Theft Protection

[Michael G.]

Re: Theft Protection

Lots of good points. Most collector car insurance policies insist that the vehicle remain in eyes sight when out and about. I have followed the recommendation I received from this forum and use the battery disconnect when not in use. Does the lojac have it's own power supply? The heavy chain sounds good. I have a system of disabling the vehicle when not in use. This will at least make it difficult for them and hopfully thwart their attemp. If the group purchase becomes serious, I might be interested.
Mike. I will call you Friday Alan. Thanks.

[Stuart F.]

Re: Theft Protection

How about a Claymore Mine under the dash on the drivers side. It may cause you a little mess to clean up, but that dude won't father any more like him ever again.

Seriously, in the past when I used to drive mine to work, I had a solenoid operated fuel shut off valve that I activated with a separate key switch under the dash. If hot wired, said thief would make it out onto the street until my AFB ran out of gas, then stall. I was betting on him leaving it there and running away. Never came about. I also had, for a while, a large ground interupt switch mounted under the car on one of the starter bolts. The ground cable attached to the switch which was operated on/off by a large switch handle. I took it off because it was hard on my suit pants to kneel down and operate, specially in the winter. I still have the switch and mounting bracket.

Over the course of some 45 years, I only had my convertible top cut once and one antenna mast broken off. I was living at a "Y" in La Grange, IL shortly after returning to CONUS when both happened.

Stu Fox

[Kenneth T.]

Re: Theft Protection

Back in the day, as they say. My 65 Roadster 327/365 with side exhaust was gently pushed from my house, to avoid the noise of starting it. I had come home from the West Coast a month earlier with some spanking new mag wheels that were not yet on the East Coast. A friend of mine saw these guys pushing a Corvette and when he saw the wheels he knew it could only be my car. He called the cops and they caught them in the act. My baby back to me with small damage and fingerprints of the perps.

Today, they are smart. I would never see it again. Don't the Pros know what to do to jam the LoJack signal?

[Kevin M.]

Re: Theft Protection

Naw they don't worrier about it because most collector cars don't have anything, I see 100's of cars every weekend and the average Joe or Jill hasn't a clue, most are shocked when I tell them about the thefts. I think I've convinced 1 to buy LoJack. LoJack has a battery back up and the deluxe models have all kinds of features to keep track of your car. Might never happen but out here in the west we have a crime spree going on, I saw a post from the Woodward cruise about a guy and his car, it was stolen from the same spot he parked in for years in 10 minutes. Would have gotten it back with LoJack.

KM

[Jeffrey B.]

Re: Theft Protection

I have the Green knob switch on my 66 and also got creative with wiring and placed a pull apart plug in the coil circuit that is difficult to locate unless you know where it is hidden. Even if a person figures out the Green knob switch and somehow manages to jump the battery the motor will turn over but still won't start when the plug is disconnected. Since my car is a driver I have no qualms about the modification to the coil circuit. This still does not stop the guy with a roll back or other towing capability.

[Anthony S.]

Re: Theft Protection

Being a Detective & having worked auto theft for 10 years, I have recovered thousands of stolen vehicles.

Believe it or not, over 60% of the cars recovered were taken with their keys. The next time you go to a convenience store or Dunkin Donuts, you'll see what I mean.

As for our (classic) cars, I'm sure that nothing can stop anyone from stealing my '68, especially since it's a convertible. The only place I park it & leave it is the golf course I play in the "rural" part of NJ. I have a green knob cut-off but I don't consider it an anti-theft device (anyone can buy a knob).

Steering wheel locks are useless and most of todays alarms that cut off ignitions or fuel pumps won't work on the pre-computer cars.

The best defense is vigilence. Seperation anxiety is your best friend. I never take my car to normal everyday places, in fact my insurer (Hagerty) probably won't cover me if the car is stolen from a mall, & taking it to work may require their permission, even for a day.

As for LOJACK, we tracked and recovered several hundred stolen vehicles using their equipment. All of the newer GPS systems (i.e. On-Star) are easily defeated (the thief knows it's there) & they don't perform well in parking garages & containers.

LOJACK is hidden, & I have never seen one "discovered" and removed from a vehicle. Almost all of our LOJACK recoveries were within 24 hours of the initial report. Their new early warning system allows the owner to report the theft to the police immediately which will trigger the LOJACK unit faster. LOJACK a has also lead us to many "chop-shops."

Also, we have pulled many cars and construction sized trailered generators and compressors from containers before they were sent overeas.

I hope this helps,

Anthony

[Rick S.]

Re: Theft Protection

I saw a post from the Woodward cruise about a guy and his car, it was stolen from the same spot he parked in for years in 10 minutes. Would have gotten it back with LoJack.

Kevin,
The stolen car was taken in the city of Birmingham which is in Oakland County. The latest info I have is that only Oakland County Sheriff Dept has LoJack equipped cars. I don't know the number of patrol cars equipped with LoJack but I don't believe that the number is too great. LoJack has never been a widely accepted system in the Detroit area due to the costs LoJack charged to the police agencies to equip the patrol cars.
Rick

[Jim T.]

Re: Theft Protection

For the occasional trip to work I never worry about car theft. I have to pass through a security gate of a totally fenced in area using a card to open the gate and can view my car in the performance of my work at all times. Up untill 17 years ago when I only had open carport parking I would remove the distributor rotor from my 68 and chain my 69 Triumph motorcycle to the 68 when we would leave overnite for a trip in the 70.

[Kevin M.]

Re: Theft Protection

I saw a post from the Woodward cruise about a guy and his car, it was stolen from the same spot he parked in for years in 10 minutes. Would have gotten it back with LoJack.

Kevin,
The stolen car was taken in the city of Birmingham which is in Oakland County. The latest info I have is that only Oakland County Sheriff Dept has LoJack equipped cars. I don't know the number of patrol cars equipped with LoJack but I don't believe that the number is too great. LoJack has never been a widely accepted system in the Detroit area due to the costs LoJack charged to the police agencies to equip the patrol cars.
Rick

Rick,

Yes that is the biggest drawback, if you live in areas not well serviced by LoJack. There are satellite tracking systems most charge a monthly fee and include 24/7 monitoring via internet on your own computer and a monitoring station. It's an off shoot of trucking systems and you can even monitor speed RPM hard braking if I could not get LoJack I'd install one of those.

KM

[Clem Z.]

Re: Theft Protection

a friend had his corvette stolen in pittsburgh pa and he went to the police and offered $1000 reward for finding the corvette. the cops found it in 30 minutes. for a $1000 they look a little harder.

[Oliver B.]

Re: Theft Protection

Just read "LoJack" a couple of posts above - sorry to ask, but what ist "LoJack"????

To remain on topic (and although I do not very much like to list security measures here), I use a combination of the "Green Knob", too, together with a small battery powered alarm that whines off as soon as it is triggerd by a movement of the car... That alarm just lies in the car, which is a little drawback as long as the car is closed - but with a door open, it's quite a pain to hear. This thing shuts off after some 30secs and re-arms immediately after...

But actually I hardly ever leave my car alone when out (what my wife doesn't like too much, because that does not allow her to go shopping... )

[Oliver B.]

Re: Theft Protection

btw. when I bought my car it had that sticker (see pic) attached to the rearview-mirror... Do you know, if AAA still offers this "service" and if they meanwhile adjusted the reward accordingly?

[David D.]

Re: Theft Protection

If car is out of my sight for more than a minute I take off the Green knob battery switch and also pull the coil wire from distributor.

I know this doesn't protect for 'all' possibilities, but I believe it sure will slow down about 1/2, or more, of that 1% bad element out there.

For the other possibilities, I have good Insurance coverage.

David

[Stuart F.]

Re: Theft Protection

Mention of the "Green Knob" finally has pointed out an advantage of that device vs. the knife switch such as I use. Prior to this, I had only heard horror stories about them, specially when the knob wasn't full tight or full loose they would create a bad or unwanted ground.

Interesting points.

Stu Fox

[Jack H.]

Re: Theft Protection

NOT a 'bad or unwanted ground'... The screw embedded in the plastic handle is solid brass. The plate it makes contact with is brass plated and the plating is VERY thin.

If the knob isn't turned down FIRMLY (there's no tactile feedback), the interface between the two surfaces can flex/move. That results in electrical arcing, the brass plating on the contact bar being etched away and the contact interface growing in resistance.

Bottom line, in the extreme, you wind up with switch contact that's SO high in resistance you effectively LOSE electrical contact to the battery! So, if you use one of the green knob switches, consider fully removing the contact knob and looking at the condition of the contact bar below it periodically. If the brass plate shows wear, consider replacing the switch!

Our former RMC judging chairman found a NEAT solution though.... He sourced a large, solid brass, washer and silver soldered it to the contact plate to give a solid brass to solid brass interface on the switch!