I just finished reading a thread in the BBQ Pit about a poor unfortunate fellow Doper who had their 11 year old Saturn stolen from their driveway.
Two weeks ago I purchased from Miami, Florida a perfectly ground-up restored 1966 Shelby Mustang Fastback. A really beautiful, glorious car. It’s on the ship from Miami through the Panama Canal down here to Australia as we speak. Sadly, I suspect it’s a pretty easy car to steal too.
Hence, this thread.
I would welcome any and all suggestions on how to improve the security and anti-theft options on my classic 'Stang. Any ideas whatsoever are welcome.
Obviously, nothing would be sadder than for some teenage idiots to steal the car and take it for a joy-ride and wrap it round a tree. So any suggestions whatsoever - please - throw 'em in.
Congratulations on your new car. I’m awaiting the results of a ground-up restoration of a 1966 MGB roadster.
Here in California (or at least SoCal) we have Lo-Jack. This is a homing device that can be fitted to a car. I used to have one in my Porsche. (Fortunately I never had to use it.) When a car is stolen the owner calls the police, who are equipped to track the signal. It’s expensive (about US$700), but I’ve heard results are good. One odd thing is that the owner is not allowed to know where the transponder is. Keeping it secret from the owner is supposed to keep thieves from being able to beet the location out of him so they can disable it. If you have anything like Lo-Jack in your part of Oz, it might be worth looking into.
Otherwise, how about a standard car alarm that disables the ignition? You can also install a petcock to turn off the fuel and a switch to disable the battery. But if someone is watching you, they’d have a good idea of what you’re doing and where to look for “tricks”. Mad Max had an interesting anti-theft device on his fuel tank, but I’d hate to see that one in use on a classic car.
And I probably shouldn’t mention a cyanide gas bottle that fills the cockpit when the alarm is not disabled properly. So I won’t mention it.
The ignition cut-out is good, but I’m not sure what it would take to make it work on a '66 Mustang. Another thing that won’t stop a pro but will slow up the joyriders is The Club, which, while engaged, does not allow free movement of the steering wheel.
I had a good immobiliser installed on my car that has both ignition and fuel cut-off. I don’t, however, know if it would work on an older car given that the system I got relies on the car’s onboard computer to cut off the fuel-injectors rather than actually stopping the fuel flow (fuel gets to the injectors but they don’t inject it into the cylinders). I’m guessing that an old mustang probably doesn’t use an electronic ignition system either, so even a simple ignition cut-off system might not work.
Go have a talk with someone at a garage that deals with classic cars and see what they say.
scr4: At that point, I guess you’d know where the transponder is.
Also, I noticed I misspelled “beat”. I’m getting a picture of a thief holding a tin of beets and saying, “Tell me where the Lo-Jack is, or I’ll have to open this tin and make you eat them!” (Wouldn’t be much of a threat for me, as I like beets.)
A toggle switch hidden under the dash board that opens one of the wires to the coil can done fairly easily.
Remove the coil wire from the distributor and take it with you.
I have a 66 Mustang convertible (even easier to steal!), and when I bought it it had quite a good alarm system on it. I know all too well, because if you disconnect the battery cable for any reason and then reconnect it, you better have that remote in hand or plan on never hearing anything again. Had a few pretty awful incidents on that one. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the -manual- for the security system when I got the car, so I’m not quite sure what you can and cannot do when it goes off, but clearly security systems can be fitted to classic cars. (I also use the Club for some added visible protection.)
Are there any good Mustang people near you to consult? Is there the equivalent of the Mustang Club of America? I’m sorry, I don’t know much about the Australian classic car community. My dad’s business parner is this guy (www.oswaltsmustangs.com), and he really knows his stuff, but of course he’s in South Carolina so that may not be much help for you.
Good luck with the car, though - I know they’re an amazing amount of fun, and it really makes the upkeep worth it!
Forget LoJack, Teletrac, On-Star, and their ilk…most are a waste of money.
In Australia, there are many thousands of miles to get away and hide a nice ole 'stang. Me, I’d concentrate my plans on the first 90 seconds or so of the actual theft. Specifically, slow the thief down, and have your car make a lot of noise. Get a good high-end alarm system with multiple sensors (about $500 and up, $U.S.) and a “Club”. Alarms are easy to defeat for a pro, and the Club can be defeated quickly with freon, but, used together, they should give you 90 seconds or more of deterrence with a loud siren blaring. Hopefully, this would make the thief flee without your car.
Also, look into classic car theft insurance. Quite cheap in the U.S., but YMMV.
Not quite as classic as your Shelby, but I had a '69 MGB GT as my first car. I loved that car.
The GT, quite unusually, had it’s batteries (originally 2 x 6V, later replaced by 1 x 12V) in battery boxes under the “rear seats” (although only a legless midget or a child could fit in the back of what was really a 2 1/2 coupe).
I added a heavy duty racing battery cutoff switch (about $45), and hid the switch under a flap of the jute and nylon carpeting that covered the rear bulkhead. Very difficult to find unless you knew where to look, and it was easy to casually reach back and flip the switch.
Of course, this solution doesn’t work if you have radios, anti-theft systems, power locks, etc that require a constant supply of current.
A friend of mine, who also had a B and lived in a worse neighbourhood than mine, used to park, set the brake, and then get out his mallet and remove one of the knockoffs from his wire wheels and take it with him. He figured any prospective thief could steal the car, but he wouldn’t get far.
And it’s not like you cold stroll into Canadian Tire ca. 1998 and ask for a knockoff for a '67 MGB.
This is how it is done. The Freon(R12) is sprayed on to the lock, it is so cold it makes the metal brittle, you then hit it with a hammer and it will shatter.
There are two other ways to get the club off in a couple of seconds:
Cut through the steering wheel with bolt cutters (the steering wheel is just a thin metal ring covered in plastic)
Use a cordless angle grinder on the club.
Note too that “the club” comes in different brands and qualities. Some you can bend with your hands, or cut through easily with an ordinary hacksaw blade.
I’ve got a '69 AMC AMX and I’ve been doing what whuckfistle recommends above: I pull off the coil wire from the distributor and take it with me whenever I park outside, or if it’s going to be in the garage for an extended period.
I might go ahead and get a standard car alarm later, but since it’s always garaged (insurance stipulates that it must be) and it’s never too far out of sight when I take it out to a show or for a drive, I’m not too worried.
What a koinkydink. Ive got a 73 AMX (Pierre Cardin edition) with a 401/4 speed. It`s really a Javelin body with some changes. Your car is a true AMX being a two seater and all.
