I have been thinking about putting a kill switch in my '72 for quite a while. I have done a little research on the internet and of course searched this site for info and suggestions. Actually there seems to be very little that applies directly to an older car such as mine.

I found a thread on this site that suggested a switch be installed between the battery and the coil, which sounded very doable for me, but I wanted to toss the quetsion out again to see if anything new would come up.

Does anyone have a favorite place, in the engine circuitry, or method to install a switch?

 

I would put the wiring under the dash. If you put it close to the coil under the hood, a thief would see it in a minute and bypass it. Splice it in under the dash and then put the switch in a very inconspicuous place. You could put it in the cigarette lighter recepticle and then put the lighter **** over it.

 

I have 2 kill switches in my 72 olds.It may sound like overkill but I would hate to go into a store and come out to find it gone.The first one is where redoldsman said and good luck finding the other one.

LOL!!!!!

The install was very simple.

 

Thanks for the reply's fella's but since I am not a car person per se, my post was more for how/where to splice it into the wiring for best advantage.

I’m quite sure I can think of my own hiding places but was rather looking for a more technical response so I could install it without possibly interfering with other functions of the electrical system in the car.

 

Find the purple wire at the IGN switch & splice into it Note you need to use a heavy duty switch 30 amp + or wire into a relay for lower amperage

 

There are two easy ways to wire a kill switch - in the starter circuit or in the ignition. The starter circuit is easy. I simply run a toggle switch in series with the neutral safety switch. This wiring is entirely under the dash and thus easily hidden. Be sure to use a toggle switch with adequate current capacity. The downside to this option is that since the car won't even turn over, the thief knows there is a switch someplace. Whether he takes the time to look for it or just moves on to another car is a different question.

The other way is the ignition. An ignition kill switch is nice in that the car still cranks. The thief may just think the car runs poorly and move on after trying without a second thought. If you still have a points-type distributor, you have two options. The first works with both points and electronic. Simply run the switch in series in the BATT wire going to the coil. The second option for points-type ignitions is to run a separate wire to the distributor side of the coil. This wire is run through the switch to ground. The switch needs to be ON (closed) to kill the ignition. Now you've simply grounded the points. The advantage to this is that if the thief takes the time to look under the hood, this just looks like a tach wire (assuming you have a tach). Also, if the thief attempts to bypass the ignition by running power directly to the coil from the battery, this shorting wire still prevents the car from starting.

I remember a third option, which was to run the switch in the BATT wire to the coil, but run a slow-blow fuse in parallel with the switch. To start the car, close the switch so you bypass the fuse. To protect the car, open the switch. The thief will be able to start the car, and as soon as he does the fuse will blow. Since the car started once, he doesn't even think to look for a kill switch. He just assumes the car runs like crap.

 

Thanks Joe!

Those are all great. I had heard of, and kind of favor, the switch in series with the BATT wire going to the coil. My concern with that was that if the thief pops the hood it would be rather easy to spot and circumvent.

Your second suggestion about grounding the points may be better? I do still have a distributor but I do not have a tach. Still, I like both of these ideas.

Thanks again!

Robert

 

Can you do this with a HEI distributor? Also what size slow blow fuse would you need to use?

 

I have every intension of installing a taser in my vehicles seat that will shock the ever living... erm, Day lights... out of any one who doesn't deactivate the system before attempting to start the car.

I figure I'll only forget to deactivate it once...

But thats just how I roll LOL