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MG TD TF 1500 - Anti-theft devices

Does anyone have any experiences of fitting and using 'mechanical' anti-theft devices such as steering wheel covers/locks and handbrake/gear lever disablers? I'm just wondering whether the bright modern yellow things actually fit a TD or TF and if they are worth the money.

David
David Wardell

Put yourself a GOOD cut off switch attached to the ground side and hide up under the dash and use it all he time. No one unfamilier with the car will be able to move it except on a flat bed. I cut it off there just like the ignition
Ellis
Ellis Carlton

Best & cheapest in these days of computer cars, was/is the old take the rotor with you. If you keep your car reasonably clean, it takes all of 30 seconds. You can probably do it in less time than it takes to get the Club out of the boot and there is no danger of damage to what ever. Doubt anyone is carrying a spare around with them like the old days. Paul
Paul

David,
"mechanical' anti-theft devices such as steering wheel covers/locks" ...I would be afraid some idiot would cut my steering wheel if used one of these! I use a Battery Cut-Off and also have a "hidden" switch on my fuel pump. The Battery cut-off can be easly by-passed if they have a bolt. The "fuel pump" cut-off is my hope that if they hot-wire the car they will be able to start it...but it is not going to go very far till the floats run dry....hopefully they would then find themselves in an "uncomfortable" enough place that panic would set in and the attempt would be termanated. In speaking with my insurance agent..theft of these cars is comparably rare to moderen autos due to documentation most of we collectors are absessed with! Ours is a very "tight-knit" community and other than "parting out" these cars have low value if not documented. It is far less risky for a thief to part out a Toyota than a rare MG! I do receive a 20% discount on my insurance for the 2 simple steps described above, so ASK your agent! "Rotor" is a good trick also but makes me wonder ...if they can't start it they might come back with a trailer and you might not know they tried to take it. Years ago we nearly "lost" a Bug-Eye that had a fuel cut-off installed....when people saw the thief abandon the car in the middle of the road one of them followed him to a local pub where he was caught. I stick with this method for that reason.
Cheers,
David
David

David's fuel cut-off is perhaps one of the best anti theft devices for the money. If the car does not have fog lights installed (or if they are installed, but not used) the fog light switch on the dash can be used as the cut-off switch. It is an unobtrusive switch already in place, that anyone not familiar with the cars (and indeed, some who own the cars) don't even know is a switch.
Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Have posted this tip before but I believe it is a good one. Label up your spark plug leads with the slip on numbers easilly available from auto shops. BUT - don't put the numbers on the leads in the correct order. When you park up swop over the leads so the numbers match - but remember the correct order. Even an expert, who would very quickly hot wire the couil and SU pump, wouldn't expect the leads to be transposed - especially since the numbers would appear correct.


Jan t
Jan targosz

I have a cut-offswitch on positive of the battery installed in the dashboardlocker.
This is also very convenient while working on the car;
you simply cut off everything;(only the clock has a direct lead)
Erik Erik

An excellent deterrant is a switch to ground connected to the CB terminal of the coil. This effectively does the same thing as if the points never open. It's effective even if someone tries to "hotwire" it.
the wire from the coil to the switch is easily hidden, and the switch placed under the dash.
Don Harmer

As mentioned above I have used the fog light switch to operate the fuel pump.

Don
Don

Isn't the problem the accessibility of the battery ? On a TD the fuel pump is probably about 12" from the live terminal on the battery - just right for hot wiring. Ok a master switch will make it difficult to hotwire the starter but on my TD there is a thing called a starting handle clipped to the rear of the seat. The only way to offer some protection is to be devious and do something like Don Harmer suggests and short the points to earth. I think it important that you brake into the wire from the coil to the points in the loom itself so a potential thief wouldn't see an extra wire connected the coil or the distributer. Even then it wouldn't take more than a couple of minutes to rip the wiring from the pump, coil and distributer and replace with new.

So a physical deterrent is probably best. I have heard of people drilling a hole through their handbrake leaver and placing the hoop from a pad lock through this to prvent the brake being released. Unfortunately I can't find my leaver to see if its possible (don't worry the car is off the road and the leaver is in a dark barn and I don't have batteries in my torch). Suppose another idea would be to put a locking tap in the fuel line, close to the tank. Would be much more difficult to run a new fuel line through than a 'hot wire'.


Jan T
Jan Targosz

When I purchased my TD as a basket case in 1974 it came fitted with a professoonally made after market steering lock with no key. I had to cut through the clamping side to get it off.After taking it to many locksmiths who could not help, I finally managed to get it apart which revealed the tumblers in the lock and was able to get a key cut.I have now made a new clamping section and re fitted the lock.I can now leave the car knowing that if some can get the car started they can't steer it. Dave
David Broadbridge

I was given an "Abloy" pedal lock, for which I'm still trying to get extra keys cut for.

At a pinch it can also be secured to the wheel, making it darned uncomfortable to be in the driveseat at the same time.


(anyone know where to get Abloy keys cut??)
Will

Few old M'G's get driven away, they are usually 'recovered' on the back of a break-down truck. Often into a van to hide them.

Anti theft devices sold today are sometimes useless. The yellow handbrake-gear lever lock with the universal joint in is hopless, as you simply just unsrew the gear-lever knob and lift the device off. Many cars have the ignition key number stamped into the switch, it is very easy to buy a similar key at an auto-jumble. At shows you even see people leave their keys in the ingition for 'show'.

A VISIBLE locking device is preferable, and on old M.G's a thick bit of old scaffolding pipe, suitable cleaned up and painted bright red, with one end flattened and drilled to suit a good quality padlock, will look good. Adjust the handbrake lever so it is on, facing the gear lever. Cut the pipe length to suit this lever, with the gear lever forward in first or reverse. With the pipe fully home on the handbrake, it needs to line up with the forward selected gear lever, and padlock them together. Cheap and very effective.

Alarm your garage, connect it to the house alarm.

Good quality cars get stolen by the offender burgling your house to get the car keys, then taking the car. Do not put car keys in obvious places. This applies from M.G's to BMW's.

Fit a switch to control the wire to the electric fuel pump. This will upset a joy-rider as the car will 'run out of petrol' a few yards down the road.

Register your car with a MG club Registra. Keep records of engine, chassis, gearbox, rear axle, speedometer, dynamo, etc serial numbers. If your car gets stolen, they are often broken up for parts. When buying parts from autojumbles, or individuals, check with the registra to see if it is a 'known' stolen item.

Etch the cars registration number on all glass components, this can be done quite small and not normally be noticed. A pen with a small industrial diamond tip can be used to do this.

Take good photo's of the car to fight your insurance company, who will value it at less then your 'agreed-value'.

Use a MGCC or MGOC security tax disc sticker. The excise licence is very easy to steal from an open sports cr. These stickers are about £1 each, and make it impossible to atler the disc's data. hey are also a real sod to get off the windscreen.

Fit a battery isolation switch, fools a thief as he will think the battery is flat.

If parking the car up for a whle, put a bit of paper between the ignition points. Remove the rotor arm, ( good thieves carry blue-tack and a pin, to make up a scratch rotor arm.)

Do not 'advertise' your car. Leaving it out in front of the garage after washing it, on a sunny day, advertises where the car is kept. On your weekend away, an 'AA' lorry turns up and 'recovers' your old MG. The 'AA' van was painted up to look like on, and the two chaps in overalls were well organised car thieves who had done their home work. No one thought anything of the incident, until you came home to an empty garage!!!

I work on a Crime Desk by the way.


Neil.

Neil Cairns

Above should say, " gear lever forward in fisrt or third," not reverse!!!!

Neil.
Neil Cairns

Good point on "fuel-pump" location on the TD!
Cut-off works well on TF due to location at rear axle!
Another deterrant we have attempted is to "install" a snivalling quivering white-hot ball of K-9 terror!
This proved to be only marginally effective as the "unit" we installed (1/3 Lab,1/3 Chow,& 1/3 Idiot)tends to do more face-licking & tail wagging than the intended "rip em' to shred's" action we had hoped for. Allthough this does somewhat "restrict" the ability to operate the car I would advise a more suitable model...perhaps something in a "badger/pit-bull crossbreed" if one can be found. C5 explosives with a hidden "switch" wired directly to the coil is another thought I have had...but given how many times I have taken off forgetting what way is "on" for my fuel pump switch...I have scrapped that idea for right now!
;-) !!!
Cheers,
David 55 TF1500
David

Thanks for all your input!
I guess the a summary of classification of risk contains

1. Opportunist thieves for which some sort of fuel pump/battery switch is the best, if not perfect, defence, notwithstanding Neil's suggestion of a piece of scaffolding!

2. The real danger of the car being targetted for theft for which physical immobility is the best defence. Think I will start to carry a wheel clamp around with me ...

On a lighter note, there is no accounting for the extent of knowledge of thieves. Alistair Naylor told me the story of having to go to Holyhead, North Wales to pick up a customer's TF that he had put on the roll on roll-off ferry in Dublin. Alistair got to the dock side in good time, and all the cars from the ferry were driven off, with no sign off the TF. Eventually the ship's crew called him and asked him to go on board. There in the vast cavern of the ro-ro ferry was the diminutive TF. They couldn't get the handbrake off!

David
David Wardell

This thread was discussed between 04/02/2003 and 09/02/2003

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