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Glovebox Adjustment/Repair

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The glovebox is mounted on two large-headed adjustable bolts that rotate on a rod and act as hinges. The bolts tend to loosen over time and allow the glovebox to slip out of alignment and/or or come off of the hinges. This makes it very difficult to open and/or causes the rear part to fall down toward the passenger footwell.

To open if the glovebox is stuck closed, first try to pull to either side while releasing the latch. You may need to pull relatively hard. If this doesn't work, pull panel the under glovebox and loosen the adjusting bolts fully to release the bottom of the glovebox. Usually, you can manipulate it enough from there that the latch will open.

To avoid this problem, you may need to periodically realign glovebox and tighten the hinge bolts. A little Locktite on the adjusting bolts/nuts will help keep them from loosening again.

If you'd like to see the best solution to this problem take a look at Dave Z.'s full Euro dash conversion. Once you've got the glovebox off, why stop there? ; )

The pictures below show how the glovebox is assembled.

The picture above shows one of the two adjustable bolts that are located at each end of a rod that runs along the bottom of the glovebox. They rotate around the rod, acting as the hinge. Slotted tabs at each end on the bottom of the glovebox (see picture below) slip under the head of these bolts. The nut on the bottom turns and compresses the head down on the tab to hold the glovebox in place.

 

The white plastic slot in the background above holds in place the forward edge of the panel (closest to the engine bay) under the glovebox. The panel needs to be pulled to provide better access to the adjusting bolts

Another view of one of the two adjusting bolts. If you look closely, to the left between the bolt and the large metal bracket, you can see one of the two black plastic clips that hold the rear edge (closest to the seat) of the panel under the glovebox in place. They fit in a sissors-like fashion around the rod. The panel pulls straight out after pulling these clips away from the rod.

This is the underside of the glovebox showing the slotted tab that fits under the head of the bolt above. The nut tightens the head of the bolt down on the tab to holds the glovebox in place.

This picture shows the retaining strap on the passenger side of the glovebox and the small retaining clip that must be pulled to allow removal. There's also a similar clip on the other side that holds the lowering rod to the glovebox in the same way. Be careful when you remove these, they tend to spring off and disappear.