Glove box fixing

[cusword]

How does the glove box fix? Is it screwed to the back of the dash only? This is quite a cantilever.

David

[billwill]

It is for gloves & maps etc, not for bricks or revolvers (&), so indeed as far as I know it is merely fastened to the back of the dash.




(&) maybe Emma Peel had a re-inforced glove box on her Elan.

[elanner]

It is indeed only screwed on to the back of the dashboard. I had the same concern as you when I fitted mine earlier this year, but once I got it screwed/bolted on found that it was absolutely strong enough, with no risk of coming adrift.

I fabricated new brackets to hold it on. They are screwed to the back of the dashboard using 3 screws for the top and bottom brackets and 2 for the side bracket next to the heater (using 3/8" #6 pan head wood screws, I seem to remember). The box was new from Sue Miller and bolted through two pre-drilled holes to each bracket. I never managed to fit the side bracket next to the dashboard bolt/bobbin. The bracket is shown clearly in the parts catalog, and I even have an old rusty one in my box of spares, but there wasn't room to fit it without doing more cutting of fibre glass around the bobbin than I wanted. To prevent any possibility of the box drooping slightly on that side (the right hand side for a left hand drive car), I extended the bottom bracket all the way to the right edge of the box.

The box is very stable and not going anywhere. I think I found fitting it to be perhaps the most intricate part of the entire new dashboard project. But it's really nice to have a glovebox at last.

Nick

[elanner]

On a related topic, I also fitted a nice new security switch to my nice new glove box. But I didn't wire it to anything because I really couldn't think of anything useful to wire it to.

The switches don't have a good reliability record (not that I ever had any problems with mine back in the day). And rigging it up per the wiring diagram to cross the ignition with the horn seemed like a waste of time and a waste of the switch. No thief in the US is going to have a key that could turn the ignition on, thus triggering the alarm. They would simply hot wire it, tow it away, or put it in their vast SUV. Anyway, never-say-never, but theft is not much of a risk around here.

Nevertheless, the switch is still going begging.....

Nick

[bill_s708800]

David,

The attached photos are from a +2, let me know if you need more details.

Bill

[Quart Meg Miles]

You don't state your model, David, but on my early car the cardboard box had two holes in both top and bottom edges which took self-tapping screws to hold them onto top-and-bottom right-angle metal rails screwed to the back of the dash.

My problem, due to the .38, has always been that the holes wear into slots allowing the box to fall out backwards. I cut ?" off the edge decades ago and drilled new holes but they wore too so this year I made some thin metal sheet reinforcement to fold over the "holes" to engage the self tappers. The picture shows a small rivet to keep the metal in place and I didn't feel I needed to glue it too. I don't anticipate any more problems in that area though I may downgrade to a 357.

[billwill]

On a related topic, I also fitted a nice new security switch to my nice new glove box. But I didn't wire it to anything because I really couldn't think of anything useful to wire it to.

The switches don't have a good reliability record (not that I ever had any problems with mine back in the day). And rigging it up per the wiring diagram to cross the ignition with the horn seemed like a waste of time and a waste of the switch. No thief in the US is going to have a key that could turn the ignition on, thus triggering the alarm. They would simply hot wire it, tow it away, or put it in their vast SUV. Anyway, never-say-never, but theft is not much of a risk around here.

Nevertheless, the switch is still going begging.....

Nick

Wire it to operate your cooling fan manually, something you occasionally need if you get stuck in traffic jams.

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Here's a photo of the aluminium replacement glove box that I fitted to my S4.
As you will note there are fuses etc fitted into the back panel of it.
Fitted into the car the associated wiring hangs off those fuses so in addition to the weight of the metal glove box a fair bit more is hanging off it.
That glove box is attached to the dashboard with self tappers/wood screws in a similar method to the original cardboard glove box & it hasn't fallen off yet, 14 years later.

Hope that gives you a bit more confidence
Cheers
John

[pharriso]

Holy crap that's awesome! I see the glove box is welded Ali, so you either have an F1 or Aerospace background?

I love the additional fuse box at the back of the glove box as well.

Very well done!

[billwill]

Why fit a fuse box in what is possibly one of the most inaccessible places on an Elan?

[pharriso]

I think you're assuming the fuses are on the back side of the glove box... They aren't... You access through the glove box door

[john.p.clegg]

Bill,you are a numpty at times....

John

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Sorry about the confusion.
Anyway here's a view of the glove box complete with fuses, as seen from the passenger seat.
Please note Bill, that the glove box door is in the open position
The interior is lined in the same leather as the remainder of the interior trim.

Yes I do have a background in Aerospace but that lovely bit of fabrication was done in the BMW Engine Development experimental workshop.
They did a load of bits for my Zetec Elan; such a job would never have been possible without that facility.

[elanner]

All those fuses and no security switch?

I guess you can just pop a few out and put them in your pocket.

Anyway, Bill, using it for a fan control switch is actually a very timely suggestion. I've had a little switch hidden beside the upper steering column clamp which overrides the fan thermostat since I put the fan in a couple of years ago. I never considered removing it and using the security switch instead.

But just last weekend the cheap little switch fell to pieces. So I have to do something to restore the override. I guess it's a bit goofy to open the glove box to turn the fan on, but who cares? It works for me!

Nick

[GrUmPyBoDgEr]

Just a quarter twist of a military spec' multi-pin plug & the ECU is in my hand & placed in a coat pocket in seconds.
That car isn't going to be driven anywhere by anyone after that.
Just let thieves try & break that car for parts & they're in for a shock. Everything has a unique mark on/in it; that's so easy to do when you have your car in hundreds of pieces.