Theft and Security

[wayne R]

I thought i would raise this, because just  a week ago on our Australian tv,
police have claimed that cars with steering wheel  locks are still the best to
stop your car from getting stolen.
I purchased  2 clubs while living in CA for 10 years,in 1992 ,i always used one of these clubs
on my classics, and  a 1971 280SL owned there as well, in those 10 years driving 150,000 miles
in all my cars never had a problem with getting stolen, so i have continued to use them here
in australia, where every day modern cars get stolen all the time, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, etc,
Include photos of correct way to mount the club on your Pagoda if you use a club .
Notice the key cylinder mounts to the front of car or dash,not towards yourself, and on the bottom
clear of the horn ring.---may help you---.

[Garry]

I actually purchased one last month to take with me to USA in June.
 I also normally remove the lead from the distributor to the coil.  Don’t think many carry around a spare one unless they just load the whole lot on a flatbed. Then there is nothing you can do.

[specracer]

I personally would rather have a "secret" electronic immobilizer (ours has a race car master switch accessed from below under the battery, I doubt I'll ever use it, installed by a P.O.). The clubs are hardened, and very hard to cut through, but the steering wheel cuts very easily, so the club can be removed in seconds. Just my 2c.

[wayne R]

Specracer, yes  with the club on a few of my other classics i used a kill switch,
which is very easy to fit, can be mounted any where, with one  three ft length of
wire, and a $5.00 push -pull switch, but the club being visable,the thief will move to
the next car that does not have one.--regards

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Another good point is to remove the fuel pump fuse for the pump near your gas tank. At least no mater what they try they never get her started.

Dieter

[wayne R]

Dieter, funny you saying that , you are correct,tell you a funny story,
while in CA, wife and i had 2   73-74 Alfa Romeo spiders ,she loved them.
They are the same, fuel pump line runs under trunk floor matt with a
connector, so used to disconnect that all the time,but the Alfa would go about
one  hundred yards then stop ,that happened to  wife a few times, she was not happy.

[pj]

I haven't made a decision yet about what I will use as a theft deterrent (and/or recovery technology) in my 230SL, but I bought one of those "Tile" products to try. I figure, even if/when I take my car out for an evening on the town, I'll never be farther from it than the parking lot, and my smartphone in my pocket will probably always be in range of the car. I hope the Tile can be relied upon to let me know immediately if the car starts to move without me in it.

[Steve.k]

Another option is the 123 Ignition system with Bluetooth.  In addition to doing away with the points and condenser, and being able to customize your advance curves, you can also disable the ignition system with your smartphone.  Just a few taps in the app and the ignition is shut off.  Enabling and disabling just takes a few seconds. 

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

When I do travel with my Pagoda I always stay at B&B’s outside the city limits, I find it the safest way to park and have a good sleep During my 25 plus years of being in business (field engineering service work), I mostly drove German cars, and always stayed at B&B’s found it to be the best way. Unless I rented cars then I stayed in hotels.

Dieter

[Peter van Es]

but I bought one of those "Tile" products to try. I figure, even if/when I take my car out for an evening on the town, I'll never be farther from it than the parking lot, and my smartphone in my pocket will probably always be in range of the car. I hope the Tile can be relied upon to let me know immediately if the car starts to move without me in it.

I wouldn't rely on Tile much. Bluetooth is too fickle a technology for that. Range varies. And the "network" of Tile users is limited. False sense of security, I would say.

And what will you do if Tile warns you and you see your car being driven off? Run after it?

[stickandrudderman]

As specracer said, those locks can be had of in less than a minute; better to buy the ones that enshroud the whole steering wheel. Those are much more reliable but admittedly cumbersome when not fitted.

[pj]

I wouldn't rely on Tile much. Bluetooth is too fickle a technology for that. Range varies. And the "network" of Tile users is limited. False sense of security, I would say.

And what will you do if Tile warns you and you see your car being driven off? Run after it?

Actually, the warning is all you would expect of the Tile. Knowing a theft is in progress right away at least gives you the chance to start pursuit immediately. The "network" of Tile users would just be a bonus, if it were to help in a serious case. Other advantages for the Tile are that it is inexpensive, doesn't require any hardware connected to the car's system, and can be tucked away in the car somewhere where a thief probably wouldn't anticipate or notice. The thief would be surprised, not you.

But of course it would be wise to have something else to make the thief's job much more difficult, as well. I'm still thinking about that, but the battery disconnector and the distributor wire removal both seem like pretty simple steps to try.