Help! My glovebox has lockjaw! Stuck gaping open!

[davem]

Title sums it up! Beloved opened glovebox to get shades out and now glovebox won't shut - almost like something is jammed behind it but checked all round and nothing there (glovebox is empty apart from shades and first aid kit and taken both them out). Appears it hinges on 2 screws/bolts with allen key holes in top. Don't want to unscrew them in case a not falls off behind dash.

Any ideas??

Thanks

DaveM

[gingerprince]

davem said:

Title sums it up! Beloved opened glovebox to get shades out and now glovebox won't shut - almost like something is jammed behind it but checked all round and nothing there (glovebox is empty apart from shades and first aid kit and taken both them out). Appears it hinges on 2 screws/bolts with allen key holes in top. Don't want to unscrew them in case a not falls off behind dash. Any ideas?? Thanks DaveM

It's held in with 2 allan bolts. If you remove them they'll fall into the glovebox so no worry of losing them. Does it shut most of the way but not all, eg could the catch be broken/misaligned? If so you can get replacement catches from RS Components. It may just be misaligned though, have a look where the "male" catch goes when you close it and see if it aligns with the "female" bit. You can loosen one allan bolt and tighten the other to move the glovebox slightly side-to-side to align them correctly.

[JoolzB]

What ginger says. If it's the male part of the latch not locating properly (mine wasn't) you'll probably break it before too long. To remedy the problem mine had I removed the male part, put some cling film over the open glovebox and put some araldite where the male part would be located. Put the latch back together and closed the glover so the male part released and stuck to the glue and shaped it creating a type of washer. Wait til it's dried and then remove the cling film and re-attach it. It's worked perfectly ever since.

If you don't want all this faffing then Modwise do a complete replacement part with a switch(I believe).

[griffter]

The latch is mounted behind the dash above the glovebox. You'll see it if you try to stick your head in the glovebox and look upwards. It's mounted on elongate holes - it's probably moved upwards so the catch on the glovebox can't engage. You can probably wiggle the latch down by hand, but it'll move again. Best to get it in position then nip the cross-head screws which hold it up with a stubby screwdriver.

IME it's passengers slamming the lid which cause problems. The latch/catch is identical to the one on my loft hatch by the way. In fact I replaced it a few months ago with one off a Spare Griff dash!!

[Ballistic Banana]

In FAQ at bottom of page www.pistonheads.com/gassing/forum.asp?faq=true&f=9

I know don the Modwise locking one

BB

[davem]

Thanks for all the comments - but the problem is I can't get the glove box to close even half way - hence it's gaping open - don't even get the male and female parts of the latch within blowing kisses distance - let alone touching! Even when I (gently) push up the glove box there is still about a 10-12 inch gap! The box does move slightly sideways on the allen screws - but even "ger-ger-ger-giggling it about a bit" to quote Granville doesn't enable me to shut it. Any more ideas?

It feels and sounds like it is jammed somehow but just can't anything that is stopping it being closed!

Cheers

Dave

[gingerprince]

In that case undo the 2 allan bolts and remove it to see what's jamming it. Not much risk of losing the bolts. It can be a little fun aligning them to put it back in, but it's easy compared to some of the trim jobs in the TVR