help442onguam

Best Security For your Cutlass-- Alarms Etc

I would really hate for some idiot to steal my ride from me, i was thinking of the best options for securing my 442. I think the detachable steering wheel is the best option. Please inform me your experiences with the detachable verse other option for car security.

Also what is the best insurance company for my all matching number 442 in good condition


Tereal

Aceshigh

I have the NRG carbon fiber quick release hub on my 78z28.
The one on the left is the hub, and the right is the release.
Center is the lock you can also buy, but it's not necessary.

There's just nothing out there better IMO. Literally takes a split
second to pop it on , and off. Highly recommend it.

My trunk doesn't have a release button in the cabin so I keep it
right in my trunk after I pop it off at any show. Then you can also
upgrade your steering wheel to a Mumo style or Tenzo.

As for alarms, anything made by DEI electronics is quality.

Higgins

The simplest protection is a battery disconnect. $5 at wal-mart. It has a plastic nut the size of a silver dollar. Take the nut off, put it in your pocket, car won't start. No tools necessary.
Higgins

MDchanic

C'mon guys. There is no protection.

You can reduce the threat from joyriders with a battery disconnect or a kill switch, or by just taking the coil wire with you.

Professionals are going to show up with a flatbed and put a hook on it, or they're going to watch it for a few days, then do what they have to to drive it away. If it's inside a garage, they'll bring lock picks or a way to take the door down. If it's chained to a column, they'll bring a whizzer or a torch.

Best preventative for causal thieves is a hidden, personally installed way of disabling the car (kill switch, fuel cutoff, etc.) that will slow down a potential thief enough that he can't take the risk (time delays are a plus - a fuel shutoff will let the car start and drive a block or so, then stall out - it's a bit conspicuous to troubleshoot a stolen car in the middle of the street in traffic).

Best treatment for professionals is a LoJack or similar transmitter - just turn it on and find 'em.

- Eric

442much

I was going to post about insurance co.'s then I realized that you don't have a location posted under your avatar.... if you are on Guam then I don't know. Someone else will chime in.

Eric is right, you can't protect 100%. If a pro wants it he'll get it, but you can slow him down.

Aceshigh

I think it's quite obvious that you can't protect a vehicle 100% from a professional thief.
Just like you can't protect yourself 100% from a hitman paid to assassinate you.

However, not all professional thieves scout with tow trucks at their disposal.

There's no 100% guarantee for anything in life.
So we're kinda going over the completely obvious here.

Why lock your house ??
Why lock your car at the grocery store ??
Why wear a seat belt knowing you can die at any moment in a car accident ??

Because you're doing so to fend off the 99% percentile you're most likely to encounter.
Removing the steering wheel is a pretty good and simple way to deter a would be thief looking
at your car. Combined with other deterrents, it increases your chances against threats.

Definitely the cheapest, but not the easiest IMO.
I have this as well, but lifting my hood at every stop is a PITA.

Looking at internal cabin disconnect options as well.
http://www.summitracing.com/search/B.../?autoview=sku

rustyroger

Eric is right, if someone wants your car - or anything else you own - badly enough they will get it. Over here thieves will break into homes to steal the keys of high value cars. My mothers neighbour owns a Ferrari, to get theft insurance he had to build a high security garage to keep it in, and this is in a low risk area!.
What you can do is make it tough for the would be thief, make your car harder to steal and they will try their luck elsewhere.
Remember to take the obvious steps, lock the doors and close the windows even if you just stopped for gas, don't leave valuables on display when you park, advertising you have a theft deterrent with a window sticker, every little helps.
Regarding insurance, I know you have different circumstances varying from state to state, but over here you can arrange "agreed value" insurance for your pride and joy if it is a classic car. It wont get your car back but you won't be offered a derisory sum for something into which you have put a lot of time and money.

Destructor

Death penalty for car thieves instead of the inconvenience of an arrest, that is all that happens if they are caught.

Bluevista

I doubt any American collector car insurance company will sell you a policy if you're in Guam.
I would contact an independent insurance agent there that knows the ropes.
The best theft protection is you, use common sense and nobody will ever mess with your car, assume the bad guys are always after it.
I worked the automotive parts swap meets for a lot of years and most of the full time used parts vendors are ex-cons, where do you think they get the stuff?
You don't leave your kid or dog sitting someplace alone or not watched in crowds of strangers, why is your car any different?

w-30dreamin

Sure there are steps you can take to discourage the joy riders from messing with your car.And they are worth the effort.
If a pro wants your car and you give them the chance,they will get it.
At least with lowjack you stand a chance of getting most of it back. I see on tv the pros at the chop shops strip cars within a couple hours of recieving them.

coltsneckbob

In 1983 my 1978 Trans AM was stolen from in front of our house (in Beachhurst Queens - which is a nice area). I had a very well hidden cut-off switch and I had a heavy anchor chain wrapped around the steering wheel and brake (chain had 1/4" thick links). The chain had 2 locks on it.

The car was recovered by police a day later. It was missing its wheels and every single piece of sheet metal was kicked in. A neighbor reported seeing the car being pushed away by another car.

I don't know how they exactly got the chain off. The chain was in the car with one lock unlocked. They eventually did start it, but certainly not right away as they pushed it away initially.

I guess they trashed it because they were angry I made it somewhat difficult for them. They must have really beat on it cause when I got it back the oil pressure would fluctuate wildly at idle.

So - no there is no 100% protection for a car of that era - short of removing the tires and taking them with you when ur not with the car.

MDchanic

I hear ya Bob. I had actually written quite a long post this AM on this very subject, then when I pressed "Post" I got the dreaded "Token expired" message and it was gone - Whoosh!

Nobody ever likes my solution, but it was ingrained in me in the '70's and '80's in NYC.
"You can't have anything nice."

No matter what you do, sooner or later it will get stolen, smashed, keyed, slashed, or burned.
Your best defense is to have something that looks like nobody wants it. Don't wash it, leave dents unfixed, cover brand names with electrical tape, etc. The first thing I do when I get something "kinda nice" is to make it look "not nice."
That's my solution, and will probably be for the rest of my life.

I like cars I can have fun with, and having fun means not worrying about them.
If it's too nice, I'll worry, be afraid to park certain places, be afraid of traffic, etc., and then it's not fun. I drive cars that look beat-up, keep them in good mechanical condition, and don't waste time and money on theft prevention.

- Eric

442much

Put a sign on the car in hand writing that's not so neat "careful, car is a trap and is being watched" or "Diamondback snake in car, Police says I have to warn you."

MDchanic

Sad to say Ken, south of the CDN border these days, that'd get you a one way ticket to Gitmo on a terrorism charge .

- Eric

Lalo442

I got one of these Brake locks seems like a good deterrent for the average joyrider but not for a pro but it is heavy duty and looks like a good deterrent

http://www.autobarn.net/autolockpro.html

joe_padavano

Funny you should mention this. Back in the 1970s when I was in college in Cambridge, MA (and no, it WASN'T Hahvad), my 1967 Cutlass winter car got stolen. I was forced to drive my 68 442, and the only parking available was street parking. I had previously installed a four spoke sport wheel in this car and I got very good and removing the steering wheel and taking it with me to my dorm room. I could pop the horn cap, remove the contact ring, and remove the six screws holding the wheel to the hub in about 90 seconds with practice. I even got to where I could do that without blowing the horn (of course, reinstalling the horn button caused a toot). The only problem was that once Campus Police stopped me when they saw me walking down the street with a steering wheel in my hand.

Higgins

Some people are just mean, jealous or plain stupid. I had someone slit my convertible top for no reason. I never locked the car because I figured if they wanted in they would cut the top.
I had just got a new 280Z and stopped at a store. No other cars in the parking lot. A guy in a beater pulls in next to me and slams his door into my car. What the H***. He just had to park next to me when there were no other cars in the lot.
I was at Home Depot, when I came out somebody had caved in the whole side of my truck. No one reported it.
Higgins

cutlassjoe

I agree, some people just have no appreciation or respect for other peoples property. These are usually jealous ingrates who have no idea how hard we work, and what we sacrifice to have a nice car to drive around in. I go out of my way to park away from everyone and everything, but there is always someone who will park their ghetto hoopty ride right on top of me....Back to the security. I keep my car in the garage, and don't leave it in the driveway at all, ever. I did one time and a couple of fine upstanding gentleman walked by realll slow looking at the car. They were asking all sorts of questions about the car and the garage. I told them I had an alarm in the garage, on the car, and Lojack. They kept walking. I don't have any of those yet....I do have a fuel shut off and a battery disconnect.

MDchanic

My wife likes to quote her late father:

"They want what you've got."

- Eric

Aceshigh

I had this happen to me once from a shopping cart in a Home Depot parking lot.
They claimed it wasn't their responsibility if a cart "blew" into my vehicle.
Called it an "Act of God" , even though they have cart chasers on duty.

So I said that's kinda funny because if you slip and fall in my driveway, am I not liable ??
Funny how that works only in the favor of the corporation and they're not liable for their parking lot incidents.

It was just a small dent and not enough to bother with a civil lawsuit.
But their store manager told me there's nothing they could do.
It's ignorant LAZY ASSES that never put their carts in the catchers.

So now I park far in back to avoid the lazy retards. You know those lazy ****** who leave
their shopping carts in between vehicles because they're too ignorant and stupid to put
them in a cart catcher. I yell at them every chance I get because it pisses me off.

BlackGold

I once parked my car 200 feet from the nearest occupied parking space at the grocery store. Still, just in case, I parked it on the line, taking up two spaces.

Upon returning to the car I saw a little card under the windshield wiper. I figured it was a note from someone admiring my car. Nope. It was a pre-printed, cute little poem making a statement about the evils of taking up more than one parking space and how inconsiderate I must be. WTF?! With hundreds of empty parking spaces around, someone went 200 feet out of their way to teach me a lesson? And they are actually **** enough about their self-appointed mission in life that they have pre-printed cards? Wow.
I'm just glad they left a card instead of a key scratch.

allyolds68

My company uses GPS tracking for most of our vehicles. They even put one in the owner's kid's truck (the kid's 16 & just got his license).

Pretty soon it will be cheap enough for any car to be tracked this way.

You get notified if the vehicle move more than x feet. You get notified if it goes over x miles per hour. On the newer Mack trucks & KW's we have you can remotely send a signal to the truck to shut it down (the vehicle has to be stopped for more than a minute). All internal systems are monitored. All our Komatsu excavators have tracking set so if they move outside a set radius the electronics get shut down so they can't be restarted.

Each tracking system costs $35/month per vehicle (plus initial cost and installation) so it's not really cost effective yet. I'm sure there are ways around it but it's getting tougher to beat




Got to be MIT

MDchanic

Leave the poor guy to his secret shame .

- Eric

help442onguam

Best insurance company,Yes im shipping my 442 to Guam

Redog

I would say the battery disconnect in a hidden place would be the best bet.

The sad thing is that older GM cars were very easy to steal. Pop the door and then break the lock cyl and you could turn the key, without the key. My Delta's lock was broken and I could start it without the key

I had HEI and sometimes I would just unplug the wire from the cap. It would crank, but not turn over

caddy

Sorry guys, the steering wheel removal dont work... if the thief has been watching you, they coming with a pipe wrench, long story!!!!! I have tried most deterrents and was robbed. Put all those receipts together and realized I could have just bought an alarm in the first place.

The best out there right now is a car alarm... if you gonna be cheap you deserve your car to be stoling!!! I have had customers that have been robbed with so-called alarms on their vehicle because they did not wanna spend the money for quality or take the extra step of security.

There are add-ons that give 99.9% security. Add-ons consist of back-up battery, proximity sensor, glass break sensor, tilt sensor, starter kill, piezo tweeter (all hidden of course), and 2-way transmitter. Sounds like a lot, but, your car will still be there...

MDchanic

Doesn't sound that long...

Tell me where you live, so that I can avoid moving there.

I don't know - my gun didn't cost much, and I'd be happy to discuss how much I deserve to be robbed with the next thief I run into.

- Eric

Higgins

When all is considered, just make sure you have enough insurance coverage. A battery cut off & a fuel cut off is all I'm going to do. Common since goes a long way too, be aware of the area where you leave your car.
Higgins

caddy

i have tried the club:they cut the steering wheel, basic alarm that sounds off:they cut the wires, disconnect battery and hood pins:bust column it roll it away, steering coumn collar:towed away, detachable steerin wheel pipe wrenched it and wrecked in the process

chicago, il- naptown,in- gary,in- denver,co- colorado springs,co

im pretty sure they might be carrying hardware as well

and state farm in my opinion is the best insurer on the market

MDchanic

Pretty much the same argument I was making earlier on:
If they want it bad enough, they'll just hoist it onto a flatbed and drive away with the alarm screaming.
LoJack or similar is your best chance, so long as they don't find where it's hidden, and so long as the car is found before it's in pieces.

Either that, or drive cheap and don't worry!

- Eric

caddy

thieves go shopping where ever...

caddy

so true, im not against waht you were saying... a 2-way alarm is just something on your person that lets you know vehicle in danger.

i have my alarm proximity set so it gives me an alert if someone is within 3-4 inches of it... it does not sound off for them to hear it...advance warning type

Aceshigh

I agree with the 2 way alarm system made by DEI being a good add on option.
Those remote TX/RX that let you know your alarm is going off are extremely helpful for days you're at the track or a car show.
I've had a Viper 791XV since 2003 and they are very reliable vendors (DEI)

Some of these guys are so pessimistic about deterrants I wonder why they even lock their doors or take
their keys out of their cars (Factory deterrants) I mean.....it's going to get stolen anyways right ?? LOL

I think today I'm going to leave my wallet with all my credit cards on the sidewalk.
I mean, I could get robbed and they'll get it anyways. LOL kidding....
Take my credit identity protection program out of service too....haha

Yep. Mine don't go downtown Chicago at all for this reason.

I'm taking it down for a photoshoot by the Buckingham fountain and Planetarium but outside of that it will never be there.

help442onguam

Insurance companies? Who are you insured by

help442onguam

Insurance companies? Who are you insured by also where would i find the blue book value for my car 1971 442

Shizzy

for sure. None of my toys leave my sight unless it is securely locked in my garage or basement. boat, car, motorcycle, even bicycles. I prefer NOT to give people time to check out my things let alone even know I have them.

501Paratrooper

Anyone have a GPS tracker? I use them in my line of work and they are great.
It seems the cost isn't to bad either some units go for around 179.00 and require no monthly charge, just a charge when activated.
Some update every 10 seconds and you can put a "GEO fence" around it and you are alerted by text or e-mail if it is moved, this will track it if it is being towed away, but if it is loaded in an enclosed container, it would probably not be effective.

starfire

I use Hagerty. They insure in USA, Canada, and Great Britain, so they might cover you in Guam. Check them out at www.hagerty.com .

GTI_Guru

I'm very surprised nobody has mentioned this one yet:

http://www.denverboot.com/

Paint the thing safety green (or the same color the cops in your area use) so it stands out a mile and keep it in the trunk. Since it's illegal for ANYONE to tamper with a car booted by police, they will assume it's already being watched and chances are less likely that they'll want to mess with your ride.

I know it's not perfect, (nothing is, as stated previously in the thread) but it's certainly a good deterrent. Combine it with a detachable steering wheel/killswitch, and nothing short of a flatbed is taking your ride.

Also, always remember to cut your steering wheel all the way and make sure the column lock is engaged and tight. I was told by a city tow truck driver that they hate to deal with problem vehicles, so they will look for something easier if possible. Anytime I park in the city, I cut the wheels all the way, make sure the column is locked, and engage the e-brake.

All you need to really do is make your car less appealing than the other ones, and it reduces your chances greatly.

I also subscribe to the theory of "urban camouflage" Make it looks like a P.O.S. and it reduces your chances as well. I lived at the corner of 13th and ogden in Denver for a year+ (may as well have been the corner of "crack alley & gunshot wound") and I drove a 72 chevy van. EASY as hell ro break into, but since it was rusted, dented and several different spots of multi-colored primer, it never got touched. Didn't matter that I had built the interior into an RV inside, complete with bed, kitchen, etc. I just had a curtain to pull behind the drivers buckets to hide the back of it from prying eyes and mirror tint on all the rear windows.

That setup DID make it a high target for cops, as I got pulled over quite a few times, but once they saw inside and I explained why it was set up that way, they nodded and always let me roll with a "have a nice day, sorry to bother you" Never got a single ticket in that beast either.

-Jeff

slowdime

the pro thief uses a pickup with a hook just like the one repo guys use
they can snag a car in 10 seconds
if you have a honda or acura they will steal your car if they want it