another NEW opportunity for theives

[dirtydeeds]

being an old bastd. DONT you dare repeat the "old" bit      .................    ;D

i thaught id seen most things. for instance with the cost of fuel being so high "drive offs" are becoming frequent (regardless of the ever present cctv on ALL garge forecourts)

a new and growing theft is comming to light in the uk of which the insurance companies are (aparrantly) well aware

a mate of mine got into his van on friday morning, it made one hell of a noise, AH HA thaught he, my exhaust has blown...................................... WRONG, WRONG, WRONG

he took it down the garage, part of his exhaust system had been stolen, a cool 450 quid (900 dollars american) replacement. that EXCLUDED fitting

this is the third time of heard about this in the last 2 weeks one guy had a bill for 1200 quid for the same thing (2400 dollars american)

 

[peter halle]

catalytic converter thefts are increasing here too due to the costs of the metals that can be sold as scrap. In fact recently there have been reports of thefts of downspouts-particularly copper - in broad daylight. About a month ago a customer called me to replace some aluminum trim that had been blown off in a storm. the next morning it was gone - probably scrap metal.

Peter

 

[woodshopdemos]

Thievery every where.

The oldest Scam I heard of was kids taking down the power wires that the electric comuter trains used to run on, broad daylight. I mean, didnt 400 volts cause them some second toughts.

 

[dirtydeeds]

the oldest profesion in the world, we all know

the second, bankers

the third (in england anyway) theft of lead from church roofs

 

[graphex]

Are used catalytic converters illegal to buy or sell in the UK? I thought they were illegal to trade in the US once they've been used in a car. That is what the guy at the junkyard said when I tried to get a replacement on my '88 Mazda 626.

I wonder how many specialty shops exist to extract the platinum from "used' catalytic converters.
Platinum is about $2080 an ounce right now, and I think a converter has something like 5 or 6 grams of platinum. Hell of a lot more valuable than my korean-made rims. I don't know how much rhodium is in a typical converter, but that is going for almost $10k/oz.

Apparently Mazda has a nanotech catalytic converter they're working on.

 

[dirtydeeds]

no idea about the reuse / resale of catalytic convertors

i now have another question, i thought catalytic convertors were only fitted to petrol (gasoline) engines not diesel

 

[joraft]

Recently, thieves stole 75 cast iron manhole covers in one night here in Southern California (Long Beach).

I don't know what cast iron scrap is bringing these days, but that's a lot of heavy lifting.

John

 

[Ron Pegram]

I'd be shocked if any legitimate business took the platinum from a converter. It's a strange request to be sure.

On the other hand, I once had a conversation with a young man who had turned his life around but had once been a very successful car thief in his teens. Within hours of his home (which was in a very rural place) was a thriving 'chop-shop'. Cars were 'procured', taken there and disassembled into parts.

My guess is that a sudden rash of thievery of this sort is probably an indicator of an operation located nearby. Granted, they'll take cars from anywhere so long as they know the 'procurement agent', but my guess is that the cost of gas has made these shops turn to 'local sourcing'.

I wonder how easy it is to find and deactivate those satellite locators in cars? Maybe the growing use of them is why thieves are so brazen as to take parts off of cars rather than just take the entire car, which has to be quicker.

I've also heard of thieves drilling (yes, drilling) into fuel tanks to siphon off the gas. A dealership near me had a good number of the cars on their lot siphoned.

Do you think it ever dawned on a thief that a drill into a metal tank filled with gasoline might be the start of a different type of barbeque.

 

[dirtydeeds]

i understand your immediate thinking

but i think there may be more science to this than might first meet the eye

gasoline "vapour" has a very low flash point AND it is only vapourised gasoline that burns

in a liquid form, low in the tank, where these guys are drilling there is no air into which the gasoline can vapourise, hence the risk is much smaller than it might appear 

 

[b_m_hart]

i understand your immediate thinking

but i think there may be more science to this than might first meet the eye

gasoline "vapour" has a very low flash point AND it is only vapourised gasoline that burns

in a liquid form, low in the tank, where these guys are drilling there is no air into which the gasoline can vapourise, hence the risk is much smaller than it might appear 

Yup, typically welding on gasoline tanks is done when they are full, as the fuel cannot aerosolize, and combust.

 

[graphex]

Of course after the fuel is drained, the residual gas remaining in the tank and the area surrounding it is well vaporized with plenty of oxygen. Nice recipe for a car explosion.

 

[iggy07]

I believe it is illegal to sell used catalytic converters for re-installation on a running auto. But even so, the materials inside should have some significant value for recycling into new products,

iggy