Hidden compartment

[eurojudy]

Hello, I am a new eurovan owner and have been concerned, as a single older female, about the security of my camera and laptop in my travels. I was looking through the van and decided to make a false bottom compartment in one of the cupboards. My idea is to find a piece of material that will match the existing laminate and cut out a piece that will fit in the bottom of this cupboard. Right now it would probably just rest

on top of some braces or blocks and just be sitting there with a bunch of other kitchen crap piled on top of it so hopefully nobody will think to look underneath that panel. Wondering if anyone has any ideas of a secret way to lock this in place — like a secret latch maybe in an adjacent compartment? It will be about 4.75” deep so just below the rim of the opening.

[streamr]

What a great idea. Maybe install a small rail on either side to hold the shelf and drill a few holes through the left cabinet to insert a few pins to hold the new shelf in place?
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'03 MV

[subdewd]

I promise I won't tell anyone

[Abscate]

I’ve already monetized this on the dark web
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.ssS!

[eurojudy]

hahaha i was afraid of that!

[sgirard]

Cool idea. Seems like you are mainly trying to perform an illusion here. A secret latch might call attention to itself if someone is really looking closely enough to need that safeguard in the first place. I wonder if you could do something with some rare earth magnets on the underside so that the false bottom feels secure unless you know what you are doing and give it a good tug. Maybe even add a false aluminum bracket, like on the original bottom, and use screws heads with the posts nipped off to add to the illusion
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95 EVC
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Intro

[steve2sloth]

Where I live, Oakland CA, thieves have bluetooth scanner devices and they'll walk past a vehicle and get a notice that there's a broadcasting device (laptop, phone, some cameras) in a general area of a car (closed trunk maybe) and they'll know to break into those vehicles. It's only safe to leave your laptop if it's powered down, not just closed/asleep. Something to keep in mind that your laptop might not be as hidden as you'd hope

The false bottom looks great! I'd avoid using rare earth magnets near my gadgets w/ memory cards. Maybe the 'handle' can just be against the front edge and out of view?

[TheOneTrueQuux]

[eurojudy]

thanks everyone!

I ran out of time so ended up using my template, covered with shelf paper. it is very hard to remove if you don't know what you're doing, so i felt good about it.

noted about powering stuff down; esp the laptop. also agree with removing at least one of the brackets and cutting down the screws to make it look like it's the real bottom.

[Abscate]

Don’t forget to let us know where it is parked.

I still drive down to Dave’s once a month and move his T3 just enough to not trigger his GPS tracker
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.ssS!