Date:         Wed, 2 Oct 2002 07:04:03 -0700
Reply-To:     DaveC <voicebox@DNAI.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         DaveC <voicebox@DNAI.COM>
Subject:      Re: Self-tapping screw size for headlight assy?
In-Reply-To:  <036001c25419$74c9e820$082fc1d8@mydomain>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed"

>Does anyone have any clever prevention techniques?  I have our Westy
>garaged, but this could happen at night while shopping or while biking away
>from the campsite.

-=-=-=-

I'm considering drilling the heads of the screws such that they won't
hold a screwdriver. Maybe not all of them -- just a couple, so the
thief will get stopped in the middle of his "removal". I'll have to
drill out those screws when *I* want to remove the grille, but that's
pretty simple.

You could use a couple of "security" screws, like those you see on
the public restroom hardware -- screw in but can't unscrew.

Or drill out a couple of the holes in the sheet metal where the
screws go and use machine screws and nylon locking nuts on the back
that are a bit difficult to access -- again, just a couple will do.
When they turn the screw, it just turns the nut. Can't remove the
screw unless you've got special (ie, 90-degree needle-nose) pliers.

Or install a "leash", a small crimped steel cable that attaches the
grille to the body. Be sure that you attach to the grille at a beefy
area of the plastic, and that the cable snakes back into the recess
of the radiator area, or such, so that removing the other end of the
leash is not a simple task.

Or spray paint some large stenciled letters on the front of the
grille, like "This Grille Is Stolen". But then you'd get stopped
several times a day by your own local Men In Blue.

All these are a bit of a hassle for the owner when the grille needs
to be removed, but what's the alternative?

Anything to slow them down. If the thief finds that he's on his knees
too long, fiddling with some darned fool screw, he's not going to
complete the "job". Or if he has to break the grille in order to get
it, he may reconsider his options.

Dave
--
Dave Carpenter

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from
magic." -- Arthur C. Clarke