More Dash: Glove Box

Moss Motors sells for $32 a reproduction TD glove box, “flocked as original,” according to the Moss web site. I think there is a fair chance it would work in Bridget, too, but I wanted something different, for two reasons:

First, I like wood, and thought it would be elegant to have the inside of my glove compartment done up in wood like the dashboard. Turns out I also have the perfect piece of maple, having bought it on a whim about two years ago after spotting it in a Home Depot. It was just too nice to leave there.

Second, strength. Bridget’s dash is augmented by three round tube reinforcing bars, two of which help keep the steering column from getting jiggy, the third, formerly, running from the center of the firewall to a spot just above the radio. My plan is to shorten the bar slightly and attach it to the back of my new glove compartment. Building said compartment stout is then necessary to avoid weakening the overall structure.

Start by test-fitting the dash onto the old fiberglass sub-dash:
I cut the hole . . .…and checked fit again. You can see I’m trimming the dash down little by little, which is how a person who doesn’t trust his measurements must proceed.

I cut out my box floor and back: And  got a carboard template to test-fit the size of it under the dash. Looks like and easy fit–though the hood latch cable gave some trouble and had to be dismantled temporarily.

I shaped the box by rounding the back wall And then wrapped some galvanized flashing around it, folding over the edges for strength and to keep them from slicing my hands up.
After test fitting again I notched the floor to take account of the fiberglass thickness. I cut the fiberglass a little deeper then too, and drilled four pilot holes in the wood through the glass. The idea is to sock screws into it to hold the bottom of the box in place. I abandoned my earlier idea of using angle steel because there isn’t enough room to hang anything under the glove box.

I notched the floor of the box so the lip would cover the fiberglass. It’s a nice uniform quarter-inch–a testement to the BCW chop-gunner’s skill.

Test fit again: Looks pretty good. I’ll have to mortise the floor to take the bottom hinges. Then all will be flat.

(Meanwhile, the door is fitting pretty well with the bead and the cleaned-up original knob  . . . and the original ball catch:I marked the reinforcement bar:And pounded it flat where it should meet the back of the box. Looks like it will work.

To attach the metal part I could have used sheet metal screws, but they tend to be weak and I won’t be able to see what they’re biting into (or if they’re pushing the second layer of metal back instead of grabbing it. So I decided to go with rivet nuts.

I bolted the thing back in with six stainless steel machine screws, counter-sunk just slightly into the glass, plus my four temporary drywall screws.

Then I put the dash back on to test fit some more.

Little more fiberglass trimming and I think I’ll be ready to finish the dash.