Catalytic converters

A friend recently had the catalytic converter stolen from the truck she was driving. Checking into this, we found that there is an epidemic of catalytic converter thefts due to the high value of scrap platinum. Pickup trucks are especially vulnerable because they have enough ground clearance to make the theft very easy.
I plan on welding mine in, and I suggest the rest of you consider this, also.

On Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:39:13 GMT, "Leo Lichtman"
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The crooks are crawling underneath cars and trucks with battery operated recip saws or Oxy-Acetylene 'hot wrenches' and chopping them out, so welding it in place isn't going to matter to them. And as an added bonus, now you need to repair or replace the tailpipes.
You want to stop them, you need a locked and burglar alarmed garage, preferably with Central Station monitoring.
Second best would be a big screen cage of expanded metal under the car around the catalytic, and tamper that to trip the car alarm. Then you come outside, and let the perp know you are deeply religious - in specific, a member of the Church of John Moses Browning. Time for the perp to genuflect, hold his hands in supplication behind his back, and hold that position till the cops arrive.
Or move to a nicer neighborhood - that's always worked best for me.
--<< Bruce >>--

On Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:39:13 GMT, "Leo Lichtman"
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Id love to have one of THOSE creepers!!!
How fast was she going?
"Confiscating wealth from those who have earned it, inherited it, or got lucky is never going to help 'the poor.' Poverty isn't caused by some people having more money than others, just as obesity isn't caused by McDonald's serving super-sized orders of French fries Poverty, like obesity, is caused by the life choices that dictate results." - John Tucci,

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Ever watch the movie "Speed"?

Gunner Asch wrote:
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That is one of those 'Obama Energy Plan' creepers they plan to use to tune up your car without you knowing about it. ;-)

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Mine are welded in-line from the factory, doesn't make any difference when you've got guys with a cutting torch and no reason to go easy on the collateral damage. They've had a few here that were caught trying to sell bunches to scrap dealers, those were apparently honest enough to call the cops when they showed up and weren't their usual junkyard dealers.
Stan

wrote in message
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They recently caught a couple of guys with a pile of Cat converters here in Oregon. They showed the converters on the news---every one had been sawn out of the exhaust system. Only thing that caught them was a camera in the park-n-ride lot.

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A recently solved case here involved bronze memorial urns from a local cemetery, something like 175 urns on their way to a scrap yard 50 miles away. Gerry :-)} London, Canada

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A local TV station in Houston, TX, last night aired a story about a topic near and dear to many hearts: Beer.
It seems that the Beer Industry is being victimized by unscrupulous individuals who "collect" empty beer kegs and sell them as SS scrap. This forces the Beer Industry to purchase new kegs (often made from the recycled old ones) in which to supply their product.
This results in an estimated $50,000,000 in additional costs being passed along to the consumer.
FWIW, the same station has aired stories concerning the growing tide of copper thefts from HD air-conditioning systems including many from schools and businesses.

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here in phoenix, the tweakers hit the local animal pound, removing the copper pipes and caged valves. they were unable to water, clean and cool the animals for a couple of days (since the a/c is run off the water supply). there were a LOT of very angry people about that.
on the subject, my 4runner was hit for it's converter. the replacement oem part cost is very high, the generic isn't too bad, but they also tore up other things to get it out, and cost me hundreds to get repaired. when i reported it to the police, they said that at least 15 other trucks/suvs had already been reported hit that night in the same general area .
regards, charlie

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And now they know you have a new one:) Years ago I owned a towing business. Guy calls his car wont start. Go out, no battery some AH stole it. Get a new battery and install it. About six months later the guy looks under his hood and his old battery is back, the brand new one is gone. Thief must have come right back and swapped them.
Here they are stealing gas with an ice pick. Poke a hole in the tank, let it drain into a flat container, come back and get it. And the car owner has a plastic fuel tank with a hole in it, and a large repair bill.
Al

Big Al wrote:
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The solution to some of this stuff might be right here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.500_S&W :-)

Big Al wrote:
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A sheetmetal screw and a small peice of rubber (hose or innertube). Our 62 Tempest on the way to Alaska in 63 got a small hole on the tank and it was fixed that way, lasted for years, was still OK when we traded it in years later. ...lew...

Lew Hartswick wrote:
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Gas tank in a 62 Tempest was plastic?
--Winston

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Works for metal or plastic tanks.
Don Young

Don Young wrote:
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Cool!
--Winston

"Lew Hartswick" wrote: A sheetmetal screw and a small peice of rubber (hose or innertube).
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I would have execte rubber to fail. Wouldn't neoprene be the proper choice?
Aside: I am told that it's good to carry a bar of soap when you go off-road. It can be rubbed into a gasoline leak for a temporary repair.

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Seattle lately tightened their laws on scrap dealers. They basically are not allowed to take kegs. That plus having to issue payments by check after a delay for any scrap over $15 (IIRC), and requiring ID. It may be helping.