Theft-proofing a convertible with no steering lock

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Jarlaxle said:
A rollback will load a car with all 4 wheels locked easily...been there and done that.
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Hell, when I bought the junk B200 van for parts, the rear axle was locked. At (then) 65 years old and arthritic, I dragged that thing up onto the trailer with a COME ALONG
 
Jarlaxle said:
A rollback will load a car with all 4 wheels locked easily...been there and done that.
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Read the last sentence of my post.
''If someone wants to steal it that bad, they will find a way''.
There is no such thing as theft proof.
Just deterrents.
 
Jarlaxle said:
A rollback will load a car with all 4 wheels locked easily...been there and done that.
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disable run... like people mentioned, fake coil wire, remove rotor, etc.

THEN so it cant be towed

chain it to your house. use the chain that cant be cut with bolt cutters.

then they need a cutting torch and a rollback

they could still take it but they will be on video with the truck
 
I live in florida, old one horse town......nuthin goes missing....cept women LoL
 
trapster said:
There are some cheap lowjack type devices out there.
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Please do tell.

Lojack is a joke. There isn't a Lojack setup within 500 miles of where I live, and there are vast areas of the US that are the same.
 
A search should turn up what I mentioned previously. The system broadcasts the GPS coords of the vehicle to an app on a smartphone. That's all that I know. Research it.
 
I make sure never to park my convertible with the top down anywhere. I dont park on the streets and the lots or garages I do park in I do so legally. I try to not leave the car parked outside in the city after dark (live outside of Pittsburgh PA). I do not park in sections of town that questionable people frequent.

I do have those anti-theft door pins, that way they cant use a coat hanger to get into the car, and use a steering wheel club. If I am parking in an unknown area for a considerable amount of time, I will take the rotor out of the distributor.

Like mentioned above, if someone wants it bad enough, they will find a way to take it. Just be smart and make sure insurance would cover theft.
 
These seem pretty cheap, but you will need to get a cell phone account for it to use it.

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carfreak6970 said:
I make sure never to park my convertible with the top down anywhere............I do have those anti-theft door pins, that way they cant use a coat hanger to get into the car, .
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Sorry but this is misplaced. 2 seconds with any knife, or many other objects and they will be in. You mights as well leave it UNlocked so they don't kill the top or break windows.
 
I never lock mine unless it needs a new top :)

But then again that's why I have an early model, Nobody will steal it. It isn't like they are rolling across Barret Jackson and going for high bucks. :)

I mean I am not even getting the my Grandmother used to drive one of those anymore.
oh crap that may be me now.
 
You could always leave a pair of work boots and a job application laying on the seat in plain sight.....no worthless thief will come within 10 feet of it.
 
I think the lo jack or some type of tracking device is a great idea! But instead of going to all the trouble to hide switches and put steering wheel bars or wheel boots or take parts out of the distributor or unplug stuff every time u park somewhere for a while, I opted for a keyless entry/ alarm system from electric life. I mainly bought it for the convenience of keyless entry but the alarm is pretty good too! It comes with the option to wire in a starter kill relay which I did! I wired the alarm into my door jamb and trunk switches and also installed one under the hood. It also has a shock sensor and a really loud siren! So first the theft would have to cut the wires and disable the siren and the find that the car will not start even when forcing the ignition switch on and then they would have to jump power to the starter through the tight headers while this whole time the lights are flashing and by that time they would probably give up. But like said before a rollback could drag it up on the truck and be gone in less time with minimal damage. That's where lo jack or some type of tracking device would be nice!
 
I have wired a ground wire to the from the parking brake switch to the neg. side of the coil so when the pb is applied the coil is shorted out.( don't forget to set parking brake)
 
Have insurance and hope I never have to use it, car is locked in a building, either attached garage or barn and both are alarmed

As far was driving it. I'm picky about where I leave it parked

Locks are only to keep the honest people honest, a theif that wants it will get it.

A little transmission fluid and the winch in my trailer could probably pull whatever I wanted inside in a minute or 2, a rollback even quicker.

You just have to stop worrying about something you cannot control

I'm more concerned about jealous vandals damaging the car over stealing it
 
moparlover said:
disable run... like people mentioned, fake coil wire, remove rotor, etc.

THEN so it cant be towed

chain it to your house. use the chain that cant be cut with bolt cutters.

then they need a cutting torch and a rollback

they could still take it but they will be on video with the truck
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I could still hook that car in 45 seconds. Helper jumps out of the cab as I back the truck in, heats the chain with a plumber's torch, then quenches it with liquid nitrogen as I line up the hoist. Whack it with a hammer, the link shatters like glass as I lift the car...he jumps back into the cab, I'm gone. Couple blocks away, stop to strap down the tires on the hoist & slap on tow lights.
 
Jarlaxle said:
I could still hook that car in 45 seconds. Helper jumps out of the cab as I back the truck in, heats the chain with a plumber's torch, then quenches it with liquid nitrogen as I line up the hoist. Whack it with a hammer, the link shatters like glass as I lift the car...he jumps back into the cab, I'm gone. Couple blocks away, stop to strap down the tires on the hoist & slap on tow lights.
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Try that here and one or both of you will be sitting on embedded rock salt. :)


But your point is taken. Short of a vault-like building to slow them down nothing is theft-proof.
I doubt that you need the torch, just the N2 should be enough.
 
"Chain it to a building" reminds me of the Dart pulling a small church in Steve Martins - The Jerk :)

When I drive my 67 on vacation like to the beach, I'll have 2 options for parking. Rather than leave it behind the motel, I'll watch for the spot nearest to the sidewalk out front to come open and grab that spot. Afterwards the local police and every Joe Public with or without a camera is watching it for me.
 
ntsqd said:
Try that here and one or both of you will be sitting on embedded rock salt. :)

But your point is taken. Short of a vault-like building to slow them down nothing is theft-proof.
I doubt that you need the torch, just the N2 should be enough.
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Dude, you miss the point: I never get out! All the repo trucks are self-loaders with in-cab controls now! :blob: Many can even load with the transmission in gear.

Also, some are "stealth" trucks: no company names, gas engine, no lightbar, no backup alarm, and a couple I have seen have a "dark mode" switch that kills the brake lights & reverse lights...when running repos, I sometimes see blue tape over the DOT numbers.
 
65Val said:
Never let it out of your sight.
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Thats about it....one thing that really stinks about using a classic car everyday...dont forget about the jerks who think old cars are "dirty" and hurt the Earth....vandalism is another thing to worry about...you need to watch Where you drive and take it, more then anything else. There are places I will go with my old car and some places I would never take it
 
WildCat said:
Have insurance and hope I never have to use it, car is locked in a building, either attached garage or barn and both are alarmed

As far was driving it. I'm picky about where I leave it parked

Locks are only to keep the honest people honest, a theif that wants it will get it.

A little transmission fluid and the winch in my trailer could probably pull whatever I wanted inside in a minute or 2, a rollback even quicker.

You just have to stop worrying about something you cannot control

I'm more concerned about jealous vandals damaging the car over stealing it
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Yep, I'm just now reading the other threads...people just walking by it can scratch or damage it....I see it as two sided, one they are jealous and or second they think old cars are bad somehow....remember when muscle cars were nick named "killer cars"

Still we should try to enjoy our old cars the best we can, I'm taking it on another long trip this weekend....its easy to just use the other car but the whole event would be more fun with my old car, IMO
 
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