Kill switch system? Your thoughts?

[dmitrywild]

This is likely the biggest reason I enjoy our hobby so much. Any time I work on one of our vintage pony cars, tinker with on, or drive one I am 19 again - and have not a care in the world. Eventually things catch up with me, but I am still quite pleased with how well things are going for me, even at 69 years of age now. If nothing else I have Lynda (wife) in my life, and some really cool cars we both enjoy together - a lot.

Well said and now let's all go for a ride

 

[351c1971]

I couldn’t agree more. My 71 Mach1 is truly a Virtual Time Machine. Working on it and cruising reminds me of simpler times when gas was $.29 a gallon and social media did not yet exist. Jimmy Buffett coined the phrase “mental floss” which seems fitting.

 

[jscott]

I always used a dummy coil wire, a real one just sealed on one end so it would not connect. Of course, do not lose the real one during the switch.

 

[Spike Morelli]

I park my car outside, in the driveway day and night. Everyone sees it, everyone knows it's there. it's not going anywhere, as I take the rotor out of the distributor. Just unsnap the cap, pull the rotor off, and snap the cap back down. 30 seconds to disable. I've also got a Lo Jack type locating device on it.......just in case. Not too necessary here in Boise, but remember....I used to live in Los Angeles.

 

[NG8264723]

One of my Mustangs was stolen years ago. It didn't have an ignition in it. I was upgrading to a Crane. They pushed it! They want it they are going to get it

 

[Spike Morelli]

With a LoJack, the cops will locate it within 45 minutes.

 

[jscott]

Is Lojack still a thing? Haven't heard of it in years, only had one on a 2005 Mercedes we had.

 

[72MustangSprint]

Kill systems are cheap but it’s much easier to hide a small GPS tracking device and know where your car is at 24/7

 

[Cleveland Crush]

Kill systems are cheap but it’s much easier to hide a small GPS tracking device and know where your car is at 24/7

Any recommendations concerning tracking devices?

 

[72MustangSprint]

Any recommendations concerning tracking devices?

I’m sure there are plenty for sale on Fleabay or do a google search. We got our demented dog back with a simple Apple air tag on her collar. My uncle had his truck stolen and they found it quickly because his IPad was left inside out of sight .

 

[rcadd1ct]

I use one of these on a family member’s car so I can help if they go missing.

Not all the features would work, but you can buy an obd pigtail for power.

I like Vyncs as it is a yearly subscription for the price so no monthly fee after you buy a tracker.

https://a.co/d/00WPPlO

 

[Spike Morelli]

Back when Radio Shack was around, I bought what was called a "ZoomBack", which was a tracking device that would show where your vehicle is on a map, on your home computer. I used it to know where my teenage daughter's car was 24/7. I went through a shitty divorce ( is there any other kind?), and the Mom was never home to parent my Daughter, so that pre-empted the purchase.

 

[TheDude]

Some nice ideas in here. Not sure if someone mentioned it yet, but having a manual transmission will stop a lot of people.

Since my car is fuel injected, I've thought of cutting off one off the tach signal to the EFI. That would let the car turn over, have spark and have fuel pressure, but the EFI wouldn't think the car is started and wouldn't let it run. So if someone was trying to hotwire it, it would be pretty far down the list of things to check. I was looking at adding a bluetooth relay to cut off that signal that looks like it could belong there. Something like this (but all black) stashed in with other wiring and cut off that signal https://triggercontroller.com/product/trigger-one-bluetooth-relay/. It would also be pretty easy to bypass should it start acting up.

On tracking, I've had this in my car for a few years https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PWLQLW5/. It was about $20 when I bought it and there are lots of new versions and different variations of it. It's definitely not elegant as you provide your own SIM card, all the setup is via SMS commands and the online tracking part isn't beautiful, but it's very accurate and has always worked for $5 a month. I've seen these kinds of trackers now in smaller form factors and some that look like a standard 12V relay like that bluetooth module I linked to above so could be hidden in plain sight under the dash or under the hood.

Then while not as accurate, there's things like Apple and Samsung tags that can be hidden just about anywhere on the car as a very low buck last resort tracker.

 

[rcadd1ct]

Some nice ideas in here. Not sure if someone mentioned it yet, but having a manual transmission will stop a lot of people.

Since my car is fuel injected, I've thought of cutting off one off the tach signal to the EFI. That would let the car turn over, have spark and have fuel pressure, but the EFI wouldn't think the car is started and wouldn't let it run. So if someone was trying to hotwire it, it would be pretty far down the list of things to check. I was looking at adding a bluetooth relay to cut off that signal that looks like it could belong there. Something like this (but all black) stashed in with other wiring and cut off that signal https://triggercontroller.com/product/trigger-one-bluetooth-relay/. It would also be pretty easy to bypass should it start acting up.

On tracking, I've had this in my car for a few years https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PWLQLW5/. It was about $20 when I bought it and there are lots of new versions and different variations of it. It's definitely not elegant as you provide your own SIM card, all the setup is via SMS commands and the online tracking part isn't beautiful, but it's very accurate and has always worked for $5 a month. I've seen these kinds of trackers now in smaller form factors and some that look like a standard 12V relay like that bluetooth module I linked to above so could be hidden in plain sight under the dash or under the hood.

Then while not as accurate, there's things like Apple and Samsung tags that can be hidden just about anywhere on the car as a very low buck last resort tracker.

If you do this make sure you get a continuous duty relay. A regular Bosch style probably won’t take the strain long term of the ignition.

Mine is on the fuel side. It has the benefit of keeping the pump from running when I am tuning the EFI with my laptop.

 

[1973 Mach-1]

Just a thought from a friend of mine. Any of these simple "kill-switch" ideas can be improved upon, by not using a switch at all, but installing a spade fuse socket instead. Park the car, take the fuse. It won't start, unless they happen to have a fuse on them.

 

[EdM]

I just ordered one of these a few hours ago. We shall see.

https://www.digitalguarddawg.com/keyless-ignition/other-vehicles/dgd-m1/