i want to put an in line toggle switch on the ignition. Which wire would be the best choice for this? thanks
1960 stock

 

the ignition hot wire.
I'd mount the switch under the dash cluster where it's out of sight but easily reachable when you are sitting in the car. unless someone crawls under the dash they won't see it but you would know where it is and can easily reach under and switch it on or off.

If you want to get slick, you could also wire the cigarette lighter into a switch and almost nobody will figure that one out. With the lighter inserted into it it would connect the circut and the car would start and run like normal, when you want to secure the car just pull the lighter out, it disconnects the circut and the car can't start.

 

When I bought my car, it had installed, what you are thinking about.

There were 2 switches under the dash, hidden, and small. (The small metal switches with the round ball at the end of the toggle).

One switch killed the feed to the coil; the other killed the feed to the solenoid. So with both off, no juice to the coil, and no juice to the starter.

With the coil one off, the car would crank, but not fire. This one was nice for doing maintenance.

The switches were well out of site.

I took them out when I put in the new engine/ignition harness.

Not many cars stolen here in South Dakota.

Mark

 

The above mentioned will only deter someone with a key, or someone that is not auto savvy.

A jumper to the coil, and a push start is all you need to get the car going.

Maybe the CLUB would be a better deterrent.

Mark

 

very, very true, but MOST car thefts are from amaeturs and kids joydriving. If a professional car thief wants your car NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING will stop them, period.
I used to work in the car audio industry, including at one point working for one of the largest auto security manuafactures and that is something I'd tell everyone when they wanted a security system for their vehicle.
The best you can do is try to deter someone from taking your car and to make it too much trouble and take too much time and they will go to another car that is easier.
on the other hand, a professional will have your car running or loaded up on a rollback in no time flat no matter what you do short of leaving it in a secured, locked building with live security guards and dogs.

BTw, don't waste your money on a Club either, they don't stop anyone anymore than a simple kill switch will. We installed secutity systems in many cars that the owners used to have a club........ until the thief just cut the steering wheel. Kind of embarrassing to come back where you parked your car and nothing is there anymore, except the useless Club lying on the ground where they threw it out of the car before they drove away.

 

Anyplace that you put a kill switch under the dash that you can easily reach will be easily found by any thief. If you have to find it by feel, the thief will find it by sticking his head under there. Put it in the trunk. The trunk locks. Every time I come and go from my car, I need to go into the trunk for something. Cell phone, glasses, hat, etc.. Anybody watching would never suspect that I'm also throwing a switch.

Don't splice it in line with the ignition circuit. Add a wire with a switch that grounds that circuit. Run a wire from the ballast resistor through the firewall, alongside the tail light wires to the trunk. Run that wire to ground. I use the tail light ground. Run the wire from that side of the ballast resistor that the coil wire goes to. Only thing that looks askance under the hood is that the ballast resistor has an extra wire that goes back in the harness. Use a black wire.

Better yet, do the controlling with relays. That's how the professional kill switches work. Have the relay make and break the circuit. Activate and deactivate the relay with the radio, or cigarette lighter, or headlights, or some combination and sequence of those electrical circuits. Get a relay with a timer. There are books on this subject.

Also consider shutting off the fuel supply. Splice a fuel shut off valve in your fuel feed line. On a C1, the main fuel line runs alongside and outside the passenger side frame. Just reach under and turn it off and on.

Sometime soon, I'm going to install an electric fuel pump in the gas tank compartment. Going to use this to fill my carb bowls that dry out after not using the car for over a week. While I'm in there, I'm also going to install a solenoid operated fuel shut off.

With my ignition kill switch and fuel shutoff, the starter will crank, but the engine won't start. If the thief bypasses the ignition, the ground should still prevent it starting. If the thief rewires the ignition system, the car will start, but soon stall after using all the gas in the carburetor bowls.

Yes, all this isn't foolproof. Just trying to frustrate a thief so he'll give up. My understanding of the thief mentality is that they have an expectation that they can quickly start the car. If I frustrate that, they'll think something's wrong, and move on.

 

I don't think I would ground the ballast resistor. That would create a dead short and wiring generally does not like it. I would ground the points side of the coil. That is a switched ground normally through the points. No switching no spark and much easier on the wiring.

 

It all depends on the thief. If he is looking for a # 1 or 2 1967 big block roadster, he is going to scout where they are(for sale by owner, car shows ,etc) and make his plan for stealing it. He will know everything he needs to know to steal it and most precautions will not prevent him from stealing it. He is a PRO. The other type of thief is the opportunist, he sees a relative easy car to steal (also car show, parked unattended) and takes a shot at stealing it. If he encounters to many obstacles(Kill switches,etc) after a few minutes he will abandon his theft attempt. The moral of the story, there is no foolproof way to stop a car from being stolen but just a few techinques to frustate them and HOPEFULLY they move onto some other car. Thats why I bought a small block!

 

My kill switch is conected to my lighter just push it it and car is dead. Club is not recomended easy to break steering wheel. The one that go around the clutch work much better.

 

.44 Magnum and zero conscience! Turst me, a slug from a .44 in the knee WILL stop a thief!

 

Have you ever left your car unattended? Or do you eat, sleep, and shower in it?

 

Put a 20 amp fuse in the ignition circuit (or fuel pump circuit if electric pump).

Then wire a simple togle switch on teh far side of teh fuse, to ground.

If the switch is "on", any attempt to start will blow the fuse. Put the fuse someplace inconspicuous. Once teh fuse is blown, toggling the switch will make no difference, and the thief would ahve to go searching for the fuse, if he even made teh connection that a fuse was in the line.

The chances of your car gettign stolen by a pro are pretty slim, as early cars are not common, and he would have no readily available customers for it or the parts, and they do tend to stand out, unlike say Honda Accord.

A joyrider is what you are protecting against.

Doug

 

How about a 50,000 volt charged capacitor in the seat!

 

How bout a cellalarm from bustthem.com? Mine calls me on the phone when my car alarm goes off. Active cell phones can be traced too.

 

That's what I'am talking about. Give them SOB's a real charge.
George