I was wondering the different types of security devices that are used in hot rods, classics, etc. Kill switches, steering wheel locks (clubs), alarms, that kind of thing. Which do you feel are the most effective for keeping your car from being stolen? I am going to be driving my 51 more and more now and I want to make it as difficult to steal, yet still fairly easy for me to operate, as possible.
cutout switch for the coil and a locking hood latch, but still with a piece of wire an old car can be hotwired QUICK! if the battery is in the trunk you could have a hidden disconnect, i have seen remote disconnects too.
I used a remote switch disquised as a dash light switch on my old Willy's Jeep. You could use a high beam switch on the floor as a cut out too. I need some ideas too for my Apache since its running and stopping now.
If I need to park my car overnite,espicially if I can't park in front of the motel room,I use a heavy chain,and two big locks wrapped around the draglink, steering arm, and frame. Put the wheel in a full lock position. Makes it harder,for a scum in a rollback to pull it onto the deck. If they do hotwire it, they can only drive in circles. It would take time ,and noise to unbolt,or hotwrench the chains, and locks. Chain it down to a post,or your buddys' car if your in a really bad 'hood If they really want it, the'll get it though Sparky
The autolock brake club! Someone tried to steal my car while it was on, they tried cutting it, then tried to mangel my brake pedal so they could drive with the autolock still on. They got about two blocks throwing the transmission from gear to park and then abandoned it. They did some damage to my tranny but I got the car back. I replaced the damaged autolock and now added an alarm with a kill switch.
Home Depot sells some 5/8" plastic covered steel cables, and huge Master Lock padlocks. Cable is relatively hard to cut, it flexes out of the way of the cutters in many cases. The padlock is "hardened cobalt alloy", whatever that is. The cable easily weaves in and out of whatever you want it to. Clearly not foolproof. But if it is more or less hidden, it sure puts a stop to just rolling or driving something away. It's even a good idea when parked in your garage at home, sad to say.
My brother-in-law is a cop, and on the cop cars they have button on the floor under the brake pedal that cuts out the starter. You have to stick your foot under the peddle and push the button then turn the key to start the car.
I have a toggle switch and a button with the word START on it cuz I don't like it when people wake me up in the middle of the night....
well at home I have 2 free roaming pitbulls!!! had 3 but one kept "eating" the others...maybe I should have kept HIM!!! anyway if you do that(let them roam the back yard) you HAVE to have a 6 foot high fence OR THEY --WILL-- GET OUT!!! One is named "Kitty" so when I call him it is like this--> "Here kitty, kitty, kitty!!! I swear!! The other isnt as kool, he is Primer, the one we got rid of was Bondo!!! other wise I have a high beam indicator switch under the carpet so when you "click" it off no juice to the coil!!! Ken
I like the idea of the dimmer switch, but man it seams like everybody knows it. I like the idea of wiring a kill switch to the starter, have it a 3 way so that when its off and they push the start button it honks the horn and activates the dump solenoids on the bags. That would scare the crap out of 'em!
But they came when I wasn't home. Now everyone knows who did it. A 5th grader! He got my bike out, dumped it upside down, and did $4,000 damage. But try to prove it. Ha! Now I have many more security measures in hand. His trashy scum family is all that way. Dad has been in jail, the last time was manufacturing meth. Kids smoke dope in school, start arson fires, etc. And if good citizens do what the cops can't, the good citizens go to jail!
you need a keyed kill switch and then you take the key with you, but you need to disguise the kill switch. get a headphone jack and mount it under the dash. to complete the starting circuit, the male headphone plug will need to be inserted. without the plug, no start. make the plug your key fob.
Line Lock works well. Pull in, cut your wheels hard to the right and lock the fronts. That'll stop the joy riders pretty quick, and make it marginally harder for a tow truck or roll back to come in and pull out real quick. If you've got an electric fuel pump, wire a kill switch to it. They may get the car fired and out the driveway on the gas in the carb and top of the fuel line, but then it'll die, and they'll run. If the electric pump isn't running, they'll never know about it. I've also seen a fine wire run from the coil to the driver's seat. Hit the key, get shocked in the ass. It's really more of a gag to pull on a buddy, but it might have it's place here. -Brad
On my 60 Buick (gas pedal starter - remember those?) I wired the starter to a push button that was in the ash tray, and I pulled a jumper wire to the neutral safety switch under the dash. I have seen guys with the custom bikes use a series of toggle switches like a "combination lock" you have to know the pattern to start the bike. I thought that was pretty cool.
I used to pull the coil wire and take it with me...or sometimes the ignition wire going to the distributor...but another good trick is to just drop it on it's frame...
i like to pop the wire out of the coil and just set it back in. snagging the rotor works good too. a good inline gate valve on the fuel line is a neat touch, if you know where it is. my personal favorite is a fuel pump switch located somewhere "normal" just unlabeled that you only screw with occasionally. home: Nirvana, unplugged in new york
i call it "OSR Security". basically drive cars that look so shitty, no thief in his right mind would steal it!
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