Fiberglass glove box

[Seppi72]

Has anyone ever seen someone make a new glove box insert out of fiberglass?  The OEM unit is simply "cardboard" that is stapled and glued together with a lot of right angles and "sharp" corners. 

I figure that if I make a plug of the inside of the box using expanding polyurethane foam in a polyethylene film bag I could then fabricate a decent and more robust box from that.  In fact, if I wished to, I could then continue to shape the plug so I could make modifications that would allow for an even deeper and perhaps compartmentalized box that would still accommodate my Vintage Air A/C lines.

[texasz]

I am not sure about a fiberglass one though these are out there...

Aluminum ($109-129):  https://skillard.com/product/datsun-240z-aluminum-glove-box/

                  ($95-115):  https://bhjautomotive.com/shop/interior/240z-aluminum-glove-box/

Paper/cardboard (like stock) ($30):  https://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/40-3351

                                                 ($50):  https://zcarsource.com/glove-box-compartment-240z-70-73-new/

                                                 ($40):  https://zcardepot.com/products/glove-box-liner-240z-1970-73

                                                 ($30):  https://www.datsun-garage.com//collections/datsun-240z-260z-280z-s30-interior/products/glove-box-1970-73-240z

                                                 ($45):  https://jdm-car-parts.com/products/glove-box-inner-for-datsun-240z?variant=774861081

 

There may be some others out there.  I'm not sure what you are shooting for though for $40-$50 for the stock type that may be a good enough solution for you.

 

[julitoMX_1964]

@Seppi72 Hello, my 72 doesn ´t have the glove box insert and I was also looking at alternatives other than the aluminum or cardboard ones, but instead of fiberglass I was thinking that since I have access to consumer grade thermoforming equipment I could try it with styrene sheets or laminated PVC which I can easily find in local crafts stores, but I would need a (more or less) complete piece or object of simmilar size to use as a mold or pattern. Do you think you could take some mesaurements of your cardboard  insert and post them here? It doesn ´t have to be super precise or of every shape and angle, just the most general outline measures so I can make a mock up and mold the piece (or pieces) from it.

[Seppi72]

Sure.  I can give you the internal dimensions as well as the dimensions of the flanges that are used to attach the box to the dashboard.  I'll harken back to my high school class in mechanical drawing and try to produce a mostly-proper, 3-view, engineering drawing.  You will have to radius the corners so your sheet does not tear while you are draping it over the plug.  But, even if it does, you can always fill in or build up those gaps later with bondo.

And, while it's great for you having access to a thermoformer, I would not rely on polystyrene (PS) to do the job.  Think about using 2-3 mm ABS instead.  An alternative would be to externally reinforce your PS box with some fiberglass.

[texasz]

10 hours ago, julitoMX_1964 said:

@Seppi72 Hello, my 72 doesn ´t have the glove box insert and I was also looking at alternatives other than the aluminum or cardboard ones, but instead of fiberglass I was thinking that since I have access to consumer grade thermoforming equipment I could try it with styrene sheets or laminated PVC which I can easily find in local crafts stores, but I would need a (more or less) complete piece or object of simmilar size to use as a mold or pattern. Do you think you could take some mesaurements of your cardboard  insert and post them here? It doesn ´t have to be super precise or of every shape and angle, just the most general outline measures so I can make a mock up and mold the piece (or pieces) from it.

I remember seeing where someone (probably in this group) has unstapled one and drawn up detailed measurements.

[psdenno]

3 hours ago, texasz said:

I remember seeing where someone (probably in this group) has unstapled one and drawn up detailed measurements.

If I remember correctly, and there's no guarantee that happens consistently, several years ago someone did record all the measurements and then sent them to a forum member who planned to reproduce inserts to offer to the group.  Measurements or a drawing were never shared on the forum and there was a bit of discussion about posting them on the forum when a member was going to the effort and expense of recreating inserts for sale.

I also need a new glove box insert for my Z.

[julitoMX_1964]

@Seppi72  I didn´t mean polistyrene (the white porous stuff that ´s used in packaging, etc..) but styrene plastic, the material most car and airplane models are made of. I think each material goes by diferent names according to each country. Anyway I´ll be very grateful if you can supply the measurements. I really don´t know if what I intend to do will be succesful so I can´t make any promises, , but I´m willing to try and report back here what the results are. Obviously if the benefit can be shared with others all the better.

[Seppi72]

I understood that you meant PS sheet material and not PS foam, which is used, among other things, for the shallow trays that hold cuts of meat in the supermarket here in the U.S.

I spent the bulk of my chemistry R&D career in the plastics and polymer industry and a lot of that was making material recommendations for all sorts of applications from automotive to telecommunications to medical devices to aircraft interiors to farm equipment.

In my opinion, plain PS will likely be too brittle in this glove box application, particularly it there will be substantial items like tire pressure gauges or pocket knives banging around when you're driving on a twisty road.  You will be better off using ABS (acrylonitrile/butadiene/styrene copolymer), which has much better impact performance compared to PS because of the butadiene (rubber) content.  It's working temperature for thermoforming will not be too much higher than for PS.

I'll have initial dimensions and a sketch for you here later today so you can get started fabricating a plug.  A proper drawing will come this weekend.

[Seppi72]

Sorry, it took me a lot longer than I anticipated to getting to doing the measurements.  And now that I have them probably to within + 1 mm -- the 2 mm cardboard is somewhat distorted after 50 years -- I need to get them onto a sketch and then a drawing.  I wish I had my CAD software from where I used to work, but it will have to be freehand.  And I haven't done a perspective drawing in ages.  So, it's going to take some time.

The glove box is distorted from being rectangular and what makes it almost diabolical is that there are "cut ins" along both of the short top edges and they are not symmetrical.  They are to avoid interfering with the duct work to the passenger eyeball vent.  As such, those dimensions are not terribly critical.

To get you started, however, let me suggest that you begin with a block of rigid, open-cell foam that is cut to be 306 mm x 140 mm x 200 mm.  You will then need to shave and contour that block to get the final dimensions that I shall provide in the drawing.  Once that's done, you can "harden up" the finished plug by applying polyester resin to the foam.

Let the fun begin.

Edited November 5, 2021 by Seppi72
corrected typo

[ETI4K]

If you'll send me the dimensions, I can draw it up in 2D and 3D.

[Seppi72]

Great.  I'll clean up my sketches and send them along with some photos to you.

[julitoMX_1964]

Thanks! Iwas thinking PS because the machine I can make these tests with is not a fully professional or industrial grade one, it´s mainly for decorative crafts and stuff like that, but I can have access for free and can do some experiments. I´m not sure if it´ll be strong enough for ABS (if the sheet is thin enough, maybe, I don´t know)...and even if it wasn ´t or for some other reason I had to settle with PS, I was thinking about reinforcing the piece afterwards with fiberglass for example. Maybe the thermoformed piece can serve as a mold for actual fiberglass castings? Anyway this will be trial and error...and basically for the fun of it.