Car security systems for classic cars.

"gmporschenut also a fan of hondas" (gmporschenut)
10/11/2014 at 22:17 • Filed to: None

I like to take my car on occasional trips and am always nervous when I park it as the wiring diagram fits on a sheet of 11x17. Any body have one?

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

I was looking at this one or hiding a kill switch in the engine bay.

DISCUSSION (10)

crowmolly > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
10/11/2014 at 22:27

1.) Don't let a Best Buy employee anywhere near your car.

2.) Do you have wing windows? Internally locking hood?

3.) Your best bet is probably a GPS based alarm with text message alerts.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > crowmolly
10/11/2014 at 22:33

1) I've heard horror stories. It was thinking more of the system then the installation.

No wing windows and Hood doesn't lock.

3) might be best.

Thanks

twochevrons > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
10/11/2014 at 22:35

I have an MGA (no door locks, no steering lock, wiring is simple enough that I've accidentally hot-wired it before), so I entirely understand the nervousness.

I honestly think that a full alarm system and immobiliser is rather overkill for something like that, though. Even if it does draw attention to the car being disturbed, an alarm won't stop a sufficiently determined thief, and offers no real benefit over a well-hidden kill-switch for the opportunistic joyrider. When I park my MG somewhere I'm not convinced is safe, I'll just unplug the fuel pump (which is easily accessible, but only if you know where to find it) and/or take the distributor rotor arm with me. It's not going very far without either of those.

If I were you, I'd just go for the kill switch. It's far cheaper, and I'd wager that a well-thought-out kill switch would be harder to defeat than an off the shelf alarm system, especially if you do it with multiple circuits. When I redo the wiring harness on the MG, I'm planning on wiring a kill switch in with it – I figure that by hiding the kill switch wiring in the main harness, it will be less obvious how it all works.

crowmolly > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
10/11/2014 at 22:38

Might want to get on the hood lock.

Also, do you have an MSD box?

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > twochevrons
10/11/2014 at 22:50

I once did something similar to that. After doing some work I accidentally hit one of the wires off. Started it up and it started running like shit. pretty much stalling out. It took me an hour to figure out what was wrong. Thus I learned one of the best anti-theft methods.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
10/11/2014 at 23:10

You could always install a hidden kill switch. A toggle switch, or rather several, attached to different critical systems, hidden all over the car makes the car impossible to start unless you know where they all are. You could put them in the trunk, the glove box, under a seat, wherever. The only limitation is how much wiring you feel like running. One of the best ones I've heard of is a guy that had the ignition wired to the cigarette lighter. The car wouldn't turn on unless the lighter was pushed in.

Or you could always just pull a bunch of relays out of the fuse box (like say, for the fuel pump) and take them with you.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
10/11/2014 at 23:37

I always wanted to install a panel of toggle switches with some crazy order.

Kinja'd!!!

Buick Mackane > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent
10/12/2014 at 15:48

I usually pull the ignition relay from my fuse box to prevent my car from being stolen. I think I will make a "blown" relay to install to make it it appear that all is normal in the fuse box in case the thief does check the fuses.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
10/13/2014 at 04:33

How about just taking out the rotor arm in the distributor each time you park it? Even if they get in and manage to hotwire it, it'll just turn over and over and never fire :)

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
10/13/2014 at 20:04

it's a possibility. I was thinking of something more robust that wouldn't require me to keep disconnecting. My luck I'd break something or advance/retard the the timing.