I did the same for a Trans Am Firebird. First as a theft deterent, but second as a way to isolate the battery over the winter. I used a Blue Seas marine grade waterproof battery switch.
replacement front windshield
- Thread starter scarborough
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Mark, I still have my column cuff lock from when I used to live in NY. I used to drive my wagon to the train station everyday and always put the cuff on. It's a good deterrent. Most thieves are looking for an easy pinch without any real obstacles. Fortunately, no one ever tried taking my wagon.
Jack, back in the day we may have had to worry about our wagons getting stolen. Probably by a guy needing a work vehicle like a painter or drywall guy. I don't think any kids would want to show off the hot station wagon they just swiped. I was putting out the garbage one night and an old Toyota was parked behind my wagon. Every time one cylinder fired you heard a loud bang. What a POS. I think they were contemplating grabbing my wagon. What they didn't know was it was a manual trans with the shifter padlocked and a cut-off switch. I made a loud show of opening the gate and swinging a garbage can in each hand. They shot out of there like their pants were on fire. The dopes that smashed my windshield had yanked a bunch of wires from under the dash without cracking my column open. I think they had watched too many TV shows where the guy grabs two wires and touches them together to start the car.
i had one of those! i felt great but then i realized it took 1.2 seconds to open it with a harbor freight screw driver
That was the only pic I could find. The cuff I have is stainless steel, has a box that clamps around the ignition key switch, and is secured with a HUGE American Lock padlock. But as we all know, if they want it bad enough.......
Mark,
The one that I have is a heavy gage metal with the little dog house on it. Mine actually uses a padlock rather than an integrated lock. I'll try to post a pic of it. I've had it for well over 30 yrs. I really never used it down here. However, a few years back some thieves stole my friends Cutlass Cruiser right off of his driveway. He lives 3 hrs south of me. Fortunately, he got the car back the same day. I think they took it for a joy ride and ran out of gas. He got a call from the local police telling him that they recovered his car before he even realized that the car was missing. The drivers door lock and column was buggered up.
You're right that these cars were not really sought after from thieves back then. However, an ex-girlfriend of mine had a G-body Lemans wagon that was stolen from where she worked at a local hospital in Brooklyn. I think she also managed to recover the car with slight damage.
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Jack I think we are talking about the same type of cuff. A hinge on one side and a big padlock on the other. Easily 30 years old. I had a friend that had a Grand National stored in Long Island City. Single underground garage, steel garage door, lots of huge locks, lights, alarms, and the garage was surrounded by tenet's apartment back windows. Gone. No one heard a thing. They even left a note- "Thanks for the challange". Some nerve, eh?
I also had a friend that became a cop. He once owned a 1970 Chevelle SS. Big block, manual trans. When he was young, he threw $5000 (80's money) into it and he worshiped that car. Same set up, single brick garden apartment garage, steel door, locks the size of softballs, alarms, kill switches, everything you could think of. Gone. They left the lock carcasses scattered on the ground. Once he joined the NYPD he stopped every single Chevelle he came across looking for his car. He never did find it. But the best I ever saw was one time in the 90's when we were doing the 5 Boro Bike Tour, we passed through Long Island City. Big industrial area, and deserted. As we biked along I glanced down a street and saw a Jeep Wrangler chained to a telephone pole. The chain looked like the guy swiped it from a Destroyer it was so huge. He had it wrapped all around and through his Jeep and the gigantic padlock looked like it was from some medieval dungeon. Just getting this chain into the Jeep would cause several hernias. The Jeep was the only vehicle on that street and looked like it could stay there as long as it liked.
Mark,
Some of these thieves had hutzpah, no doubt about it. I remember seeing a '67 Mustang Fastback also chained to a pole. What a shitty way to live., huh?
Well, I guess like you said, if a thief wants your car that bad, he'll find a way to get it.
Fortunately, I never had the displeasure of losing a car to theft. I came close. Some one tried to steal my '61 VW European sunroof bug. Broke the vent window to gain entry and tried to f**k with the ignition switch only to find that it had a factory column lock. It was only available on European VW's back in the day. They did screw up the key portion of it with a slap hammer, but didn't get the car.
Some of these thieves had hutzpah, no doubt about it. I remember seeing a '67 Mustang Fastback also chained to a pole. What a shitty way to live., huh?
Well, I guess like you said, if a thief wants your car that bad, he'll find a way to get it.
Fortunately, I never had the displeasure of losing a car to theft. I came close. Some one tried to steal my '61 VW European sunroof bug. Broke the vent window to gain entry and tried to f**k with the ignition switch only to find that it had a factory column lock. It was only available on European VW's back in the day. They did screw up the key portion of it with a slap hammer, but didn't get the car.
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