I always try for a 'George Costanza' parking place-a place right in front of
wherever it is I'm going and so good that I'll never want to move the car again!
When I had my first spitty, in Italy, it was vandalized. Being a part of the
military community, my husband called them. They recognized the work immediatly
as being that of some teen-aged offspring of NCOs who were higher ranking than
my husband. The MPs said these kids would get bored and turn to mischief-and
wouldn't do anything about it! (But the Italian auto insurance paid for
everything and never charged me a dime for the deductible!)
The vandels of Nigel last June, were people who lived inside of our gated
complex. Though the cops dusted for prints (the night before a big British
meet! Augh!), nothing ever came of my case.
Each of my spittys have had 'mischief' done to them-and each and everytime it's
been _In MY Driveway or Parking Area_! Once in a small town in Italy, once in
Huntington Beach, CA and once here in Costa Mesa, CA-never in the big, bad city
where one would think it would happen! Go figure!
I left Nigel parked in downtown L.A.-near Union Station-one day for 10
hours-till about 11pm. When I came back, the guy who gave the tickets at the
parking lot had surrounded it with cones and a note that it was a beautiful car
to have on his lot!
Laura G.
>
>From: "DT Gebhard" <kimkell@decaturnet.com>
>Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2000 08:37:27 -0500
>To: "Nolan Penney" <npenney@mde.state.md.us>, <spitfires@autox.team.net>,
> <jmcneal@ohms.com>
>Subject: Re: How's this for anti-theft?
>
>
>>>>>>Be disconcertingly obvious. As in make your car look like bait. A
>Spitfire at the back of a parking lot, under a street light, top up, is
>normal and wouldn't worry a thief. A Spitfire at the front of a mall, top
>down, open to god and everyone looks odd, suspiciously so. Hopefully enough
>so to cause a thief to pass it by.
>
>
>My *other* car was broken into in my drive-way,under a street light. The
>cops reply was"the light makes it easy for them to see what they're
>taking"...
> by the way,I live in a small town,Northern IN.,less than 10,000
>people...probably local *thugs*
>
> Dave Gebhard
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Nolan Penney <npenney@mde.state.md.us>
>To: <spitfires@autox.team.net>; <jmcneal@ohms.com>
>Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2000 12:23 PM
>Subject: Re: How's this for anti-theft?
>
>
>>
>> Not very good really. First, you can get to the wiring you need directly
>under the dash. Second, almost always, people will position the switch in a
>convenient place, which makes it an obvious place, especially with a spartan
>Spitfire interior. Third, the wiring you run will tend to stand out from
>the rest, giving away the existence of the kill switch, as well as the
>location of the switch. There are better ways.
>>
>> You're better off advertising that you car is a pain to steal. A flashing
>led on the dash indicating an alarm, a Club sitting on the steering wheel,
>etc. These things deter amatures. After all, most cars are unprotected,
>and a heck of a lot of them have the keys sitting in them for you. Better
>to steal on of those for a joy ride.
>>
>> Spitfires aren't big on the pro theft circuits. So don't worry about it,
>and don't think you can even slow down a pro. Many of them use a wrecker
>anyway, and it's just a matter of seconds to hook up to your car and haul it
>away. By second, I mean about seven. I think that's the average for the
>guys with the boom trucks. Roll backs are a bit longer, something like 15
>seconds. The most you have then is your car going down the road on the back
>of a wrecker with the alarm chirping. That doesn't garner any attention.
>>
>> Be disconcertingly obvious. As in make your car look like bait. A
>Spitfire at the back of a parking lot, under a street light, top up, is
>normal and wouldn't worry a thief. A Spitfire at the front of a mall, top
>down, open to god and everyone looks odd, suspiciously so. Hopefully enough
>so to cause a thief to pass it by.
>>
>> The notion of an electric fuel pump cut off that allows the car to start
>and then die in a bad location resulting in the thief abandoning the car
>isn't a very good plan either. First, the car is stolen, with the usuall
>damage in the process. That's not nice. Then when and if the car is
>abandoned, it gets towed away, and you pay the bill. So you get a car
>that's been vandalized by the thief, with a big clonk'n towing and impound
>fee. Not very good either.
>>
>>
>> >>> "Jeff McNeal" <jmcneal@ohms.com> 06/22 12:44 PM >>>
>>
>> I was telling my local car buddy about my experience the other day with
>the
>> rotor flying off inside the distributor cap after I'd replaced and removed
>> the rotor as a cheap anti-theft device. He suggested that I remove about
>> 5" of tape from the wiring harness that feeds the negative side of the
>coil,
>> tap into that wire and install a hidden switch somewhere in the cockpit.
>> Then retape the harness, of course, so there would be no evidence under
>the
>> bonnet of the hidden switch. Not quite as heavy-duty as a battery kill
>> switch, but a lot cheaper and just as effective, wouldn't you think?
>>
>>
>>
>
>
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