Classic Cars and Car alarms: Advice?

[egamirrorim]

my first car (Laser TX3) i setup my killswitch on the 'Economy" Aircon switch (it has two aircon switches for some god knows reason and economy did nothing) ...

Actually the Eco switch is a 2nd thermostat setting.
I asked the question on the Laser forum a while back: "The 'A/C' button will be set to cycle the compressor off at a lower cabin temp. Normally it's about 4-6 degrees C out of the cabin vents.
The 'Economy' button cycles it off at a higher temp. About 10-12 degrees from the vents, but it varies between makes."

Back on topic, I'm also looking for alarm options as I hope to have a setup installed soon. As others have already mentioned, its got to be through a good auto elec - my mate had an alarm with immobiliser fitted pretty poorly and it was a guessing game as to whether or not it would let you start the car each time we got in it...

[TRD-12A]

Look i totally agree with you all i install alarms at work all different types and yes they do work to a degree from my experience alarms only stop the amatuer thieves but the proffessionals if they want it they will still takes it. The problem is almost every alarm has some sort of overide built into it sometines just as stupid as pulling the fuses out!!!! The kill switch idea is the best way perhaps even a couple on the old celicas you can have starter shut down ignition shut down, the fuel solenoids are good BUT because there is still fuel in the carby the car will start and run long enough to get them down the street but you can still do it so what i would do is buy an alarm not too expensive perhaps even the all black wiring one hide it well but also run a few kill switches its a pian in the ass when you drive to deactivate everything and when you stop to reactivate everything but its worth it trust me

[river]

Hi,

Do they install alarms the same way on old cars which have been modded and now run modern ECUs?

seeyuzz
river

[lilcrash]

The last alarm/imobiliser I fitted the imobiliser was just a matter of unplug your starter wire and plug it into the box then run a return wire to the starter. Was way too simple to bypass so just be careful what one you buy. I ended up disconnecting the starter wire from the ignition and hiding a start button and having a fuel cut off switch hidden under the seat.

[o_man_ra23]

My alarm's battery backup siren is going to be mounted under the dash in a hidden away place. Too many alarms are mounted in the engine bay, so when it goes off, all the thief has to do is rip it out, and leave it on the side of the road.

As I am completely re-wiring the car, with non-standard wiring colours, and converting to EFI at the same time, I'll be able to add in a nice immobiliser under the dash. Perhaps put it in the fuel pump output circuit of the ECU?? Don't really want to mess with the high frequency outputs (ignition, injectors etc).

I have heard of people having an electronic 'key', in the way of a 3.5mm headphone jack with a certain resistor in it, and if the 'key' was missing, or the resistance value wasn't right, then no ignition.

[gmonkey]

maybe wire the alarm siren also upto the stereo speakers? could get annoying as all hell when it goes off then

[o_man_ra23]

Nah, the speakers won't be as good as the horn loaded alarm siren at the higher frequencies that the alarm is meant to run at.

[MWP]

I put two battery backed up sirens on my car.
One inside the cabin and one in the engine bay.
One to deafen the intruder, and one to alert people near the car.

[oldcorollas]

put a couple of piezo screamers in the cabin too.... they hurt much more than a siren.
gaycar has soem cheap ones...

[RA35GT]

Yeah, i use an internal screamer inside my cars, they are farken loud.

[oldeskewltoy]

Hi,

Do they install alarms the same way on old cars which have been modded and now run modern ECUs?

seeyuzz
river

another one of the beauty of having a standalone - take your laptop, or if you have the new Holley system the pocket pc, and load a dead program into the ECU.... with no spark and no sensors.... the modern engine is dead until that changes

[MWP]

another one of the beauty of having a standalone - take your laptop, or if you have the new Holley system the pocket pc, and load a dead program into the ECU.... with no spark and no sensors.... the modern engine is dead until that changes

... and youre going to do that every time you go to the supermarket

Do they install alarms the same way on old cars which have been modded and now run modern ECUs?

Its no different to a newer EFI car.
Pick three circuits to imobilise (starter, injectors, ignition, fuel pump, etc) and run those through the alarm.
Do it properly, and it'll take at least a full day to remove the dash, unwrap looms, trace wires, etc to disable it.
Of course, installing it properly takes an equally long amount of time, and if you paying someone to install it, that equals big $$s.

I know it would take a competent person at least 5 hrs to disable the imobiliser in my car.

[maurice c]

This makes it so much fun when the immobilizer malfunctions.

[lexsmaz]

The main thing with an immobiliser is make sure it is a heavy duty unit & wired up correctly, my Nephew had a immobilser on his old mazda but when it was fitted they had run the ignition switch main wiring through it, but the factory wiring was like 4-5mm at least & went down to 3mm max through the immobiliser unit & over time it just burn't out the internals of the immobiliser, as it was definately not meant to carry such high loads, so i ended up having to by-pass it ..

[MWP]

This makes it so much fun when the immobilizer malfunctions.

Why is that of concern?
So you are saying all the immobilizer wiring and placement should be easy to get at just in case it fails