Call me an idiot
 

Call me an idiot! I just picked up my first vette, A 1971 LT1 coupe w/ M21 4 speed. I have been all over the car and I have even read the manual to understand how to operate the stuff I couldn't figure out. But nowhere does it explain how to use the factory alarm and what exactly it does. All I know is the key works. Is it an ignition cut off, does it have an audible(?) alarm, will it self destruct if towed. Somebody enlighten me.
Thanks, Kev

RE: Call me an idiot
 

DID YOUR 71 COME WITH A CHOICE OF FACTORY ALARM? MY 68 DID NOT.

RE: Call me an idiot
 

Does your key fit into the switch in the middle of the rear filler panel? Yours might be on the left hand body panel in front of the driver's door. My '69 has the alarm system from the factory and all it does is sound an audible alarm if the doors are opened or the hood is raised. I'm not sure about the mercury switch for towing. Does your alarm horn work? If you need to find it it's located on the frame inboard the left rear wheel well and just aft.

RE: Call me an idiot
 

I don't think they moved the alarm switch from the rear to the left front fender until some time in the mid to late seventies. My '73 has it in the rear and the relay is in the compartment behind the passenger seat. It is easy to defeat just by cut the horn wires.

RE: Call me an idiot
 

My 74 has it in the front left fender. No idea how to get it to work though. [:@]

RE: Call me an idiot
 

I believe the key switch interupts the 12V to the relay. Need to see if switch works, has 12V to it, and there should be 12V to the relay contacts. If all of this checks out, then see if getting 12V to horn. If you are and the horn doesn't sound, then either bad horn or bad ground to the horn. A good idea if you are going to maintain an older Corvette is to get the factory service manual as it has all of the wiring diagrams in it.

RE: Call me an idiot
 

mine is in the middle of the rear panel on my 72 and it does not work

RE: Call me an idiot
 

In 1971 factory alarms were still very primitive. The most you could expect from the factory was a horn that was mounted under the rear deck on the battery box.

There was a whole industry that was created in the aftermarket alarm sector that had everything from cut off switches, ignition disablers, fuel cutoffs, gravity switches, and anything else you could think of or fabricate. Car thefts were rampant especially in the cities and everyone tried to find a way to stop the thieves.

If you know it is a factory alarm,then you can look for it in the AIM .If not your best bet is to take it to an alarm installer that is at least 50 years old and have them look at it.

You should note that the car is 36 years old and anything could have been added since day1. You best find out lest you activate the alarm and find yourself stranded somewhere.

RE: Call me an idiot
 

Thats exactly why I was afraid to try to set the alarm. I didn't know what to expect. After closer inspection of the car (after we took apart the whole dash to put in a sweet Pioneer SupertunerIII AM/FM CD player and 4 new speakers from Paragon) we also found another alarm, cut off switch, and a built in Radar Detector (all not working). So we had some cleaning up to do under the dash but now it is back to normal (except for the radio and better speakers). So I will look into this factory alarm a little more with all the info you all have given me and I will see if I can get it to work.
Thanks, Kev