In case you are still not convinced about the necessity of protecting the corner of the door frame for Felicia with some sort of additional lock, here is some food for thought.

 

It's not just a Felicia, it's anything with conventional doors and silly lift knob locks. Door deadlocks stop this method of entry, as the door won't unlock. You are looking at cars with zero security as a base point. The point is, if some one wants your car badly enough and they have a modicum of skill or cunning, they will have it. If a scrote can have a new Audi away, what chance has a Felicia?

2 hours ago, RicardoM said:

In case you are still not convinced about the necessity of protecting the corner of the door frame for Felicia with some sort of additional lock, here is some food for thought.

 

 

Oh you really really must have an old one. On the Felicias I had there was protection against this: the door-cards had a piece of plastic that was raised around the pull-up, so you couldn't do this trick. It was OE as well, so it wouldn't offend the "purist" in you. It's Skoda part number: 6U0867109A and looks like this....

.....remember you'll need four of them. I'm sure a gentleman with your vast experience (35 years or somethine wasn't it?) won't need help in installing them.

I know someone who probably has a box of these, but, nah, you hate him too.

 

 

What you see is a problem from the 1990's, that was solved in the 1990's. (Other cars recessed the pull-up so you couldn't do this. You pushed it down to lock and pulled on the handle to unlock.)

 

1 hour ago, P6bJOHN said:

It's not just a Felicia, it's anything with conventional doors and silly lift knob locks. Door deadlocks stop this method of entry, as the door won't unlock. You are looking at cars with zero security as a base point. The point is, if some one wants your car badly enough and they have a modicum of skill or cunning, they will have it. If a scrote can have a new Audi away, what chance has a Felicia?

 

Thing is, if you go back a bit more in time and into the murky world of BL (remember when we had a car industry?/ ) this method of entry wasn't possible. The lock on the BLs moved forwards and backwards and was integrated into the door-handle........

 

Nissan were using a variation of this through the 1990's (my '95 100NX did, and that was based on a Sunny!) where the lock was in the hindged of the handle, so as you pulled on the handle, you'd unlock the car. No coat-hangers or bits of string used there.

BMW E36 has the push drop flush into the door, again unlocked by the pulling of the interior handle.

 

It wasn't rocket science, even back then, but again, just plain old bad thinking. Somebody came along and came up with a solution to which there wasn't really a problem and created a security hole in the process (sound familiar? )

 

I used a sharpened piece of thin steel rod which had a hook end bent in it for those BL locks. We were always getting little old ladies into their locked cars back in the 80's For pop up knobs we used packing tape, doubled with a sharp crease. My local colleagues called it burglar bandage and every Bobby had some inside his hat.

14 minutes ago, P6bJOHN said:

I used a sharpened piece of thin steel rod which had a hook end bent in it for those BL locks. We were always getting little old ladies into their locked cars back in the 80's For pop up knobs we used packing tape, doubled with a sharp crease. My local colleagues called it burglar bandage and every Bobby had some inside his hat.

 

I'd liked to have seen that BL "key" sounds intruiging.

 

i have to admit, I think *the* most laughable security back in those days was Fords....only 5 key profiles across the entre fleet at the time, once you had all 5, any Ford was yours for the taking....or hiding in a different part of a car-park.

 

The concept of being able to close the driver's door in the locked position was an awful one too (another backfire on the "convenience front"), probably the source of all your little old ladies problems. (Probably in a red, white or blue Metro or Fiesta.)

Don't forget Escorts and Chevettes

7 minutes ago, P6bJOHN said:

Don't forget Escorts and Chevettes

 Can't forget those.....MKII Essy will always be in my heart, so far only the E36 has come close. Oh....right.....er, I see what you mean...  

Currently parked in front of the Golf in the garage. My other toy, with its little 1360 screamer.

 

 

11 hours ago, P6bJOHN said:

Currently parked in front of the Golf in the garage. My other toy, with its little 1360 screamer.

 

 

 

 

A nice choice, very, er, er, um, "vivid" paintwork

13 hours ago, RainbowFire said:

 

Thing is, if you go back a bit more in time and into the murky world of BL (remember when we had a car industry?/ ) this method of entry wasn't possible. The lock on the BLs moved forwards and backwards and was integrated into the door-handle........

 

Not that this mattered, because a BL boot key would open 90% of driver's door locks.

44 minutes ago, RainbowFire said:

 

A nice choice, very, er, er, um, "vivid" paintwork

If memory serves, it was a standard colour called "Monza green". No pics, but my Dad had a MK3 Cortina in the same shade.

?

Was it not metallic Green ?

 

EDIT,

Sorry i see now a pic online of a 1972  2000XL in that shade of Solid Green.

Edited 13 March, 20188 yr by AwaoffSki

1 hour ago, KenONeill said:

If memory serves, it was a standard colour called "Monza green". No pics, but my Dad had a MK3 Cortina in the same shade.

 

I think it's the yellow headlights that set it off

2 hours ago, KenONeill said:

Not that this mattered, because a BL boot key would open 90% of driver's door locks.

 

I suspect they were too busy striking to have made different sets of keys.....or the cars properly

Anyone that has spent anytime around people that need to access vehicles or get steering locks out / off will know that Slide Hammers are the favourite tool of choice. Or to break steering  locks a good hard 'yank'.

To open a Sierra Boot a kick in the lock area.  etc etc, every model having its easy access traits.

 

15 hours ago, RainbowFire said:

Oh you really really must have an old one.

Yes, I do. Nothing too wrong with it. The more basic, the better. No silly computers, reliable, easy to fix, cheap to maintain.

 

That is why I will try to make it more secure. I have already figured out how to lock the corner of the door frame too. It takes a brass rod attached to existing central locking actuator and a sliding pin. The rod will be mounted vertically and it will slide inside the door frame. A hole will be drilled in the frame of the door so that a steel pin (pushed by the rod) can slide up/down. A similar hole will be drilled in the sill of the door. Schematic bellow (see thru).

Nice idea and simple engineering. Is there enough space to get a rod thick enough for security, to run smoothly, and also shut the door when fitted?

 

And to the others, my Escort is, and always has been, Modena Green. Sorry for the minor thread hijack RicardoM 

8 minutes ago, RicardoM said:

 

Yes, I do. Nothing too wrong with it. The more basic, the better. No silly computers, reliable, easy to fix, cheap to maintain.

 

That is why I will try to make it more secure. I have already figured out how to lock the corner of the door frame too. It takes a brass rod attached to existing central locking actuator and a sliding pin. The rod will be mounted vertically and it will slide inside the door frame. A hole will be drilled in the frame of the door so that a steel pin (pushed by the rod) can slide up/down. A similar hole will be drilled in the sill of the door. Schematic bellow (see thru).

 

"Old one" as in one that's old enough not to have the loop-defeat as OE. (You're welcome by the way)

 

Hmm, you'll need to ensure:

There is enough travel from the solenoid

The solenoid is strong enough for the job

As the rod will be outside the weather seal at the top, all the holes will need to have weather-proofing, otherwise you'll just rust the door from the inside out

The door is curved to the bar will create resistance as it touches the inside of the door (back to having a strong enough solenoid

You'll need to find some way of reliably fixing the extra to the locking mechanism/solenoid

Make sure the top of the bar cannot be accessed. It's hidden from view, but would be a shame to have gone through all the effort, only to find someone who will try and wedge the door, bend it and expose the bar and simply push it down to unlock the car.

That there's actually room to a bar inside the door.

And compensate for the bar not moving in the same direction as the solenoid

Crow bar, back hatch, in. 

A Frame, front lifted, car gone. 

Swan Vesta, car gone.        'Simply Clever', simply gone in 60 seconds.

8 minutes ago, AwaoffSki said:

Crow bar, back hatch, in. 

A Frame, front lifted, car gone. 

Swan Vesta, car gone.        'Simply Clever', simply gone in 60 seconds.

So you're saying we should do nothing to improve the security of the car and discourage thieves?

No i am not.

You do what Land Rover owners do.

You can not stop them being towed away unless you put a good wheel clamp on. You can not stop someone getting in the car.

You fit a hidden cut off switch.   

You put a big chain around the pedals. Or pedals to steering wheel.  Even fit a removable steering wheels.

5 hours ago, RicardoM said:

 

Yes, I do. Nothing too wrong with it. The more basic, the better. No silly computers, reliable, easy to fix, cheap to maintain.

 

That is why I will try to make it more secure. I have already figured out how to lock the corner of the door frame too. It takes a brass rod attached to existing central locking actuator and a sliding pin. The rod will be mounted vertically and it will slide inside the door frame. A hole will be drilled in the frame of the door so that a steel pin (pushed by the rod) can slide up/down. A similar hole will be drilled in the sill of the door. Schematic bellow (see thru).

 

And, silly me, the existing solenoid works the other way round too......up is unlock, down is lock, so your bar will counter the locking mechanism.

 

Either need to mount a 2nd solenoid, or build a pivot into the mechanism, that will require more force from the solenoid to operate too.

Edited 13 March, 20188 yr by RainbowFire

1 hour ago, AwaoffSki said:

Crow bar, back hatch, in. 

A Frame, front lifted, car gone. 

Swan Vesta, car gone.        'Simply Clever', simply gone in 60 seconds.

 

George. half the conversation has been about Ricardo wanting to stop people from getting in in the first place, something that no car manufacturer has managed to do to date.

 

Something like this........

 

 

Things like the steering-wheel disc-lock have been mentioned, as has things such as a good alarm system with 2-stage immobiliser, but apparently only suggestions from Felicia Owners are supposed to be valid.

 

What he wants is a vastly over-engineered solution, but cheap and to keep within the realms of ensuring the car looks like it's still in mint OEM condition. Just plain ain' gonna happen

 

 

Skoda built a tank not unlike that.