Car Security
I'm thinking of picking up a vintage car for a daily driver, '60s-80s. The first thing that occurs to me is that these era cars are very susceptible to old school style break ins, what with vent wing windows and locks easily accessed with slim jims.
So what would be a good security setup for an older car?
there really isn't much of one to stop someone from getting in.
the typical security choices are hidden kill switches or lo jack.
pretty much your only 2 choices to prevent them from getting away with it.
depending on the car and how much it is worth, it is really unlikely anyone will mess with a classic auto.
it gets too much attention and are limited in where you can get rid of it.
that is for anything worth less than 20k it isn't really worth the time. not enough demand.
my example is, when I drive my car around, literally from the time I park it to the time I come back, someone is staring right at it and wants to chit chat when I get back. doesn't matter where I go.
I leave the doors unliocked or the top down even, so people who think they might want to rummage in the car don't have to cut my top to get in.
That being said, mine has a trick to start it, and if you don't know it, you will be sitting there cranking all day and not get it to fire.
those are pretty easy to rig and almost impossible to find.
not saying you can't get around 99 percent of them, but imagine how much more attention you will get if you had to pop the hood on a classic ride.
most will walk away.
forgot, also I have noted most joy riders/theives cannot drive a standard.
3 on the tree or pushbutton automatic would really screw one over.
Originally Posted By bigsapper:
I'm thinking of picking up a vintage car for a daily driver, '60s-80s. The first thing that occurs to me is that these era cars are very susceptible to old school style break ins, what with vent wing windows and locks easily accessed with slim jims.
So what would be a good security setup for an older car?
Disconnect the battery (or wire in a hidden kill switch of some sort to kill the ignition or fuel pump).
Put on one of those steering column locking "collars".
Lo-jack if it's a nice car.
Hidden kill switches.
Can an ignition that has the chip in the key be retro-fitted?
Sure...anything is possible if you have a limitless budget. At that point you might as well, and probably will have to in order for it to work, swap in a modern engine and computer and have the luxuries of better gas mileage, AC, power steering, and less maintenance.
If a thief really wants your stuff it's gonna get stolen. They'll hook it up to a wrecker/roll back and drag it off. The best you can do is inconvenience them and/or make it harder than it's worth.
I'm focused on a GM vehicle with plans to drop a LS engine in it eventually.
there are so many stand alone retro fits for the ls, it probably isn't worth it.
BUT, if you must, you can find a donor vehicle with the security stuff you want built in.
take the entire harness and computer setup with keys and ignition switch or the entire column and retro fit it into your car that you picked.
that would give you the ignition security you are looking for.
that being said, a hidden kill switch is far easier. With efi/computer controls, you can add more than one kill built into the system. the one I used to like was set the rev limiter to 0.
My friend put in a master power switch with a removable key .
Originally Posted By bigsapper:
Can an ignition that has the chip in the key be retro-fitted?
Probably not worth the effort if it can even be done on an older car, they were fairly easy to bypass anyway.
A loud alarm and a cut off to the ignition coil and/or starter is a fair deterrent, and for an overnight stay I like a heavy duty wheel lock similar to what the city uses to make sure a car under scofflaw doesn't go anywhere before they impound it the following day.
But nothing is really going to keep a determined pro from getting your car if they want it bad enough. I think situational awareness should also apply to your choice of parking spots. That alone could be a better defense than a lot of the devices currently available.
There are tons of ways to disable the car that would take a long time to work through, but if somebody wants it they will tow it. You can use a tracked phone to the alarm if you wanted to keep tabs on it (as long as they don't have a jammer or parking garage to take it to.) As far as keeping them out, keep anything valuable, or even not valuable, out of sight. Couple the good practices with a decent range 2 way alarm is pretty good way to go.
I'm local if you want any help with undetectable disabling methods. Just shoot me a PM.
