Kyle's 77 Cutlass

Have a question about this. I know their is immobilizers for cars, but is their a way a person can put a switch some where in the drivers side, hooked up to the ignition so you have to turn on the switch in order to start your car. Always thought you could,or what do you guys think?

Allan R

Step 1: Make sure you have replacement insurance.
Step 2: Wire the car to explode if someone other than you starts it.

Seriously though, I'd check to see if theres some way to cutoff fuel to the carb, either at the pump or in line somewhere. We have this type of configuration for both fuel and battery on some of our work trucks.

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

Can you get C4 The last thing that will go threw his mind is his A$$H@!& Fuel wise can't do it mechanical pump, some how have to kill power

Allan R

Ok, so fuel is out. The second option is still there. Install a battery disconnect switch (it's really simple and is a toggle on/off) in a inconspicous place only you know. That way, the car won't even crank. And it has another bright spot, it helps preserve the battery.

ROBZ442

On my 66 I used a Ford stlye relay from a golf cart that is rated for continuos use and put it inline on my positive cable. The relays sell for around $30.00 at any golf cart shop, do not use a starter as they are not rated for continuos use and will gurn out after a few minutes. I put a push pull switch on the bottom edge of my dash that is hard to see but easy to get to. Doing it the way I did I ran a hot wire to the radio to keep my presets and my clock from reseting everytime I shut he switch off. Another option would be to install the relay inline on the starter wire, then you would only kill power to the starter and not the entire car.

MDchanic

It's called a kill switch.

Google "kill switch." Here's one discussion.

- Eric

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

looks good, will have to find a place to hide the switch

mlouderback

I have my hot wire for the distributor running though a hidden kill switch. Just make sure
you are still getting your full voltage to your distributor if you go this route. Just find a spot that is easy for you to reach from the drivers seat but hidden from sight.

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

Cool, thanks

ToBiN!

funny story: I new a guy that had gotten his camaro stolen three times in Phoenix. Fortunately they recovered it every time so he eventually bought a marine battery cutoff switch and installed it into the fender. It takes a special key to turn it on and off and he kept the key on his keychain like it was a key for the car. This was so bad he had the choice of starting his car with the key, a screwdriver, or just a 6" rod inserted in the hole they created on the far side of the steering column!

After installing the kill switch the cops would wake him up in the morning to have him get his car out of the road and move his car back into the driveway. The thieves would try and jump start it by pushing it down the block numerous times. They could never get it started after the kill switch so it would always end up down the block in the middle of the street! lol...

Kill switches are like door locks, they will keep the honest man honest. reality says if someone wants your car, they will get your car.

kpl70sx

Back around '84 I had a pretty nice '76 Cutlass. I lived in a large apartment complex so the car sat in the parking lot all the time. One morning I came out to the car and saw that it had been broken into. I got in and saw that they had pulled out the ignition switch. They were that close to stealing it, but the guy I bought the car from had installed a simple kill switch...behind the ash tray! Simply push in the ash tray to engage, and again to disengage. I believe he had it spliced into the ignition. Simple, cheap, effective and field tested.

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

Right on,need something like that

Higgins

Don't remember where I saw it years ago but there is an electrical kill switch that is a pad that you hide under the carpet. Only you know where you placed it. Press it for off, again for on. Do a google, you'll probably find it.
Higgins

oldcutlass

The problem with that stuff is that it only works to keep the honest people honest. If someone wants your car more than you do then its gone!!! In most cases those killswitches are useless on the older cars because 2 simple jumper wires, a large screwdriver and its off and running.

So what I would suggest, is to remove the rotor. Short of a tow truck the car ain't goin nowhere!!! Most car thieves do not carry one with them. And/ Or I would install a good car alarm, and heavily insure it! The worst thing that happens is when they go to steal it and leave most of the parts behind. I would rather it get stolen and get an insurance claim than have to deal with a car that was vandalised and destroyed!!

citcapp

fuel cut off solenoid hidden inside frame rail with a hidden switch. Won't tell you where you figure it out. No gas no run very far.

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

The old gm's have the brights switch on the floor, could us one of those

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

What about an exhaust shut off, too complicated?

Aceshigh

Good info here.

Been wanting to do this to both my classics but never got around to it yet.

garys 68

I take a different approach. I wire the ignition to the loudest horn I can find and put it under the dash ( on a switch of course). If they want to steal it, they'll just be deaf in a block or 2.

bigoldscruiser

Rather then removing the rotor, just pull out the center wire to the coil and replace it with a piece of rubber hose the same size. You can be looking right at it and not recognize the change.

oldcutlass

That too, you can put the rubber ends of an old wire on there!!

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

The only thing with this, if some one is stalking your car, they will figure it out would think. No?

matt69olds

Take this approach and go one step further. Instead of taking the coil wire with you, swap the coil wire position with one of the plug wires. Nothing to remove or change. As an added benefit, the engine will "almost" start every time the rotor lines up with the swapped plug wire. Probably frustrating to a thief! If someone wants your car bad enough they will find a way. The idea is to slow them down and not make it easy.

citcapp

When I was in high school auto shop the teacher used to put a pencil eraser in the distributor cap as a way to test our trouble shooting skills. The car would fire a little but not start. Was hard to find the problem

Willidog

I would like to put one on my car too, especially if I take a trip across the country. It would suck to come out of a hotel to no car.

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

No SH@T, in the middle of no where and no car

Aceshigh

That's so mean, but funny.

Usually people just push the connectors in, I'd never think to remove them either.

Allan R

I think oldscutlass said it best.
And the worst part would be that even if you installed anti theft? You'd probably still come out of the hotel and find no car. It would be on ebay, being sold in parts...Crooks nowadays don't necessarily care if it runs or not, they know that parts are big money. It's not just the BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Cadillacs etc that get targeted. I think the only way you can 'guarantee' the car will still be there in the morning is to sleep in it

Kyle's 77 Cutlass

Ah, I will send my wife to sleep in there, for dam sure no one will want to steal it.No man need's 2 wives and if he does it is for only one reason

Aceshigh

Theft deterrents are there to narrow the % factor of thieves success.
There is no 100% factor, you can just shrink the odds of theft with them.
Hence the name "Deterrent" not "guarantee".

Doing nothing (defeatist attitude) only increases the % chance you will
get robbed or stolen if a thief wants your car. You guys shouldn't lock your
doors or take your keys with you either since you feel it's a pointless deterrent.

These guys just crack me up with the negative outlook on security measures.

I wonder how many guys will remove their home security systems since a thief
could rob their house anyways.

72 Olds Project

On my 68 GTO convertible I had put a button behind my cigarette lighter. I think I found the button at Radio Shack? I made it set to where you click the lighter once and it would turn the fuel pump on then click it once again to shut it off. Bad thing is you have to remember to shut it off I eventually put a light on the dash to remind me of it. It worked great though.

TripDeuces

My buddy used a simple headlight dimmer switch under the carpet. It's just a simple on off switch. Just run the coil wire through it and gtg.

Redog

It's funny this is brought up.

I bought a starter kill switch on Amazon for $15 and I'm still trying to figure out what to wire it up to to kill the starter.

Two to the wires are super thick for the starter and the rest are all regular 18 gauge except for the flashing red LED which looks like 22 gauge.

Have a few ideas of what to wire the kill swtich thing to, but I'm not giving any hints on what I'm wiring it to to make it start

I'm working with an HEI system, what wires would be best to wire it too? Starter or coil wires?

greenslade

good thing thieves don't read those posts.

coltsneckbob

I had a switch on my coil in my 78 Trans Am, but they still stole it. What I always thought would be the ultimate would be a setup where if someone tried to steal the car without a key a canister of harmless CO2 would spray into the passenger compartment. Then a recorded message would play telling the creep that they had only 1 hour to get to an Emergency Room or they would die from the poison.

Apparently they pushed my TA with another car. They took the tires and left her on her belly. Also, they were so pissed that they couldnt start it I guess that is why they kicked in every single piece of sheet metal. They did an dance on the roof and hood. I had to get a new screaming chicken!!! I paid $5,600 for the car in 1978 and after it was repaired (insurance company laid out $5,000) I sold it for $6,000 as I couldn't stand to be in the car anymore knowing that those scumbags were in it.

442much

Jeeze, how bad is the crime rate in Ste Rose, Manitoba? A couple of chickens go missing last night?

Jaybird

... And then there are the guys with tow trucks. You can really do much about them without having LoJack or a GPS alarm.
My 1994 Dodge Shadow was stolen in Detroit. I got it back after a month (damn). They used it to push other stolen cars.

Jaybird

citcapp

The thieves around here a sophisticated they use tilt flat beds and just yank the cars up on the trailer. The use floor jacks in the garage and put the car on casters and just roll it out of the garage and then put it on the flat bed.
The neighbors think it must be ok because it's done in broad daylight