Ok, I need to know the quickest way into a locked late 80's ford station wagon, with power door locks. I want into this bitch, but I'm not a professional car thief SO TELL ME! I don't want to STEAl it, I want to steal hat's IN IT!

-Diabolik Slim

break the window. most of the old ones only have the crack resistant glass on the windshield

Do you want to dig out the radio?

Just go to the auto-parts store and buy a "slim-jim". I made mine, but you can buy a cheep one. Practice useing it on your car untill you get the hang of it. It's not hard to use. Just slide it down between the window and the weather stripping and fish arround for the latch. When you feel the latch hook it, pull up, and your in. ( I do not break into cars. Its just a bitch when you lock your key's inside your car. And having a "slim jim" can save you some cash. A lock-smith will probably use one to get in your car and charge you out the ass.)

I was in the biz a while ago.
Hmmm Late 80's ford station wagon?
Usually station wagons have fly windows that are triangular located in front of the front driver and passenger windows. You should break one of these first. Then, reach down and press the power door lock. Good luck!

Without resorting touse of a coat hanger, is there a better way to make a slim jim?

Coat Hanger? I guess.

Um... some tin snips and a bit of sheet metal is all it takes.

Eldritch gave you the material list,reduce the image size 50% Print this out and use it as a template. It should be about two feet long, inch and a 1/4 wide. http://crowley93_93.tripod.com/slimjim.jpg



[This message has been edited by Ain (edited 09-19-2000).]

How thick for the sheet metal? It just seems 1/4 inch is so thick. I just went outside and looked around at probally 5 different assorted vehicles and it doesn't seem to be that there is alot of room between the weather stripping and the glass.
Also i'm wondering how far down I'm going to have to dig to reach the bar or latch or wahatever it is I'm looking for?

I appreciate the help.

Not thick at all really. I'm not sure what gauge it would be, but not much thicker than about half a dozen pieces of construction paper should be fine for most purposes. The trick with these things is practice. Different doors have different locks. It's a good idea to cut a wedge near the far end of the piece to pulll levers if you need to, but in my experience with older american cars you usually just find the right place in the door and push down. You can get a good feel for what the inside of the door looks like if you poke around long enough, but that slip and pop, no sweat, you see on the movies is for the pro's or guys who've done it to the same type of car a million times before.

The one I have is 1/16 of an in thick 1 and 1/4 in. wide and 21 and 1/4 in. long.

Ok, i guess I'll stop by the Industrial Arts lab at school tommorow, I got all the equipment I need and more there, I'll try to whip up a quick one, i got tonnes of old vehicles sitting around, so i can get some practice in around home easily.

The movies are funny, I once saw a show where the guy ripped a piece of chrome off the side of a car and jimmied the lock open with it in like an instant.

Anyway, the only serious questions I have now is, where do i dig? I am assuming i am gonna be working within a few inches either direction of the lock's littl e peg thing inside the car, is this assumption anywhere near right? and how far down am i going to be reaching? Does the area i need to work with change drastically over different vehicles? I guess what I'm generally asking is where do i stick the fucking slimjim

You guys kick ass. Thanks for everyting.

If you have a bunch of old cars to practice on and can take the door pannel off. You can look inside the door and see how the locks are made. That way you have an idea of what your fishing for when you do it for real. If you cant take your door pannels off go to a junk yard preferably one with a "late 80's ford station wagon, with power door locks". And look it over. Do a little research and you should'nt have any problems.

Sounds like a good plan to me, I'll go try some things and post back later

Diabolik

I've never actually taken the door panel's off to look at then so I can't give great detail. I'm not an expert, I was just a little bit of a trouble maker when I was a teenager. Anyway, from my experience it's usually within 5 inches or so to the left of the lock knob, although I have done an old Dart that had it about three inches to the right.
Like I said, they're all different. The best thing to do Is slide that bad boy in and poke around. There is nothing in ther REALLY fragile so don't be a flincher about it. Poke, prod and pull. Watch the knob. If it moves, you're in the right place. Look to push and if there is no gove there, try and find someplace to hook and pull.

hey try this,get like 3 metal blinds and glue them together and make yourself a slim jim,scar or saw of like a little squar hook shap thing at the end and practice,i pick locks,so i know nothing about slim jims,but its worht a try,hmm,get some duct tape put it over the car window and break it,it should make less noise,or if the lock is aluminum,just get a flat head screw driver and take the whole lock out,there will be a little piece of metal to turn,try that too,,,happy theifing

oops i mean scrap or saw .....