Disco 1 glovebox catch

[Utemad]

Hi all,

How do you line up the catch for the glovebox without going insane?

In about July I broke the panel which holds the catch for the glovebox on by overloading the glovebox and slamming it shut.

I discovered that I wasn't the first person to do it on that car as it has obviously been glued on since the factory before.

There are plastic tabs that go through the metal panel that I assume originally held it in place by being melted.
The first time I glued the panel back on it was too high and not in the correct spot horizontally. The second time it was put in at the correct height but slightly too far to the right.
The catch has no room for error so alignment needs to be perfect. I have filed the holes larger on the plastic catch to get some fine tuning but there still isn't much room to move. Not that it matters much if you can't see what is going on.

The problem is you cannot see to align the catch. I can't see any panel that I could remove to get a view of the alignment.

This is driving me insane. I am about ready to remove it and burn the ****ing glove box :mad::mad::mad:

[4bee]

Justin, if you mean the strike (the in box plastic bit) then all mine has, is a piece of angle with the plastic strike screwed to that with hex head screws..

[Utemad]

Yes that is what I am talking about. Is yours the factory angle bit with the glove box light on it?

My problem is that the entire angle peice of metal came off and I can't get that in the right spot in order to then align the plastic catch.

[4bee]

That's it. Aaahhh right.

I don't know the construction in there, but would it be easier if the box is taken completely out, do all the business & refit it? It "appears" to all the one sub section, but I ain't sure.

By what I have read it's reasonably easy to get out.


Failing that, what about a "Mr Bean 3" Sliding Bolt"?:D

[101RRS]

Justin - I am going to be real helpful here :)

I feel your pain :D
Been there, done that on my disco - if you don't succeed - try and try again

Garry

[Utemad]

I've been trying since July :(

[Utemad]

That's it. Aaahhh right.

I don't know the construction in there, but would it be easier if the box is taken completely out, do all the business & refit it? It "appears" to all the one sub section, but I ain't sure.

By what I have read it's reasonably easy to get out.


Failing that, what about a "Mr Bean 3" Sliding Bolt"?:D


As far as I can tell the catch part is mounted to the entire dashboard top. No way I can see of pulling it out and aligning and then refitting.

In the last few months I have had it held in place with tape, entirely removed but mostly just hanging open banging my wifes knees. Lucky she is short.

[4bee]

Roight! Just been over to have a good shufti for you.

Magnifying mirror ( 5") up inside & you can just about see over the top of the angle. I can see the black plastic "welds" & there is a reasonable amout of metal in there.

Don't castrate me if I am wrong, :eek: but I still believe the only way you are going to fix it properly, is to remove the glove box out. There are some bracing bits & screws that I can see but something is telling me that it is all the one assembly.
Once out, you can take your time & align & fix everything before replacing it, possibly stronger than original.

Sorry I can't see more, but there is a bit of a visual dead area in there right where you want it.;)

[Utemad]

Thanks for that 4bee. I'll have a go at removing things after lunch.

[Utemad]

Hi 4bee,

I had a look at removing the frame and saw what you are talking about. The only problem would be that I would not be able to line up the catch with the frame out as the door lines up with other things. unless the little black melted plastic thingos only let the catch frame sit in exactly the one spot. Not so sure I'd be able to get the frame out of the glovebox hole either. Looks bulky.

I pulled the hand grip (no airbags) off thinking I might be able to see down but nope. Just more metal and plastic.
To get the frame out mentioned above you need to pull the handgrip anyway as there are two big rivets you'd have to drill out.

At the moment I've pulled the catch frame out and aligned it as perfectly as I possibly can and glued it back in. We will see how that fairs later.

:wallbash::bangin:

[4bee]

Bad luck that.:(

Maybe one of the AULRO collective may have a better idea on the structural side of the box.

I have read where they have been removed for whatever reason, so fingers crossed.

Ed. This is all I can find at the mo for Glove Box Removal.


7. Go inside the car and open the glove box, remove contents and find the stops lift the stops up (this requires a bit of effort as they are spring loaded) until you can get them thru the slots in the dash so the glove box can be dropped out of the way.

[awabbit6]

The only way that you can do this is with the glovebox out. Then you may be able to line up the original 'welds' with the slots in the metal. I've had to repair many broken bits in my dash (except this!) and araldite seems to work well. Make sure that there is plenty to ooze throught the holes in the plate. I re-attached the hinges to my glovebox lid this way and it has been good for 18 months now.

I have an old dash out of my car sitting on a bench in my garage. If you want, I might be able to provide some photos from the firewall side so that you can see what it is you are working on.

[4bee]

I might be able to provide some photos from the firewall side so that you can see what it is you are working on.


That would be generally helpful, Paul.:)

[awabbit6]

It seems that my old dash had met with a similar fate. There are two screws holding mine in - and it's crooked! Probably the reason the hinges broke off.
There is packing pieces under the latch so that it will line-up (can be seen in the third pic). Might be a simple solution for you Utemad.

I've attached some pics. Don't know how helpful they will be. The photos are all taken from underneath where the blower unit is. The screws that have been added are clearly visible, so too is a white line drawn at one end to re-align the plate - shame it didn't work!

The slots cut into the plate (8 at one end, 4 at the other) are the original attachment points. If you can get these to fit back onto what is left of the welds, it should line-up perfectly.

[4bee]

Thanks Paul. Starts to make a bit of sense to what I nearly saw yesterday.;)

[Utemad]

Thanks for the pics.

However IT IS FIXED :arms::arms::arms::banana::banana::banana::ehigh5: :ehigh5::ehigh5:

I took the clamp off just now and pushed the lid shut expecting it to require some adjustment at least and 'click'. A nice effortless closure with no movement in the lid when closed :)

My problem with those plastic alignment things is that the three times I had glued it on I was sure I had them lined up. In my case they were mostly broken off so I didn't have too much to align them with.
If you could see the plastic bits to align them then it would be a five minute job. Doing it by feel takes some practice but knowing what I know now I reckon doing another one would be very simple.

I did try and make a spacer/adapter as suggested previously but I don't have the gear anymore to make a horizontal plane adapter that was strong enough.