Theft Prevention

excalibur · Post by **excalibur** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 12:15 pm

I was wondering what you guys do to help to alleviate theft when parked on a city street with no top on (the idea scares me!). I know, these cars are meant to be driven, but if I have to run an errand or two while I'm out..

I thought I would wire in a switch to disable power to the coil, and hide the switch, and am debating on using one of Grant's quick-release anti-theft steering wheel assemblies ($106 on summit racing). Anyone have any experience on this? IE how does it look installed and do they work good?

Redtail · Post by **Redtail** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 2:22 pm

The switch to disable the coil is exactly what I did. The only way a thief will get your car to work is if he either (1) finds your switch, or (2) does some extensive troubleshooting and figures out how to bypass the switch. Chances are the thief won't go to the trouble, especially since they are probably only looking for a joyride anyhow.

Post by **dbrick** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 9:26 pm

I have a battery cut off in the glove compartment and also wired the electric fuel pump through the S-Brake switch. I hardly ever use the S Brake anyway.

Bungle · Post by **Bungle** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 1:07 am

Yep the hidden kill switch is the way forward. Even my insurance company lists it was a legitimate 'anti-theft device' on my policy...

SER240Z · Post by **SER240Z** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 12:57 pm

I don't usually park my roadster anywhere, but I do have an Alpine 150R alarm installed. Has dual zone radar and kills the ignition if the alarm is disabled.

i have a removable Grant steering wheel on my Z, it sticks out kinda far, but it's not too bad. It has a key and a knob that turns to release the wheel. You turn the knob, then turn the wheel a quarter turn counter-clockwise and the wheel pops off. It's pretty cool. Has the locking cover when the wheel is off. I figure that even if you can get the locking cover off, it'll screw up the mechanism so bad, another wheel wouldn't go on it anyways. I'll try and get some pics of it for you if you'd like.

Scott

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 1:22 pm

I went with a CompuStar 2 way paging alarm. It'll notify me via paging the key fob if a warning has gone out, if the alarm has been fully triggered, and what sensor was tripped. Also has the optional motion detector inside the cabin so if someone reaches in when the top is down it will give them a warning, even if they don't touch anything. If they don't remove the offending body part within a couple seconds the alarm will be triggered.

The part I really like is that I'm one of those people who sets his alarm and walks away. Then, 10 minutes later I wonder if I set my alarm and have to walk back to the car to check. The display on the key fob will show me if the alarm is set or not. I can even query the alarm by pushing a button on the key fob to see if I'm still in range or not.

Redtail · Post by **Redtail** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 2:49 pm

that sounds expensive. was it hard to wire up?

DELETED · Post by **DELETED** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 2:58 pm

DELETED

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 3:50 pm

that sounds expensive. was it hard to wire up?

At $550 it was about $300 more than a "regular" alarm. Expensive, but the piece of mind is worth it in my opinion.

I had it professionally installed so I can't speak to the wiring. I don't imagine it was too difficult. You have the central ECU or "brain" with a wiring harness that goes out to the various sensors. Then power, ground, and starter kill. Pretty straight forward.

Primm69 · Post by **Primm69** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 7:36 pm

I take the rotor button out.

Hey, who's gonna look? And if they do find the problem, what can they do about it?

excalibur · Post by **excalibur** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 11:40 pm

Thanks guys for all the ideas! I ended up putting a hidden switch in-line with the coil to make it extremely frustrating to steal.

Just for kicks, while picking up the switch and wiring, the parts store also had the blinking red "alarm" LED's, so I picked one up. Anyone know a way to wire it up so that it only comes on when the car is turned off? Is there a relay made that will do this?

Oh yeah, I also figured out that the steering wheel WILL lock, you just have to turn the key 180 degrees further after the engine is turned off, I just never noticed it before. (I must be working too hard..)

Once again, thanks you guys for all your help and paticence with a newbie.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 10:24 am

is there a relay made that will do this?

Yes. A regular old automotive relay, available at any parts store or Radio Shack (ask for a "universal" relay) will work.

Here's a schematic that I drew up:

http://www.311s.org/phpBB2/album_pic.php?pic_id=164

86 - Goes to 12V power that is on ONLY when the car is on.
85 - Goes to ground.
30 - Goes to your LED. Other lead on the LED goes to ground.
87a - 12V power that is on ALL the time, even when the car is off.
87 - Goes to nothing.

Here's how it works: When the car is OFF, power comes into 87a, through the relay, out 30, to your LED, lights up the LED, then to ground. When your car is on or running, power comes into 86, through the relay, creates a magnetic field when it goes through the coil, and exits out 85. That magnetic field will pull the contact inside the relay away from 87a and over to 87. That breaks the circuit to your LED and shuts it off.

This will get you an LED that is on when the car is off and off when the car is on. Sounds like the electronics to make the LED blink are built into the LED you bought and all you have to do is supply power to it. It will handle the blinking part. In that case, this should work great!

mikew · Post by **mikew** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 7:07 pm

On my 65 model, I simply hooked the 12V flashing LED between the clock power wire and the heater power wire.

Positive side of the flasher connected to the clock +ve wire, negative side of the flasher to the heater +ve wire. The clock wire is +ve all the time, the heater wire is +ve when the ignition is on, and goes to ground when the when the ignition is turned off.

Works a treat!

Mike

Post by **dbrick** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 9:50 pm

If you can, ground the negative of the coil to disable. This prevents anyone with a jumper and a screwdriver from starting it, If they find the hood release, know how to hotwire a points ignition,know what a choke is, can drive a stick, and actually wants to steal a 35 year old car.

Seriously, ground is easier than messing with the power, no wires to cut, just add.