Stealing Converters

Theft needs a catalytic_jack, plus the zyke_anglegrinder grinder with a disc and a charged battery. Only parked vehicles qualify: no driver, stationary, and with the engine off by default. Player-owned vehicles are refused while vehicles.blockOwned is enabled.

#Jack the Car

Put the grinder away and use the catalytic_jack item. Aim at a parked car's rear jacking point until the placement preview shows, then press E to set it down. Right mouse or X puts the jack away.

Aim at the jack's marker and press E. A placed jack offers Pump Jack and Pick Up Jack, scrolled with the mouse wheel; a raised car offers Lower Car. Pick the jack back up once the car is down to return the item.

Cars with enough floor clearance, set by skipClearance, can be gone under without a jack.

#Cut the Converter

Equip the grinder and press Go Under near a jacked car. Anyone nearby can join the under-car scene.

Hold left mouse to spin the disc. Move the mouse sideways onto the chalk-marked joint, and push it up to feed the disc in. Keep the feed gauge in the blue band. Feeding too hard or twisting the disc binds it. Cutting off the joint is slower, wears the disc faster, and damages the converter. X stops the cut.

Each pipe on either side of the converter is cut separately. The converter drops into your hand once the second pipe is cut.

#Guards

Some cars carry a guard that must be cut first:

• Cable lock and welded cage: cut each cable or hoop on the chalk mark. Ease off as the disc breaks through, or it lunges into the converter.
• Shield plate: cut across at both ends along the chalk line, plunged through the plate.

Guards and completed cuts are kept per car until the resource restarts.

#Converter Value

Size comes from the vehicle class or model, and the grade is rolled once per car. Condition starts from the vehicle's engine health and loses points for sloppy cuts and lunges. The stolen item keeps the vehicle, plate, grade, value, and condition.

#Alerts

The car alarm can go off when the grinder first bites into the metal, and nearby NPCs can report the noise. Both call OnConverterAlert in server/unlocked/hooks.lua; call your dispatch resource from there.

#Running Rough & Installing

A car without its converter runs rough for everyone nearby until a replacement is installed. The missing converter is kept by plate through garages and restarts.

Use a catalytic_converter_new next to the vehicle, or target the vehicle, to install a replacement.