I'm in the process of attempting to locate good hiding places for valuables inside the car when I'm hiking, camping, or parking my Camaro in an area that dosn't appear very secure. I'd really like to hear what others have done or have thought of and would like to do. Plus, because I'm an outdoorsman, there's got to be a safe place to hide my hunting knives within reach where I can't be ticketed for 'Carrying a Concealed Weapon'. Know what I mean???

The most outrageous spot I've seen yet, and maybe it's become a common knowledge hiding spot and I'm just unaware; but.... I was channel surfing and came across some show where the 'detectives' had a bad guy pulled over and were searching for a gun. By pressing a couple of the radio buttons together simultaniously, the air bag lid on the passenger side dash slowly popped open. I thought that was ingenious!

There's got to be non obvious spots where if our cars were given a precursory 'search', it wouldn't be found like a small safe would.

If you have a place that you don't want publicized, you can always email me. I sure am open to any suggestions. Nitro

 

When I worked at a car stereo shop in college, we had a customer with similar needs, though it was fairly obvious that he had other intentions for using the new storage areas.

In any event, we did something similar... push this and turn that, and voila! A couple linear actuators lifted the dash pad up to reveal storage areas.

Another idea would be to take advantage of the wasted space in the rear 1/4 panels either next to the spare tire, or underneath the glove box on the passenger side.

This would be great for storing stuff out of sight to prevent theft, but just remember that the police can search your entire car without a warrant, so you're better off not stashing illegal stuff in the car to begin with.

 

u just wanna store hash somewhere and not get caught , im onto you , lol.

 

I love hiking in remote areas. Unfortunately, cars parked at trail heads are quite often targets of Breaking and Entry, so that's where my concern lies the most. The reason I'm looking for something within reach of the front seats, is that it becomes way to visually obvious when someone gets out of their car and walks to the back with their wallet and girlfriend's purse and travelers checks to stash it in the trunk area.

But, at least I know it's not impossible to line up a set of actuators to lift something up, although I've watched on the Television show 'Cops' where they've pulled upwards on a couple dashes (Im thinking one was a caddilac and another a Monte Carlo- both mid to early 80's) and pulled out bags of illegal substances. Thanks Jim for the helpful input. I never would have thought of going to a high end stereo shop. Maybe I should write in to Chip Foose and see if he wants to pimp my ride and wave his majic customizing wand!
Nitro

 

Yeah, but they can't just search without probable cause. You have the right decline a search and there isn't much they can do unless they can see drug paraphanalia.

Build a false floor in the rear that rests on the two "shelves" in the trunk. Match the stock carpet and many people won't realize that's a storage compartment. Or make a storage compartment in the back of the rear seats. Cut out the foam and whatnot.

 

Naw, it aint the Hash I wanna stash; That's the whole reason for bringing the girlfriend along. I take lot's of time 'training them' to swallow balloons (U have to start slowly as you help them to get past the gag reflex issue)

Actually, I've often wondered why people who use their car as a 'mule', don't hook up a switch that will start a major dash fire to help get rid of the evidence should they ever be stopped and notified that their car is going to get searched. Let's see; burn up my $3,000 dollar car or spend the next 5-7 years in the pen.....

I think the back seat area is probably a good spot to work with. I for one, never carry passengers in the back; I have an SUV for that. However, this suddenly reminds me of that movie 'Fast & Furious' where whatshisdick lifts the bottom pad out of the passenger seat to access his Nitrous system. Maybe there's a way to have the seat bottom lift up and have a fake passenger power seat electrical box hollowed out. Nitro

 

you can easily hide your wallet inside the fuse box under the dash by your legs. just set it on the plastic cover and close up the box

 

The Fuse Box.... I NEVER would have thought about that one... I'm now wondering if I could relocate the Fuse box to the side and build a hollow box for that spot, or even to 'add' another fuse box access door nearby....

Off Topic; but your car sure looks clean and sweet!

 

A guy I knew bought a talon from a guy that hid, uh stuff. He had cut out the underside of the armrest on the center console. You had to unscrew the bottom trim piece to get to it.

he also made the heater vents pop out, but I think that was a dumb idea.

Under the back seats (not in them, under) may be a good spot. door panels, carpeting in the trunk, ummm.. the space above the gas tank (lol) etc...

 

Ive stuff pounds of polyfill within the rear 1/4 panels for vibration and audio needs.....but my friends and I always comment how you could pretty much put anything back there and get away with it.

 

wow, some of us were thinking it....but to go and say it

it's tough to hide stuff in our cars...which is why I usually dont bring much with

 

camaroguy18 i love that sig haha!

 

lol here I am saying neagan is sayin something harsh, and I totally forgot about my sig hahaahah

 

well thank you

and i bet that idea with the fuse box would work just great

 

what about the center console vents, inside hinges with a latch sustem that is internal, push in on the vent it opens and .... you could easily build a box to hold all of your smaller valuables without ever really needing to move around in the car at all.

 

knives are an easy fix. its called a concealed weapons permit. besides if its just a pocket knife the size of your palm than it is not illegal. second, what are you trying to store other than that? and why exactly do you drive around with knives? id say if you need your knives that bad get a concealed weapons permit, and the wallet issue? either take it with you, or put it in your glove compartment and go to a stereo store and have them install an alarm. besides, id be more worried about my car and car parts rather than my wallet.

 

Here in Cali we CAN get nailed for having even a large pocket knife inside the vehicle if the police officer chooses to be that big of a '****'. And the area I live in, the political scene won't issue 'concealed carry' to anyone who is not an actual sworn in police person. As far as carrying stuff like that, you'd have to be a real outdoors lover to understand how often you end up needing a blade to fix a lean too, cut apart blisters, dig out splinters,cut off a length of duct tape or rope, cut your dog's leg off a stray piece of old barb wire, cut the throut off a wounded animal, challenge a stray dog, put up with idiots, etc.

I also am an avid metal detector and love to hunt old homesteads and I also searchprospect for gold. I find all kinds of stuff sometimes, and you're not going to take a long rough hike and carry your wallet, radar detector, girlfrieds jewelry, travelers check's ect. Also, a car alarm dosn't mean squat it you've hiked a couple hours away and your car is parked in the middle of nowhere. I've been broken into before and it's no fun.
Nitro

 

Maybe hollow out the head-rests.

 

Pull out the ashtrays (Fr. & Rr).There is just enough room to put your wallet & small/narrow items in there.Getting them out is another story!

 

maybe a good spot would be makin a little cubby in the back of the back seat and when its folded up it holds everything in there.

 

If you had an airbag steering wheel, you could remove that stuff and hide things in there..

 

im an eagle scout. so trust me, i know the usefullness of a knife, trust me!! haha.
no i just mean, if your goin hunting or camping than dont worry, you wont have a problem. but i mean, why would you bring it anywhere else? and if they find that knife hidden away, your f*cked!
id say to get a concealled weapons permit, im sure you can find a place thatll do it, just do some calling. then rub it in the cops face, and he cant do anything!

 

i bet you could take the bolt out that holds the back seat bottom in and put a pin or hook there, so you could just press down on the seat and unhook it. there is quite a bit of room under the back seats

 

Fanny pack.

 

...drive the suv...

it probably wont attract as much attention...

or go buy a kia

 

 

If you could make the vents in the door jamb even easier to remove, you could store a decently large knife in there..
Then somehow get a sheath that fits that knife and Glue/Bolt it into your inner quarter..
That's how I'd do it..
It all depends how fast you want this knife out.. If you just want to store it since you go hiking, then I think it'd be perfect..

But you wanna whip it out in the ghetto & slash & gash, then I dunno.

 

Under the rear seat bottoms

Dont modify anything, just peel the backside up some and stuff your goodies under it and slide it back down

You dont even have to unbolt it, it will move enuff

We go swimmin at the creek alot so I leave the t-tops down and stuff my keys, wallet, cell and knife in there

Ne'er had a problem

 

edit: wow two in a row!

do you have your back seats still?

there is a good dip under neith the back seats easily gotton to from the front, and the can easily be gotton out. there is one 10mm bolt hoting the bottom in, you'll see.

 

rear speakers pull em out if you want to ruin you music quality but things can be hidden in there

 

center console.
if you have a stock console pull the two screws inside the armrest cubby out. lft the center plate up and bingo, tuns o storage.

if you have a 4th gen, same deal, except anly about 1/3rd as much storage.

 

Here is an idea, the dash(passenger side) on Camaros is basically useless. I wanted to put a dash pocket so I took my emblem and glued it onto the dash pocket and installed it. Now because it mounts with door panel clips cut out a section behind it and make a box. When the dah pocket is installed who would ever guess to look behind it.
[IMG][/IMG]

 

actually if the driver is acting slightly suspicious, which most do when pulled over even if they have nothing at all to hide, the officer can bring in a K-9 unit and if it detects anything they can take your car to the impound and take it apart piece by piece, law enforcement is my bachelor's major, i know these things. so if u love ur car and dont love life size puzzles. dont carry drugs, chemicals, explosives, firearms, or anything else that might set off a K-9 unit.

btw, a magnetic holder on the underside of the vehicle, in a recessed area, would be ideal, WHO WOULD LOOK FOR VALUABLES ON THE OUTSIDE OF A LOCK DOOR!?!

also, the use of those cheap security alarms that use magentic switches could spook the criminal, if they would take anything at least it would speed them up enough not to do a thorough search.

 

i didnt really read all of this thread to see if someone suggested this

but the bezel over the redio pod on my bird, comes off pretty easy and back on pretty easy... im sure if u wanted u could make osmething to fit in there to hold your stuff

i myself keep $50 taped to the back of my bezel for emergencies, gas money, hot date etc. etc.

 

where do you live exactly?

 

 

The front ashtray can be removed and if you put your wallet in a large ziplock bag it is easily retrived (just reach down with your fingers and grab) I learned this when I was 16, don't judge me.

 

I just wanted to hide my "key" for my rims. The ash tray was too obvious and so was the center console.

After dropping the key in the dark at 0430 in the morning changing a flat tire on interstate 10 west, I recommend a small strip of reflector tape around the outside of the key.

Anyhoo, I tied a small piece of rope through the key and removed the door vent with a phillips screw driver. Tied the opposite end to the inside of the vent and reinstalled the vent. Can't even see anything and I can access it with one small phillips in the center console.

As a side note, I take a "snake claw" with me to junk yards and if I am bored enough I remove some of the vents while I'm rummaging. Found $40 in one passenger side of a Camaro. Paid for the boneyard, lunch, and some gas.

Jim.

 

..since no one brought this up, (and i dont mean to burst any bubbles...) BUT in many states, if the police find any type of hidden compartment or secret access area that has been made or modified, they have full right to seize the car right then and there. If you doubt that, ask a local law enforcememnt officer that deals with narcotics, sinc emost regular police officers may not know that. I learned it while taking a criminal justice class and the teacher, a captain of the local narcotics squad, showed us several seized vehicles with the hidden compartments(fake floors, false panels, compartments opened by actuators etc)

But then again, if you explain a valid reason why the area is made, you MAY be able toget away with it. just be careful and dont get too carried away.

 

This wasnt clean when i had it but my old firbird was a 5 speed an previous owner had cracked the shifter place into 2 peices, they fit snug, so id remove one of the peices and put the wallet keys and watch in the shifter area. i bet this can be done cleaner that the 2 cracked peices in my old car

 

ive been followin this for a bit therer all good ideas im not sure where the best hiding spot is but is is a good start to get ideas but i gotta figure out the laws in my aera first of corse im not hidin anything illegal just the usawal some emergency cash key and wheel lock. awsome tread though the campin part with parking miles away i would just take a car that looks crappy or just had very good hiding sports. the magnet idea i would never think of

 

If someone tries to steal the car itself, that's the first place they're gonna go.

You could try behind the sail panels. But in our cars there isn't much space to store anything at all, let alone conceal something.

 

nothing wrong with smoking some gonja and hiking just dont forget where you parked

 

Passenger side kick panel, comes out easy, and can hide things in there. I taped a spare key to the inside back in high school.

 

i always toke up at home now, unless im going to get something, but when i was 18 i got into an accident and had an 1/8th of some dank *** kind bud and a glass piece, i knew the cops would be there shortly but i was in the middle of a main street, people all around, couldnt have just chucked it very well so i stuffed it as far down under the back seats as i could.

cops showed up, asked to search the car, i refused, they said my refusal gave them probable cause, i guess that my saying "no you can't search my car" meant i had something to hide and that they'd better search it. luckily the dip**** didnt call a drug dog, or find my stash.

not that i would ever recommend that as a hiding spot, was just a spur of the moment thing that happened to work.

 

In my 89 iroc (pre airbag) i could pull the small horn "cap" off of the center of the steering wheel. Theres a big enough spot there to stash small items maybe a key. and easily cash. Its about an inch deep and maybe an inch and a half- 2 inchs wide?

 

You could always take the bottom of the beck seats out and cut a hole in the foam and voila, storage. comes out in one bolt.

 

you dont need to cut the foam, the dip under the seats is deep enough to put lots of stuff in

 

another spot could be under the carpeting in the passenger footwell. My ecu kept on sliding out of its place in the dash, so I just shoved it under the carpet in that spot, and it's pretty tough to tell anything is under there.

 

neagan,

I hope you were able to get what you wanted from this thread. It is now closed. You can thank those who have brought up illegal subjects, such as hiding weapons/drugs for this being shut down.