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Rubber Tramp Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2008 Posts: 385 Location: DFW, Texas
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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 2:04 am Post subject: Hidden compartment and fuel pump kill switch |
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I'll be on the road living in my van in three months and wanted a place to hide my valuables in case I run into thieves. I removed my entire A/C system and converted the extra storage space into a hidden compartment.
I made it where the vent assembly will swing down to allow access to the storage space. When not in use, the door will be held closed by magnets. It's not pictured, but I placed black felt behind the vents and on the back chain-link looking thing to prevent anyone seeing into the compartment.
Also, to make it much harder for anyone to steal my van I installed a fuel pump kill switch in the hidden compartment. When the switch is turned off, the fuel pump loses power and the engine will not run.
Here's how I did it: (click on images to see full size)
This is the view from inside the A/C storage compartment, looking at the back of the vent assembly:
After the wires are dropped down into the engine bay, I ran them on the back wall (bumper side) behind/under coolant tanks and power steering reservoir, around and under air filter. The connections are at the front right of the engine bay right where the fuel pump wire comes into the engine bay.
_________________ 1985 SVX powered Westy - soon to be converted to syncro
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=382910
^^^Rocky Mountain Westy SVX rebuild and conversion^^^ |
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McVanagon Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2007 Posts: 1684 Location: Northern part of the Virginia
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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 3:25 am Post subject: Re: Hidden compartment and fuel pump kill switch |
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Rubber Tramp wrote: |
If for some reason the switch fails, all you have to do is disconnect
the red wires and connect the male black wire to the female black
wire to have the factory setup again" |
That's my favorite part. A "reset" feature. Nice job.
"How do you know how to do that?
Nobody can start this car but me."
-B. Tannen _________________ '69 Mike
'85 GL
'87 Wolfsburg Hardtop |
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madspaniard Samba Member
Joined: August 18, 2008 Posts: 3795 Location: Alameda, CA
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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 9:48 am Post subject: |
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cool, now everybody knows where you will be hidding your money! |
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Rubber Tramp Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2008 Posts: 385 Location: DFW, Texas
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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 10:08 am Post subject: |
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Haha well hopefully nobody from the Samba will try and break in
A friend thought it was a great setup and had me do it to his van, I figured somebody here could benefit from it as well. _________________ 1985 SVX powered Westy - soon to be converted to syncro
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=382910
^^^Rocky Mountain Westy SVX rebuild and conversion^^^ |
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crazyvwvanman Samba Member
Joined: January 28, 2008 Posts: 9935 Location: Orbiting San Diego
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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 10:36 am Post subject: Re: Hidden compartment and fuel pump kill switch |
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If you put the kill switch inside your "safe" then you must open the "safe" every time you want or need to flip the switch. Better to put the switch where you get to it in a hurry without exposing the existence and location of your safe to prying eyes.
Mark
Rubber Tramp wrote: |
I'll be on the road living in my van in three months and wanted a place to hide my valuables in case I run into thieves. I removed my entire A/C system and converted the extra storage space into a hidden compartment.
I made it where the vent assembly will swing down to allow access to the storage space. When not in use, the door will be held closed by magnets. It's not pictured, but I placed black felt behind the vents and on the back chain-link looking thing to prevent anyone seeing into the compartment.
Also, to make it much harder for anyone to steal my van I installed a fuel pump kill switch in the hidden compartment. When the switch is turned off, the fuel pump loses power and the engine will not run.
Here's how I did it: (click on images to see full size)............
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1621 Samba Member
Joined: May 15, 2006 Posts: 2174
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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 10:45 am Post subject: |
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Very clever! I love when Sambanistas share creative ideas like this. Great job! _________________ '85 Westy |
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Rubber Tramp Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2008 Posts: 385 Location: DFW, Texas
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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 11:06 am Post subject: Re: Hidden compartment and fuel pump kill switch |
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crazyvwvanman wrote: |
Better to put the switch where you get to it in a hurry without exposing the existence and location of your safe to prying eyes.
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I have a few big items I want hidden such as my guitar that won't fit in the safe, so at any time I feel the need to flip the switch off I have the entire cabin shut off from peering eyes as well. I have thick insulated curtains and drapes that block off the cabin from the driving cockpit. It only takes a minute to drop the curtains and flip the switch. In my opinion this is probably the best place to put the switch as the thief would have to first find the safe spot, which with the limited time most car thieves have I believe chances are low they'll figure it out. _________________ 1985 SVX powered Westy - soon to be converted to syncro
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=382910
^^^Rocky Mountain Westy SVX rebuild and conversion^^^ |
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crazyvwvanman Samba Member
Joined: January 28, 2008 Posts: 9935 Location: Orbiting San Diego
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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 11:21 am Post subject: Re: Hidden compartment and fuel pump kill switch |
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One problem I would foresee is law enforcement. If you are asked to "move along, NOW!" and have the switch set to disable, you will need to open the slider and get to your "safe" and the officer may watch. The officer may then see something that he decides is probable cause. Your day may not go smoothly after that.
Mark
Rubber Tramp wrote: |
crazyvwvanman wrote: |
Better to put the switch where you get to it in a hurry without exposing the existence and location of your safe to prying eyes.
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I have a few big items I want hidden such as my guitar that won't fit in the safe, so at any time I feel the need to flip the switch off I have the entire cabin shut off from peering eyes as well. I have thick insulated curtains and drapes that block off the cabin from the driving cockpit. It only takes a minute to drop the curtains and flip the switch. In my opinion this is probably the best place to put the switch as the thief would have to first find the safe spot, which with the limited time most car thieves have I believe chances are low they'll figure it out. |
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McVanagon Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2007 Posts: 1684 Location: Northern part of the Virginia
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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 11:31 am Post subject: Re: Hidden compartment and fuel pump kill switch |
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crazyvwvanman wrote: |
One problem I would foresee is law enforcement. If you are asked to "move along, NOW!" and have the switch set to disable, you will need to open the slider and get to your "safe" and the officer may watch. The officer may then see something that he decides is probable cause. Your day may not go smoothly after that. |
That would be the perfect time to lay on your back, slide under the van and go back to factory settings by bypassing your secret switch; Explaining to the nice officer that you need flip your kill swtich.
Then he'll never suspect you have a hidden stash of guitar. _________________ '69 Mike
'85 GL
'87 Wolfsburg Hardtop |
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Rubber Tramp Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2008 Posts: 385 Location: DFW, Texas
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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 11:33 am Post subject: |
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That is a good point! Thanks for pointing it out, hopefully I'll never run into that problem.
I guess a way around that problem would be to install a second switch, somewhere easier to get to, that would bypass the primary switch. You would just keep the secondary switch turned off at all times to allow the current flow to be controlled by the primary switch. If in an emergency and the primary is switched off, you could flip the secondary on and still get power. _________________ 1985 SVX powered Westy - soon to be converted to syncro
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=382910
^^^Rocky Mountain Westy SVX rebuild and conversion^^^ |
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240Gordy Samba Member
Joined: May 15, 2008 Posts: 2354 Location: Vancouver, BC
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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:47 pm Post subject: |
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Put a battery kill switch beside the driver's seat. _________________ Tencentlife said,
"So, now that you know what you're doing, go to town."
2010 GOLF TRENDLINE 2.5
1985 GL now with more! a 2.1L
H&R SPORT(RED) Springs FRONT , SLAM SPECIALTIES RE6 AIRBAGS REAR |
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climberjohn Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2005 Posts: 1840 Location: Portland Orygun
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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:50 pm Post subject: |
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Rubber Tramp,
Methinks this is a pretty sweet idea, and your photos are excellent. I have been considering a fuel pump kill switch myself, and this is a nice how-to.
But, if I understand your "stash spot" explanation, are you converting the entire inside area of the AC cabinet to secret storage? That seems like a lot of room.
To each his own, but if I were living in my van for months on end, I'd want every spare cubic inch I could get. I'd use the easy access AC cabinet for daily goodies, and make the secret spot a bit harder to get to, like maybe over the closet.
In any event, glad it works for you, and thanks for the informative post. _________________ '86 Westy, 2.5 Subaru power
Know your limits. Exceed them often. |
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Rubber Tramp Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2008 Posts: 385 Location: DFW, Texas
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Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:01 pm Post subject: |
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I have yet to do it, but this is something I'll be doing before I leave. The little area above the closet will be converted into a second secret spot. I'm going to make a wall to enclose the area. The wall will have one of those "push-to-open" mechanisms (don't know what they're called. they're used on some cabinet doors...) This way, anyone breaking in would have to first find the AC secret spot, then would most likely see a wall there and think nothing of another stash spot behind it. _________________ 1985 SVX powered Westy - soon to be converted to syncro
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=382910
^^^Rocky Mountain Westy SVX rebuild and conversion^^^ |
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dobryan Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006 Posts: 16504 Location: Brookeville, MD
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240Gordy Samba Member
Joined: May 15, 2008 Posts: 2354 Location: Vancouver, BC
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:34 pm Post subject: |
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I work for a bus co. we have mostly big highway coaches, but we have three min-buses that had constant problems with electrics, after installing the battery kill switch and having the power turned off completely whenever they are parked, they are much more reliable. _________________ Tencentlife said,
"So, now that you know what you're doing, go to town."
2010 GOLF TRENDLINE 2.5
1985 GL now with more! a 2.1L
H&R SPORT(RED) Springs FRONT , SLAM SPECIALTIES RE6 AIRBAGS REAR |
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dbo550 Samba Member
Joined: August 28, 2008 Posts: 365 Location: Kentucky
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 10:13 pm Post subject: |
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Looks ok, at least it must fool the border guards. _________________ 1985 Westy
2001 Audi Allroad
1999 Volvo v70 xc
1995 Volvo T5-R, Yellow
1998 Jetta GLX |
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greenbus pilot Samba Member
Joined: March 14, 2008 Posts: 1285 Location: Wisconsin: Rustbelt, USA baby!!
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Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:58 pm Post subject: |
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dobryan wrote: |
As I primary switch I'd recommend adding a fog light switch to the likely empty position below the emergency flasher switch. No thief would think of turning on the fog lights to start the engine. I like kill switches hidden in plain sight. |
I like that protocol myself, also. Things hiding in plain view are hidden the best........... _________________ Sent from a white van down the street. |
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240Gordy Samba Member
Joined: May 15, 2008 Posts: 2354 Location: Vancouver, BC
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Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 12:22 pm Post subject: |
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http://www.rallylights.com/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=339
_________________ Tencentlife said,
"So, now that you know what you're doing, go to town."
2010 GOLF TRENDLINE 2.5
1985 GL now with more! a 2.1L
H&R SPORT(RED) Springs FRONT , SLAM SPECIALTIES RE6 AIRBAGS REAR |
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msinabottle Samba Member
Joined: September 20, 2005 Posts: 3492 Location: Denver Area, Colorado
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 1:06 pm Post subject: Cut into the ignition circuit? |
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My thought on the Kill Switch, re-activating this old thread, would be to find the wire controlling what I think is the post-relay circuit from the starter switch, and interrupting that with Dave's (dobryan) on the console light switch. As that would be the relayed circuit, wouldn't a stock light switch be up to the current flowing through it?
Just checking with the vanagocognoscenti before cutting.
Best! _________________ 'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence." |
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MarkWard Samba Member
Joined: February 09, 2005 Posts: 17153 Location: Retired South Florida
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Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 1:34 pm Post subject: |
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From memory, didn't the double fuel pump relay have a short brown ground wire on it screwed under the mounting screw? I would think that would be a good candidate to interupt the engine from running. _________________ ☮️ |
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