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TR2/3/3A Attempted TR3a Car Theft

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MGTF1250Dave

MGTF1250Dave

Jedi Knight
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Aloha All,

Someone tried to steal my TR3A Friday night. I heard the engine crank over and turned on a light and that must have scared them off, I didn't see any one. There is no apparent damage, but I haven't tried to start it or power the electrics yet.

Several wires under the dash were disconnected. I have almost all of them reconnected, but have one I'm confused about. There is a black ground wire coming out the harness in the bundle with all the other dash board wires. There is a ground connection near the direction indicator warning light but it doesn't seem large enough for the gauge of this ground wire. Does this ground connect under one of the dash panel
 
There's no doubt that it was an internation car theft ring ready to drive it to Mexico for export. Where's that bridge from Hawaii to Mexico?

Didn't that moron know that there was no place to go with it even if he got it started?
 
Should be a clamp-type ground terminal on the back of the dash, that takes several normal-sized wires. My recollection is that it's below the ignition warning light, to the left of center, but I could have that backwards.
 
Hmmmm...stealing a 1950s british roadster on a (relatively) small island. How far did the thief think he could go and not get caught? Obviously not a criminal mastermind. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/square.gif
 
One would be surprised how fast they can hide these jewels in a warehouse and get them on a ship off the island. Sounds like he didn't know what he was doing, though. A pro could have gotten that car in "60 Seconds Flat".
 
Where was she parked? On a street or in your garage?

I guess the good news is that the Thief was a "Novice" at his profession!

Regards, Russ
 
The car was parked off street in front of my garage door and below my bedroom window. I think it was a kid or kids looking for a joy ride. Fortunately they didn't cut the tonneau cover or smash the the ignition. They tried to hot wire it and did get the starter to turn over, but had disconnected the ignition wire to the coil.

Randall you are correct about that ground terminal just below the ignition warning light, to the left from the engine side. It just doesn't seem big enough for the 12 gauge ground wire (I'm guessing on the size, but it is large like a horn or headlight wire).
 
Dave
I can't help you with the wiring, but my condolence on the attempted theft. I don't know which would be worse, a 'professional' theft where the car is stolen to order and chances of seeing it again are very slim, or a bored kid taking it for a thrashing within an inch of it's life.
I park my wife's car behind mine, they are welcome to that.
Regards
Craig
 
There is a nifty device that I plan on putting in the wall next to the rear seat of my TR3. It is a GPS tracking device that you can set parameters for. It was designed for keeping track of how your teen is driving the car and can tell you real time how fast they are going or if they have left a specified area.

If the parameters are violated, it will call your cell phone and you can log into the internet and see where it is. You charge it's power supply while you drive, and has several hundred hours of battery life.

I can't remember the website where I saw it, but I will find it and get it on this forum.

With that and a fuel cutoff, should be able to keep track of where our gems end up.
 
gsalt57tr3 said:
There is a nifty device that I plan on putting in the wall next to the rear seat of my TR3. It is a GPS tracking device that you can set parameters for.
Click to expand...

Here's a few of those type devices. They're neat, but the problem is the monthly charges for the cellular service that allows the device to transmit are pretty high ($20-$80/month). At least on all the ones I've seen.
 
On the wiring you had mentioned that you thought it might be horn or headlight, maybe see if those items work now--might help you track it down.

Greg
 
MGTF1250Dave said:
It just doesn't seem big enough for the 12 gauge ground wire (I'm guessing on the size, but it is large like a horn or headlight wire).
Click to expand...
Possibly it was added by a DPO or something then. The original ground wire to the dash panel was smaller (although I don't know the size offhand).

Just hope it isn't something like I found on my Stag the other day. Heavy black wire hanging in space behind the dash, looked like a ground that had broken away from the ring terminal where several wires are grounded to the body. But it didn't seem to be a problem when I first found it dangling, so I left it for later. Then the other day I had to disassemble the wiring through the steering column, and found the other end of that heavy black wire, spliced to a white wire ! (White wires are unfused, switched power, so this was the ignition power lead from the ignition switch.) Sure am glad I didn't just tie it to ground !
 
Re: Attempted TR3A Car Theft

I solved the spare wire identification problem. A bigger flash light showed the wire as more gray than black. I began to think it might be a lighter color so with a little 409 the cotton braid cover became a dingy white. Using my little multimeter to check continuity, i confirmed it was the white wire form the ignition switch to the "A3" terminal on the fuse box. All electrics are working correctly now. Mahalo for the help and suggestions. I now have "The Club" as an accessory.
 
I have an anti-theft device on my TR3A from Ravelco (nohotwire.com) which makes it virtually impossible to hot wire the car. The device is installed under the dash, so it doesn't affect the asthetics of the interior. Unlike other anti-theft devices, it does not draw any power from your battery. It is a clever plug "key" device that you simply keep on your keychain--plug it in when you're driving, remove it when you park. The manufacturer claims that with more than 30 years under their belt and 3.5 million installations, not a single car has ever been stolen. It ended up costing me about $450 to install. The technician comes to you. (This is in California) Worth the investment.
 
Heh. Come on by sometime and I'll show you how easy it is to defeat.

In addition to the fact that a TR3 doesn't need _anything_ under the dash to run (just cut everything that goes out of the engine compartment then hook one jumper from points to coil, another from coil to battery, push the solenoid button and away you go) ... any tow truck will do just fine as well.
 
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