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Thread: Almost mine - anti-theft suggestions?

  1. #1
    Technical Fellow
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    Almost mine - anti-theft suggestions?

    Hi Guys,

    Need the snow to melt some so I can go collect this beauty. It's a 1976 Caddy, 18.5ft long, 500ci luxury gas slurper. Woo hooo. Pretty much all original and in great shape. Been waiting a looong time to find one like this.

    Thinking of how to keep it mine/ours.

    Alarms are a little ho-hum and pretty much ignored in shopping mall parking lots.

    I hate those stupid stick things on the steering wheel. Also seen them removed by an expert in under five seconds.

    Current thinking is a solenoid fuel valve (concealed as best as possible) in the line from the tank and a hidden switch.

    Suggestions???
    Last edited by PinkertonD; 01-06-2013 at 03:12 AM. Reason: Speeling, dman dyslexia

  2. #2
    Technical Fellow jboggs's Avatar
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    Congrats! Once when my wife (the previous one) lost her car keys I installed a simple kill switch under the driver's seat on the seat frame. It just grounded out the condenser (pre-computer days) and worked perfectly. Car absolutely would not run unless that switch was on. It was well hidden but easy to find with your hand if you knew what were looking for.

  3. #3
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    Hi Joe,

    Yup, thanks for the thought, done the same thing in the good old coil and condenser days, but that is a little too easy to get around. I suspect also it may be CD ignition which would not like a grounding. That's why I am thinking fuel line, make 'em work harder to earn it.

    Not sure how frequently these things are stolen, but this has taken me almost two years to find something as good as this one.

  4. #4
    Lead Engineer RWOLFEJR's Avatar
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    Put a big set of "Boss Hog" Bull Horns on the front of that bad boy and I'd guess most theives would leave it be...!!

  5. #5
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    Not out in the boonies where we live, probably get taken sooner. Yee Haaa!

    ...but I guess, easier to spot on trips into town.

  6. #6
    Project Engineer CCR5600Design's Avatar
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    Dave,

    Your idea of interrupting the fuel supply has merit to some point. Those old Quadrajet carburetors hold a LOT of fuel and the engine will actually run long enough to load the car on a trailer. I would suggest using an ignition kill switch in conjunction with the fuel shutoff solenoid.


    Ron

  7. #7
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    Thanks Ron, good point. I can combine both on a DPST switch. I was thinking of mounting the valve as close to the engine as possible, but still out of sight to minimize the residual gas. I had not considered the volume of the carb though. Gotta love this forum.

  8. #8
    Technical Fellow Kelly_Bramble's Avatar
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    Back in the seventies, all vehicles I owned had a DPST switch in series with the + wire to the ignition coil. I put the switch under the dash, drivers side.

    There are are a bunch of non-obvious in-series wires you could break with with a switch.

    Also, you could consider driving a relay with ignition power that blows the horn - you would then use a switch to turn off the relay ground or similar.

    BTW, nothing wrong with another key operated switch to power your anti-thief installation. Also, I doubt most hot-wire crooks are going to suspect a kill rig.

  9. #9
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    Hmmm, interesting Kelly, I like the horn idea. One of the first things I do with older cars is put in a relay for the headlights sothey can only come on with the ignition on. It would be simple to hook the horn into that relay on another set of contacts.

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