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5 dollar glove box repair


Sideways

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So working under the dash of my Z, I went to remove my glove box to found out the fun way that a previous owner had removed the plastic bin in the glove box, and only reinstalled the cardboard lining (A silly thing not to notice but I never gave it any thought i know. It was rigid enough to hold all the crap I put into glove box so i never gave it a second thought).  Upon my attempt to remove it, the glove box lining utterly disintegrated into about 20 tattered misserable pieces.  Slightly dismayed as I clutched a hand full of powdered cardboard and staples, I sighed and carried on.  Only to have my glove box door meet a similar fate.  The hinges, I found out, werent really "hinges" at all- But just 3 pieces of flimsy plastic that have been flexing for years allowing me to open and close my glove box.  A few pounds of pressure in the wrong direction (when I tried to remove the side guiding arm that stops the door from falling onto your lap) and 2 of the 3 hinges snapped clean off. 

Not thrilled at the idea of having a gaping maw into the underworkings of my dash, and having no glove box- I sought to rectify the situation.  To ebay I went! I found a replacement bin, lining, and glove box door easily enough.  However when I went to click buy, I heard a quick rustling noise and my faithful wallet companion was no where to be found.  I looked long and hard, only to find it cowering and hiding under my bed.  Its shaking and panic convinced me to seek other options (I tried futilely to coax it out with promises and reassurances but got nowhere, I eventually managed to lure it out with a fresh 50 dollar bill but thats a story for another time). To my garage I went!

Sadly all I was able to find was a single piece of sheet metal, an old glue gun, a drill, some duct tape, a rivet gun, and some cardboard.  It was at this moment that I remembered "I have absolutely no skills to do this kind of work", screw it! Ive done more with less!  Using my feet, a 2x4, and my bare hands, I bent the sheet metal into shape.  Just a floor, backing, and roof.  I took this, stenciled around on the cardaboard (Double corrugated of course.  This is a 240z glove box were making afterall), and cut out some side walls- Which were then hot glued into place (Which I glued in pretending I was a master welder, doing my best to mimic the rolls-of-dimes-beading that everyone seems to love in the interwebs).  Surely it was overkill, but I lined the outer-sides with duct tape for reinforcement just to be on the safe side, should the welds hot glue not be up to the vigors of holding together my glove box. 

Hey hey, I thought- Looking to be quite nice! But as I sat and stated at this metal box, and its cardboard sides I thought surely I could one up this master piece.  I didnt want things banging around in a tin box, so to Michaels I went.  4 dollars in materials (black felt and a strip of brown leather) and a 1 dollar candy bar later I returned and go to work.  A bit of glue here, some felt there, a rivet or two there and the cosmetic surgery was complete.  I wouldnt be sure if it was a success or not until the bandages came off, but I felt the operation went well.  It was time to drill it and put it in place. 

A few tense minutes with a screwdriver later and the implant was complete. The result? Well judge for yourself.  A fair warning, im not plastic surgeon- But for the price I paid, im quite pleased with my results

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Ive a few other changes to make but it seems to be holding up for now.  I gave it some time to recover before I started loading it up- Small bits at first, but in no time at all it was holding all my junk!

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Just have to wait and see how well it holds up now. If you were bored enough to read all of this instead of jumping straight to the pictures, go get yourself a cookie.  Im not nearly as funny as I think and you deserved one for that.

Edited by Sideways
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Important question: is the candy bar essential to the build, and if so, which brand/style was it? Can you post links?

 

Seriously, I found this to be an excellent and entertaining writeup, the sort of thing that makes me want to work on cars. Actually, I do have a question: are you certain that your car ever had more than a cardboard glovebox? I seem to remember that neither of my 240s had anything but that magnificently fragile piece of crap. I wonder if an early 260 box would interchange?

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Important question: is the candy bar essential to the build, and if so, which brand/style was it? Can you post links?

 

Seriously, I found this to be an excellent and entertaining writeup, the sort of thing that makes me want to work on cars. Actually, I do have a question: are you certain that your car ever had more than a cardboard glovebox? I seem to remember that neither of my 240s had anything but that magnificently fragile piece of crap. I wonder if an early 260 box would interchange?

Candy bar was a milky way. I SUPPOSE you could substitute something like skittles or maaybe a snickers bar. If you were desperate. 

 

As for your real question, im actually not 100% certain now that you ask.  This has been my only Z car so I dont have anything to compare it to- I was ASSUMING they were "supposed" to have plastic glove boxes because when I googled/ebayed "240z glove box", i found a plethora of pictures of plastic glove boxes, as well as numerous places calling the cardboard glove box a "glove box liner", so i kind of just assumed they had one and that the cardboard was, well, a liner for it.  Maybe someone else more knowledgeable can chime in?  Maybe those plastic boxes are more of common-aftermarket replacement?

 

Side note: I have noted one downside to my project.  My car now smells like elmers glue. Hopefully thatll air out..

Edited by Sideways
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Nice work.

No, we all WISH there was once a plastic liner in there, but unfortunately not so much. Mushy cardboard is all we 240 folks get. 260/280 got a full plastic glove box that comes easily out the front. Many have  adapted one of those to replace the cardboard atrocity in their 240's. Clearly you won't have that problem for some time.

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