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MG MGB Technical - Which Alarm for my GT
Which car alarm is suitable for the GT? I dont want loads of wires branching in under the bonnet. Which one is effective and also neat ? Ray |
Ray |
Gorilla has a 1 wire model with a voltage drop sensor and vibration sensor. Very basic and cheap, but easy to instal. Check out JCWhitney catalog. |
. |
I don't know about gorillas, but I once saw a fellow that left his pet mountain lion in his parked car. I have never seen a better theft deterent. Dave |
David DuBois |
Ray- Being in the Law Enforcement field, I'm grimly aware that most professional car thieves (if stealing cars can be called a profession) know how to quickly disable most of the commercially-available alarm systems and are not deterred by them. Not that there aren't advantages to them, but I have a little suggestion that will slow them down and possibly even stop them cold: Convert or install a switch on the dashboard in the fuel pump circuit and use it to switch off the engine when you park. The engine will run until there's no fuel in the floatbowls. They can crank the engine forever and it still won't start. They can't drive it away, so they'll have to tow it! Switch it on after the oil pressure gauge indicates adequate pressure while cranking and the engine will start safely every time. |
Steve S. |
Ray, I've got a Sparkrite (SR900?) with voltage drop, ultrasound and vibration sensing in my GT and it is a neat installation which took me two hours to fit, even though it uses multiple wires. If you want to have a look at it, drop me an email Cheers, Jim |
Jim Aitken |
Best value for features alarms are to be found at Maplins! |
Chris Betson |
Alarms , kill switches , brake locks , gearshift locks ~ it all helps but if they want it they'll get it , NOBODY listens to a blaring alarm anymore so I'd concentrate on disabling it , I like any of the ones that let it drive a short ways and then die as it's likely to stop in traffic , hardly the place a crook wants to be seen with the bonnet up . My son's car was locked in reverse on a dead end street off another dead end street off a smaller secondary road in the rich part of town , curb parked for less than 10 minutes , they didn't even leave broken glass from forced entry ! . sad but true - like Steve my work is in the field and I see it all the time . -Nate |
NSH |
Here's one for you. In beautiful downtown Bridgeport, CT USA an unmarked tow truck backed up to some poor guy's B, hitched it up and towed it away. Never found, thief never caught. No one noticed anything except it was a tow truck. The victim put out a $500 reward but to no avail. I'm considering Lo-Jack. I think it costs $600 but after the $$$ we put into our cars, worth it. I guess the bottom line is, we spend out time thinking about driving our cars, the thieves spend all of their time thinking about how they can steal them. Too bad you can't rig a Tazer to fire when they get in the car. Sam |
Sam |
Something with a Clifford dual-zone proximity detector may well warn them off before they attack the car. Without that once they have broken in they have done the damage, and they will carry on alarm blaring or no. The Clifford is also usuable if you leave sun-roof or windows ajar on a hot day unlike ultrasonics. Most systems use one wire for a bonnet switch, which is optional, maybe a couple for an imobiliser again optional. Where you put the siren is up to you. Most of the wiring is inside the cabin. |
Paul Hunt |
Cliffords also have a tilt and motion sensor so the siren should go off while being lifted or towed away |
Marc |
Before you buy an alarm, decide if you want to put in central locking or not. Cheaper systems don't have an output for central locking. It's a very worthwile mod, and can be reverted to origional very easily if you ever want to sell the car. I got some motors from Maplins for about £7 each, installed three of them in my GT, and ran all the wiring towards the glove box. I then packed the car off to Sextons to have a good quality Toad System installed. They wired up the motors for me and it works a treat. I would recommend having the system put in by a pro. All of the wiring is neatly put in and properly soldered into the loom. That's not to say I couldn't have done it, but it would probably have taken me three times as long to do. Also bear in mind, a Thatcham approved system could entitle you to an insurance discount - this discount will only be available if a fitting certificate, (supplied by the company that did the install) can be shown to the insurers. I have even seen a remote start from the key fob (for extra pose value) available. I understand that this only really works for automatic, fuel injected cars though. Regards... Phil. |
Phil |
Thanks guys. I have the petrol cut off already. Some good suggestions here, I'll check them out on the web. Thanks Ray |
Ray |
This thread was discussed between 04/04/2002 and 12/04/2002
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