Theft Protection

[Chris L.]

Re: Theft Protection

I have Smith & Wesson protection on mine and I rarely leave it out of my sight(or firing range) if I go to a restaurant or smething like that. LoJack is good as far as locating it, but not every police department has the capabilities of tracking it. Beside, once it is stolen, you are subject to have a lot of damage.

[Anthony S.]

Re: Theft Protection

Oliver,

Simply put, LOJACK is a vehicle tracking device that uses a radio signal to send out a "beep." This signal is activated when the car is reported stolen to the police. Once it is entered into a national database, the unit inside the car emits the signal until it is recovered. The unit has an on-board battery should the car's battery be disconnected.

As for tracking, police cars equipped with the LOJACK tracking device will have 4 spring loaded antennas on their roof arrainged in a square.

Once the police car picks up the LOJACK signal , it is essentially a game of Marco Polo as the police car attempts to "home in" on the signal using a signal strength indicator & signal directional finder located on the LOJACK display panel.

Hope this explains it,

Anthony

[Clem Z.]

Re: Theft Protection

i would think they could use satellites to track the stolen car.

[Don W.]

Re: Theft Protection

From reading the posts, it sounds like most vettes are un-protected other than the watchfull eye of the owner. It's good this board information cannot be easily accessed by the general public.

[Stuart F.]

Re: Theft Protection

Is it no wonder that when we first moved here to Florida I was greeted by my new State Farm agent with a news article about the fact that mid-year Corvettes were the No.1 stolen car in the State that year. I don't know if that was what he used to get me to accept their high rates - more than double of what I paid in Illinois. NOW, LET'S NOT GET ANOTHER STORY GOING ABOUT WHO'S PAYING WHAT FOR INSURANCE AND WITH WHOM IN THIS THREAD!

I guess a lot of it has to do with a classic Corvette owner's resistance to applying non-standard equipment on his car. Same as I have a set of Air Horns I'd love to put on to warn the idiots to get out of my way or not to force me off the road cause they don't see me, but I resist the temptation.

Stu Fox

[Jean C.]

Re: Theft Protection

Stu, I am certain you can devise a way to mount the air horns (and compressor if necessary) in a way that you do not modify or mar the Corvette and the "extra" equipment can be easily removed for FJ!
Best regards,

[Kevin M.]

Re: Theft Protection

From reading the posts, it sounds like most vettes are un-protected other than the watchfull eye of the owner. It's good this board information cannot be easily accessed by the general public.

Don,

That's a great quote and a word to the wise also.

KM

[Bill M.]

Re: Theft Protection

I thought I would post a warning to owners who have never had a Corvette stolen...

Unfortunately, I lost my '59 August 30, 1969 in a Chicago "guarded" parking lot. The lot was the type where you take a ticket on entry and pay a human attendant at exit. I felt safe...

Fortunately, the Chicago police called me a week later; they told me I was very lucky to get my car back. I think what saved the car was the locking gas cap and an almost empty fuel tank. I could tell the car had been driven hard because the 4-speed had a new whine when I picked it up.

This car was not just transportation to me. It was (is) special. I can re-live the experience of realizing the car was gone and the anger, then depression, that followed.

My advice to all is to imagine how you would feel if your car was stolen and take appropriate counter-measures to minimize the possibility. After the theft, but before I had a garage, I used a club-like steering wheel lock for a visual deterrent, and I replaced the mechanical fuel pump with an electric fuel pump with a hidden switch. The car could be started, but would stall after about 2 minutes...hopefully in the middle of the street!

Now, I won't leave a special car alone outside my garage. The garage has no windows and three locks on exterior doors. I installed a deadbolt on the interior door with a different key than the main house key. (The strategy is that someone in the house couldn't easily get in the garage.)

I feel sorry for the guy who lost his '66 in Birmingham at the Dream Cruise. I was surprised to hear about that! I'm sure he felt safe. I did too...

[Christopher R.]

Re: Theft Protection

1. C1s have gasoline lines that run on the outside of the passenger side frame rail. Cut the line, and install an inline fuel shut off - quarter turn petcock jobby. Install with compression fittings. When you leave the car, reach down in there and shut it off. I always open the door now for my girlfriend. If stolen, the car will only run as far as the gas in the carb bowl will take it. That should be a public place near the crime scene where I'm hoping the miscreant will believe something's wrong with the car and abandon it.

2. Install a switched wire to ground on the "-" coil terminal. I ran the wire from the engine compartment in with the other harness ignition wire that exits the firewall near the ballast resistor. Ran the wire through the passenger compartment and into the trunk. C1s have lockable trunks. When I get someplace, I open the car door for my passenger; reach down under the door for the petcock; and, then go into the trunk for something. Now the ignition circuit is short circuited and the gas supply is shut off. Also note that this kill wire is hidden under the distributor shielding. Install the distributor shield with a hex key wrench button bolt rather than the usual bolt. Thieves might carry wrenches, but they certainly don't carry 5/32" hex key wrenches.

3. Make up a coil wire that has no core.

4. Buy a Denver boot.

5. Get a book on auto alarms and make one. The newer ones have relays and time delays. You can design it so that you need to go through a certain sequence or the engine will quit.

6. Install a fuel shutoff solenoid in the gasoline feed line. On a C1, there's room in the fuel tank compartment.

7. When you store your car in the garage for the winter, remove one or more of the wheels and store them elsewhere. Park your civilian car (or something else) in such a way as to block the access to the garage.

A few of these these things will keep the honest people honest. More than that, and it's just not worth it. You're not having fun anymore. Carry a cell phone; buy adequate insurance from a reputable carrier; and, relax.