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<x-charset iso-8859-1>Hello- > I was wondering what some people have done to make their type 3s safe > from theft? I live in southern california and we have plenty of unsavory > types around. > ryan Best security device I know of is a shift-lock. The T1-style fits a T3 (no auto trannies though...). Lock it in reverse! Far and away, the best thing around. If you have one, I recommend never locking your doors unless you have expensive items in the car - that way, a thief won't break your window to get in, but won't get too far once he is in. I have one on mine, along with a highly-modified short throw kit and a T3 shift knob made of clear acrylic with a chrome standard T3 shift rod. Looks pretty, shifts very cleanly, and makes it that much harder for a thief. Many other ones I know of are all electrical, and with a little brainpower they are figured out. Hidden kill-switches are also useful, but often easier to figure out. The fuel pump relay falls into this category. You want a kill switch that ONLY kills the FI/ignition system - leave the lights, starter, etc. all functional, and it's a little harder to figure out. I knew someone who had a big van and installed a set of three inconspicuous 3-position rocker switches on his dash - it looked like fog lights or something. If they weren't "spelling the correct code," the ignition to the engine was gone :-). I have a kill switch mounted to my glovebox, which I can lock. Getting to the switch from the outside of the box is difficult/impossible with the A/C stuff in the way. Then again, breaking open the glove box isn't exactly a huge task, but just makes it that much more difficult to steal. When I'm *really* paranoid, I go to the engine compartment and rewire my engine. I make it *look* like everything is just fine, but it won't work at all. Especially in So. CA, you want it so that even a typical VW nut won't know what's up. Swapping spark plug wires is nice, but easy to figure out. Pulling out a rotor is easy, but a VW nut with connections in Mexico will likely have one in his pocket. If you have a CDI box, then screwing up the wiring on it is fun (I did this all the time on my Ghia). If you have a semi-complex ignition system and a tach, setting up a switch that grounds the line to the tach is a good idea, too. If you have an FI car, then there is a myriad of ways to confuse people. One of my favorites is to simply leave the MAP line loose. Your car *might* start, but it'll never run very well :-). I've done this on my FASTback, as the Autronic computer uses MAP just as the D-Jet does. Take care, Shad Laws LN Engineering - Aircooled Precision Performance http://www.LNengineering.com ------------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <type3-off@vwtype3.org> For more help, see http://vwtype3.org/list/ </x-charset>