Damn Star Thieves!!!
 

I've had my hood ornament stolen twice in the past three months. Does anyone have any ideas as to a deterrent? I've seen the ones that you can remove and take with you, but as forgetful as I seem to be I would just misplace or lose this right away. It's been suggested to me that I should just buy the badge that replaces the star altogether, but driving without that crosshair to look down just doesn’t feel right!

hone the three pointed star to a razor sharp finish.... ;)

Mount a fake camera with a little blinking light just inside the windshield.

I had one stolen once and the theives left blood down the front of car. The star broke in his hand.

Just buy a new one and move on, they are only like $28.

If it really bothers you Adsitco sells magnetic ones that you can remove when you leave the car in a bad area.

Trunk monkey
 

This is what you need.

Trunk Monkey 4
Theft retrieval system.

http://www.trunkmonkeyad.com/

http://www.trunkmonkeyad.com/4wmv.htm

Get a garage? Get a shotgun? Get a mean dog?

Way back in the old days, you could buy a spring mount for your Cadillac that was wired into the horn circuit. Grab the hood ornament and the horns would sound.

Since I'm a cheap bastid, I took a microswitch and wired mine into the alarm on my old Caddy. I've not looked into mounting options on the Benz, but I'm sure I could figure something similar out.

step-up transformer
 

Somewhere in the dark recesses of what's left of my memory...
An article or story [urbanic legend?] of wiring the star to a "Step-Up" hooked to
the battery ,with a grounding strap under the chassis.

3000 volts @ 1/20th Amp . Scary shock value only.

Booby trapping a hood ornament . . . that's about as funny as the look that's going to be on your face when the plaintiff's attorney, representing the injured person who is suing for damages, is telling the jurors that you're the owner a Mercedes-Benz and wanted to protect your car's $30 hood ornament . . . :P

I am not an electronics guy...but there a couple of fun ways to wire up safely.

1.) touch circuit...when anyone touches the star...your horn goes off. Problem is if they use a cloth or gloves...no human touch...no horn.

2.) magnetic switch...like door and window alarm switches...one on the bottom of the star..and one static mounted on the outer star frame attachment. This means that if your star is moved at all...by a car cover, car wash..whatever...it will sound off.

3.) break away wire...attached anywhere on the bottom of the star...and serves as a switching ground..when the star is pulled...the wire comes unplugged...horn goes off...of course this means the star is in their hands...but you get horn action before they are gone.

If this was happening to me...the first time...yeah..just replace it...the second time...now I think it may happen again. I like choice number 2...an alarm circuit should scare the baddies away. Between money, and your time..it will cost about 3 stars :eek:

just thought of something else...you can attach a cable to the star (the spring maybe) rather cheaply, and loop it somewhere under the star to the hood. They might be able to get it part way up...but that would be it. They would have to ruin the star to get it off.

Boy I could see that! Then he uses the star attached to a wire to engrave obscenities in your hood!

Hold back the sharpened idea. One guy did that and found a brick throgh his window. However, the horn concept seems pretty simple.

Hey Verdell...the idea was that the star would not come off at all...not that the culprit now has a star on some long leash...you gave me a nice visual though.

It is interesting...I was thinking about this subject (returning criminals)...and I am not sure if maybe you should just do nothing anti theft wise. If someone is ballzy enough to take the time to steal your star...if you piss them off in the process, they may come back and do some real damage...either then or later. The Star is about the cheapest item anywhere on the outside of the car...a pissed off star stealer may give your hood a solid thump for his trouble...gouge it...break a window...please, a long list of things.

You should park somewhere else :rolleyes:

or that removable type sounds promising. I think you will remember to take it with you. We all love our star.

how about this fix??
remove the star altogether!! then it can't be stolen if you sell it or something, problem solved, get rid of the star, no one can steal it!! brilliant!! (just kidding, mine was stolen before it was mine :confused: )

i really like the horn and micro switch idea, I've got tons of old switches from computers so maybe I'll rig it up when i get a star (gotta buy one soon, know where they're cheap??)