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Glove box door insanity

Horseplay

I Don't Care. Do you?
Donator
Anyone here want to play the part of expert when it comes to installing and aligning the glove box door and latch. Had a little time last night and chose this to be the quick little task to get done. Yeah, right! After messing around for about an hour I did a quick Google check to see what I was doing wrong only to find out these things are an apparent pain in the ass for everyone. Having bought my car in boxes I never saw it assembled and am using a new latch (no old one to reuse) and door. Visually I have it all lined up and the door closes in a good position, etc. Problem is it won't latch properly as the latch lines up to the catch but doesn't seem to rotate as it should. Reading on line I found a couple references saying the Drake replacement pieces are crap and the likely problem. I don't see the issue with it but maybe I am missing something.
HELP. Anyone able to shed some intelligence on this one? Maybe a pic or two of your functioning set-up to confirm I have the catch positioned the right way (screws to the front?), etc.
 
Terry, I can send you some pictures later today, but I don't recall having a huge issue with this. All of our parts are Drake repops, and seem to fit just fine. I will tell you that Drake's glove box light is a huge piece of crap. We tried three of them and all of them broke within being used for a just a couple of times.
 
Thanks, Ken. I'll wait for those pics as wasting any more time on it seems stupid right now. If you can manage a shot showing the latch just as it is approaching the catch to show alignment that would be awesome. I'm hoping maybe I am seeing the angle incorrectly in how I'm setting mine up or something.

The light comment is funny as that is the only piece so far that I thought went in without complaint and functions fine.
 
I don't remember it being a thing. I'll go to the shop just for you and take some pics.
 
I don't remember it being a thing. I'll go to the shop just for you and take some pics.
I appreciate it. So many little things to do and that clock keeps ticking. Can't stand wasting minutes on such stupid stuff. Based on everything I found on line I'm betting it's just a junk latch even though it seems decent the movement does feel a bit "off" in terms of necessary effort and such to actuate. I'm gonna see if I can't find an old door with a latch on Craigslist. Maybe I will get lucky and find one to compare. Any pics are appreciated.
 
Every once and a while something lucky happens in my world. It's rare but I'll take it. I go out to the garage to take inventory on a couple things before running off to the store for some hardware and what do I find in a box of misc. old take-off junk but the old latch! I had thought it long gone. While the new one appears very similar it is different in a couple very little but very important ways. One of which it's mechanism operates in a much better/smoother fashion. So, I swap it onto the new door and immediately the thing works almost perfect. Had to take the new catch off the dash, put it into a vise to shrink the distance it hangs down and also angle it slightly back and now I have a perfectly functioning glove box door. I also then took the new catch backing plate back off and properly tapped the mounting holes and replaced the provided self-tappers with real screws so now that it is all back together it is good to go for the next 50 years.

So the lesson here is one I already knew but bears repeating. KEEP THE OLD PARTS AROUND. If for nothing else but comparison to the repops. Who would have thought something so simple could have been so messed up. Now to contact NPD about a return!
 
You know, tonight that old junky latch is gonna be calling to you. Can't leave old parts in a new restoration ya know.
 
Nothing wrong with original parts so long as they are functional and don't show wear. I will clean that bad boy up and I will sleep just fine.
 
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