Whats up fellas I was wondering if I could get some advice on keepin my car safe. Unfortunately I still live in an apartment so I don't have a nice safe garage to store my ride in...yup its parked on the street for everyone to have a go at. I'm looking for some inventive ways to keep thieves from stealing my car. Right now I've just been pulling the battery and steering wheel at night but I'm sure there has to be a bunch of other techniques..maybe a lock under the hood...? Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
I read a trick that someone did that I thought was neat. They wired the ignition circuit through the cigarette lighter somehow. Push in the lighter and it closed the circuit. Leave the car? Put the lighter in your pocket.
Hidden ignition kill switch. It'll crank, but the retards wont be able to start it. Most of my cars have one. Get good insurance, and sleep at night. Thats my best advice.
This has been discussed before at great length, and many ideas thrown around. Concensus seemed to be that lojack is effective. Many other suggestions were made, but in addition to lojack, I can't help but think that a good alarm along with a very very good (expensive) chain to tether the car to a light-pole or telephone pole would stop all but the most tenacious of thieves. Vandalism is a tough one to avoid, though.
Compustar makes an alarm that comes with a pager. That's what I have and plan to install in the truck. It works great, and also has remote start as well as many other options. Easy to hide as well.
If it's still there when you wake up tomorrow, go to a mini storage, they are about $50 a month here, maybe $500 in California, so that may not be viable. I'd also recommend a German Shepard and a .45, but I think guns have been outlawed out there, correct me if I'm wrong.
Adapt a later/earlier hood latch with cable release to eliminate the easily opened hood. You might look at one of those Caddy etc. electric deck lid closers too.
Get a trunk lock from a hatchback vehicle with key, install with cable for hood release out of site - hood only opens with key.
I had a friend in Seattle with a pricey vintage italian roadster, no steering lock, no door locks, no top or side curtains, leather strapped bonnet, etc.. open to the whole world. He liked to bring it to work every once in awhile on Fridays and cruise around on Weekends. Anyway, he had a manual line lock set up installed on the trans hump that worked both front and rear brake lines. He pushed a plunger in, turned a key that locked the plunger down and locked the brakes on all 4 wheels. The car was low enough that it would have been a bitch get under to cut the lines and the car did have a simple alarm for the doors and bonnet. It still wouldn't have kept it from being drug onto a flat bed but it may have slowed them down. Not alot you can do if a thief really wants it.
Well woke up this morning and its still there..thank god! I'm gonna ask around and see if I can get some help with all your suggestions.
Some states participate in a national voluntary motor vehicle theft prevention program called "The Watch Your Car Program." Check with your local law enforcement department. Probably not California with their massive budget problem. Afterthought; Have your roomate take a night job with secure parking and commute in the Elco.
Well if you are parking on the street hopefully it's between some other cars and that may slow them down from pulling it up on a rollback. But you might want to secure the steering wheel and crank it over to one side towards the curb so it won't roll straight. Maybe a logging chain to a telephone pole. Good alarm system with a pager and lojack.
Back in the day they would electrify the body with a coil. Get a door popper to turn it off and there ya go. The can't even touch it
Yeah my buddy had mentioned that you could run an electric current through the door handles..I like that idea...if its possible. Whoever tries to open the car, I want them to go to sleep for a long time.
It is hard to describe, but I had a buddy who had 2 sections of flatbar under the hood around the radiator. 1 was connected to the radiator support and 1 was connected to the hood via a single chain link. when the hood was closed at the end of the 2 sections of flat bar, at the bottom of the radiator, the holes lined up and he had a padlock connecting the two. This was a very simple & effective hood lock.
Get proper vintage car insurance that will actually cover the car if it is stolen. Put a real working alarm in it with a visible indicator light and one that make the lights flash with the alarm sound. A kill switch might not be a bad idea either if you really want to make them work for it. Or take the coil wire with you. Park in the best spots possible. Use common sense. Nothing will ever be 100% fool proof. Don't leave anything in the car at all - nothing. Get decent sleep and don't worry about it. If it gets stolen, call insurance and get paid and get another car of your choice. DO NOT listen to any of these internet tough guys and and risk your life playing Dirty Harry. Some punks will cap you for just walking up and opening your mouth. You think having a gun stuck in your face is fun and will get your car back, think again. You think you will be a better quicker shot than they might be, doubtful and not worth finding out. You might think twice about shooting someone, but punk car thieves likely won't. I had a gun stuck in my face over a car once and I was very lucky he gave me the chance to turn around and leave. I will not make that mistake again. They might play tough in TX and TN, but they won't play with you in parts of LA as I am sure you know. You might find yourself dead before you ever get in the game. Possibly saving a car is not worth it. Move to a better neighborhood with better parking when you can. But just use common sense and reasonable precautions in the mean time and hope your luck is with you.
There are a lot of good suggestions here. Ignition kill switches, steering wheel locks, all good ideas. Just locking your doors keeping your windows up goes a long way in preventing crimes of opportunity. Realistically though, it takes a few minutes to hook a car up on a trailer and be off with it, and it's gone forever. Best solution I've seen is that of a hidden GPS locator that can be hidden inside the car. The services usually cost like 10 bucks a month, and you can set it up to text you or email you if your car moves, and you can ping it in real time to find it's whereabouts. This way, if all else fails, you can find your ride and get it back, hopefully in one piece. Insurance is pretty important too. You gotta cover your ass
The Jalopy Journal
