wire, tuck it in a pocket and then unhook the battery that is located in my locked trunk!

x
Brandy

 

DO get the brake club too. i actually had my car stolen with it on, but they couldn't get it to stop so the ****ers used my park gear as a brake but they only made it about 3 blocks before they ****ed up my transmission and abandoned the car. bottom line... i still have the car but now it has an alarm, kill switch, and autolock brake club. and oh yeah, use the lame steering wheel cover that says it's protected, i had stopped doing that.

 

You used to be able to buy a line lock for your brakes that had a key to engage and disengage it.

Works against everythign except a roll back.
I got a friend that puts a chain and a lock around his clutch peddle. So you can't disengauge the clutch, you do the same with the brakes. Sure bolt cutters would cure it but most thieves don't want to be there very long.

I used to the do the seperate switch for the fuel pump thing. In MO if they can't start it its vehicle tampering but if they go 60ft is grand theft auto. Vehicle tampering is a violation of the penal code (a ticket like spitting on the sidewalk) and Grand theft auto is time in the pen. If they're gonna F&*K with my ride I want them to have to pay.

 

try this

 

I don't want to expose my security system because who knows who is reading this. Let's just say it involves a large fishhook and a large ignition switch activated air cylinder behind the seat

 

I saw an excar thief on TV and he said there wasn't anything that would keep him from stealing a car, he had seen them all. Well I guess you can still slow down some of the dumber ones, can't stop a slideback though. A hiden switch to a fuel shut off that is hiden above the tank, then it runs out of gas after they get ti out of the parking spot. They won't stick around to figure it out.
I always thought something that would lock the doors and gas them would be good, just what to do with the body.

 

Kojack,
take your steering wheel off the car and into work with you. can't steal the car if you can't steer it unless of course they steal it with a tow truck or flatbed. you could also park it in such a manner that it makes it difficult to steal it, such as drive it right up onto the store curb near the entrance.......

 

Hey Doc, this thread brings back some old memories. Remember a couple of years ago everyone was "sharing" their anti theft devices. (methods)

After about five pages, you dropped in and said, "Well, now that you all have shared your methods, I'll know how to steal your car!! "

 

well you can have my method just tie a rabid pitbull to you bumper with a 30ft leash

 

I am very surprised no one mentioned one of the oldest anti theft devices
I know about.
How about a Model T coil set up to put juice to the body when you park it.
Works great!
Touch my car, ZAAAAPPP!
I don't think anyone would even want to get it on a flatbed with one of those!


regards,
Doug