[Gulliver]

If you're that worried about it, sleep in it.

[Silver Judge]

Put a chevy engine in it, nobody would bother to steal THAT

[mechanickeith]

I have an old Radio shack car alarm I put on my car many years ago. If someone opens the doors, hood or trunk, the voltage drop sets off the alarm. I have the under hood alarm speaker disabled. When the alarm goes off, my key fob starts squeeling like a fire alarm. Also if the car is moved or someone leans on it or bumps it, the alarm goes off. I park on the street in front of the house. More than once I have held someone at gun point till the cops arrived!!!

[rustedgoat]

Park next to a car that someone would steal before yours.

I'd try to block the car in with other cars that you know are not going to be leaving for the night.

[68lemansman]

Originally Posted by Gulliver

If you're that worried about it, sleep in it.

Not that worried about it. I know if it gets stolen then thats what insurance is for but just wanted to know if anyone does anything like take a spark plug out, or spark plug wire off. maybe even disconnect the battery. I never had neither one of my cars to any shows or stayed over night in another state while they sat outside. Which is what im doing next week! Just being cautious thats all. Having a convertible they can always cut the top and not give a rats a**

[mechanickeith]

Jason,,,Just take all the normal steps. Take the coil wire, lock the battery in the trunk, etc, etc. BUT,like has been said allready, if someone wants it, they will take it. You should be fine, its not like they can sell it or anything. Stands out like a sore thumb!!! Cant loose it in a parking lot & would be very visible going down the road!

[68lemansman]

Originally Posted by mechanickeith

Jason,,,Just take all the normal steps. Take the coil wire, lock the battery in the trunk, etc, etc. BUT,like has been said allready, if someone wants it, they will take it. You should be fine, its not like they can sell it or anything. Stands out like a sore thumb!!! Cant loose it in a parking lot & would be very visible going down the road!

yeah I dont think you could miss it! lol

[TheSilverBuick]

Originally Posted by FrankieT/A

There was a story on another post where a guy goes to a show and takes his distributor cap. His car gets stolen and at the other end of the parking lot there is a guy where someone stole his distributor cap.

Okay, that is kind of funny. I'm on the side of if a thief want's it, they'll get it, usually via tow truck. I really like the cell phone idea, like a power source in the trunk or something.

With the EFI on my car, there are sooooo many points to be able to disable it that a thief would have to be a trouble shooting wiz to sort out the wiring, and that's assuming I don't tamper with the programming and require the laptop to turn spark back on or something

[goatwgn]

Leave it at home and drive a POS late model rental car to the show. Joking aside, I have seen some people remove the steering wheel, as well as hiding an ignition kill switch. I had actually slept in mine one time, not to prevent someone from "stealing it", but because I had drove a good part of the night, and could not find a motel with any vacancy. Being a wagon, and being in the fall, it was actually fairly comfortable.

[AGTO8U]

Years ago, I drove my Judge across country and put a car cover on it overnight at the motel parking lots. The car was less noticeable and may have helped prevent door dings, vandalism, etc. (used a cable and lock for the cover). You could also team up with someone and chain the vehicles together.

[GT182]

Tie a 1/2" steel cable to the car and your leg. If some one takes it, you'll be the first one there. LOL

[Steve Barcak]

As far as the 'not much you can do...'. Well, there is plenty you can do. I only drive vintage Pontiacs and they stay overnight everytime I do. I have no late model and do not want one. I park my Pontiacs everywhere and so far, have visited 47 states with them. This includes junkyards and all kinds of places. Not boasting, just trying to let you know that these thoughts are on my mind daily for decades, not just on occasion. Because of that, I spend a lot of time thinking of ways to make it harder to steal my Pontiac. Here are a few ideas to share.

Here are some simple things to start, you can get more elaborate if you want to.

Have different levels of defence.
1st level, always use a club. I like them because they are visible and the theif will know he has to at least overcome that.

Always park your car pulled in and up to a wall if possible. Pull it up really close so, it would be hard for someone to work in front of the car, get the hood open etc.

Always turn your front tires all the way in one direction. This makes it harder for a wrecker to take it.

Do not use the factory lock pulls inside on your doors, they are too easy to get into with a simple coat hanger. I had to break into a friends TA a few weeks ago because he locked his keys in his car. He was shocked at how fast I got into his car! Use the ones that make it hard to get into.

Realize there are different kinds of thieves out there. Some want your whole car, some just want the stereo, some just want to damage your car, etc. Try to make it harder for each to achieve their goals.


Hope this helps you and those who read this. There are so few of us now who drive vintage Pontiacs exclusively, you have to think about how to protect your car.


Next level- have at least one kill switch. One can have one for fuel, one for starter, one for ignition, etc. Personally, I like to use what I call a master kill. It shuts off everything in the system except for , say, power windows and stereo memory. If a thief sees the power windows are working, they are less likely to break the glass and will not think of the rest of the system shut off.

Next level- if you can put your battery in your trunk, it is even better.

Do some things to disable your car that is not too time consuming. take out your battery, take out your coil, etc. This will prevent someone from driving it away easily and you will sleep better.

Be smart- make sure you have enough comprehensive insurance on your car. It is not expensive and I cannot tell you how many short sighted friends I know who do not have it, or do not have enough of it.

My biggest fear is a wrecker taking the car, not someone actually being able to start it up and drive it away. Someone with a snatcher can easily steal most any car. That is what you need to think about.

Enjoy your Pontiac like I do, Everyday and everyplace.

[Ben M.]

Originally Posted by Steve Barcak

My biggest fear is a wrecker taking the car, not someone actually being able to start it up and drive it away. Someone with a snatcher can easily steal most any car. That is what you need to think about.

Exactly. Even with the wheels turned all the way one direction all it takes is a good wrecker operator with a movable lift, winch and skid pads and they can have it loaded in 5 minutes. I had a B-body loaded onto a wrecker and being driven off in less than 10 minutes and the wheels were jammed to the right. Add in the fact that all the guy has to do is tell any bystanders that he's a repo man and the car is being repossessed from a deadbeat and most people will fall for it without question.

So, if someone REALLY wants your car, they are going to get it.

[fiedlerh]

I suppose a baby monitor inside you car might be somewhat useful when on the road. Most are battery powered. Of course you'll hear everything going on by your car, but maybe that's a good thing.

[richard sargent]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GSM-GPRS-GPS...sories&vxp=mtr

I have one of these in my company roll back tow truck. A few years ago professional thieves were stealing these trucks to use in their car stealing business.

They go up to the car of choice, hook and go, less than 2 1/2 minutes, lower the tilt bed, hook up to the front end, PTO pulls on the bed and your gone, tires skid easy on the bare steel deck with a little oil or grease.

Police said they were stealing cars in early morning when diesels are making noise, ie garbage trucks, 18 wheelers, construction workers, 5 or 6 am people hear a diesel idling for a few moments, they think oh that's just a truck doing work no problem.

A good friend of mine had his 80k rollback stolen, cops only found it when they busted car stealing ring.

Anyway he had a dam good alarm, the thieves as I had said they were pros, no problem for them.

Here's how this device works, it's a GPS cell phone combo. Anywhere you cell phone works, this will work. When they steal your car, you simply ping it or send it a message just like dialing your cell phone. It takes the measurement from three different cell towers to get an exact location. The next thing it does, it sends a text back with the longitude and latitude, go to google earth punch you lat and long that's were you car is.

The device can be hidden anywhere in the car and is virtually impossible for a thief to find,
only requirement is to hook up 12 volts to it. Unlike a stand alone GPS it does not need an antenna or windshield to work properly for a clear signal to the sky. Just like your cell phone if you lose it under the seat, up in the dash or leave it in a coat in your trunk it still works just fine.

One last thing you have to buy a sim card since it works just like a cell phone.

Now in some ways I hope they steal my truck..... well not really, but it would be cool to bring down a car stealing ring that's for sure!

[lust4speed]

Reserve a room on the bottom floor of the hotel so you can park your car right outside your window. Leave the window open a few inches so you won't have to shatter the glass when you start shooting.

[Txbobcat]

I like the baby monitor idea

[FrankieT/A]

One day my kids friend was over. I come home at 1AM. Two mins after I get home the kids father comes over. Of course, he asks where's the kids. Since I had just walked in mins before he got there I didn't have definitive answer. We live close so the kids coulda been at my house, his house or outside up to no good. So, anyway he takes out his IPhone goes into an app. and within a second he tells me the kids phone is located at --------. And rattles off my address. Thats pretty accurate instead of giving a location within so many feet. Turns out the kids were in my son's bedroom sleeping. Point is, if a smart cell phone is stashed in the car( with a charger hooked up) just during the time on the trip(say like your wife's phone) there would be no additional cost, it uses GPS as well as cell service. It has the reliability(and engineering) of a cell phone.Works inside, outside or where ever there is service. And you can track it yourself as well as authorities. And no additional equipment to buy(unless of course you buy a dedicated phone for this).

Just my thoughts. Does anybody see a flaw in this plan? If so please say so, I wouldn't my car missing and me having egg on my face.

[Steve Barcak]

Originally Posted by FrankieT/A

One day my kids friend was over. I come home at 1AM. Two mins after I get home the kids father comes over. Of course, he asks where's the kids. Since I had just walked in mins before he got there I didn't have definitive answer. We live close so the kids coulda been at my house, his house or outside up to no good. So, anyway he takes out his IPhone goes into an app. and within a second he tells me the kids phone is located at --------. And rattles off my address. Thats pretty accurate instead of giving a location within so many feet. Turns out the kids were in my son's bedroom sleeping. Point is, if a smart cell phone is stashed in the car( with a charger hooked up) just during the time on the trip(say like your wife's phone) there would be no additional cost, it uses GPS as well as cell service. It has the reliability(and engineering) of a cell phone.Works inside, outside or where ever there is service. And you can track it yourself as well as authorities. And no additional equipment to buy(unless of course you buy a dedicated phone for this).

Just my thoughts. Does anybody see a flaw in this plan? If so please say so, I wouldn't my car missing and me having egg on my face.

It looks like a good idea to me. I guess the 'flaw' or shortcoming would be its use in areas with no cell service. We have lots of those places in Az and other western states as well. Should not be a problem in urban areas.

Another thing is this- If someone took the car and you did not know about it in a few hours, they could already be in mexico from here so, gps would not matter either. Or, they could take the car, strip it fast and dump the carcass that has your phone.

[FrankieT/A]

Well Steve nothings perfect....LOL, but I'm in south Florida so a car from here is not likely to end up in Mexico although it could wind up in container bound for anywhere.