Gu Patrol glove box to replace the air bag compartment

[bluedisco]

I have a 2003 GU Patrol that does not have a air bag in the passengers side and I wanted to modify the airbag area into a compartment with a pop off or hinged door.

Has anybody done this??

[mickyd555]

theres a mob that do a glovebox insert for this, ive pulled the front panel off, but thats as far as i got. it doesnt look too hard apart from finding an insert to fit that cheap.......to get the "air bag" panel off you need to remove the standard glove box and then undo 6 or 8 screws from behind it. then there is another cover that needs to be cut away and you use the first removed piece for the glove box lid.......i just cant remember what the name of the place that does them is, might be rhono

[turbogu]

this is the people that do them, bought one for my car, great astorage and easy to install, for the price ya cant beat it


http://www.consoles.com/Nissan_GUCab_glovebox.htm

[Slug]

How's it look installed ?
Keen on one myself but that ugly arsed hinge and caps make me bork a little :(

[BOB_1]

I did it last weekend - its a bit of a pain to do and you certainly need some sort of lock or the door falls open. I was after somewhere to mount a stacker. You can follow the instructions on the net pretty well. I didn't use a piano hinge - I ended up with some small primer gray hinges from the hardware store and I ended up screwing mine together - not rivets. The hardest part is getting everything to line up. You can hardly notice the hinges, and I only had to put four small holes in the dash,

The best part about it is if you cant get it to work - just screw the cover back on.

Id take pics but the camera is a at work

[mickyd555]

I did it last weekend - its a bit of a pain to do and you certainly need some sort of lock or the door falls open. I was after somewhere to mount a stacker. You can follow the instructions on the net pretty well. I didn't use a piano hinge - I ended up with some small primer gray hinges from the hardware store and I ended up screwing mine together - not rivets. The hardest part is getting everything to line up. You can hardly notice the hinges, and I only had to put four small holes in the dash,

The best part about it is if you cant get it to work - just screw the cover back on.

Id take pics but the camera is a at work

the screws might wear loose in the plastic (depens how much "meat" there is to screw into, and thats prolly why they use rivits instead..... what did you use for the compartment itself? or did you buy the one off the net?

[r0880]

No ones worried about how the removal of an airbag may affect your lives one day?

[ozy1]

No ones worried about how the removal of an airbag may affect your lives one day?

no they are not, as they are only fitting this to models that do not have passenger aribars, butthey have the empty spot for them, where they go in higher spec models,

[JontyG]

How's it look installed ?
Keen on one myself but that ugly arsed hinge and caps make me bork a little :(

I just installed this kit last weekend. Was really easy, took less than an hour. It's a really simple kit, but at least they have taken all the guess work out. Also, they no longer use the gold/brass piano hinge. The kit now has a brown piano hinge, which better matches the dash colour. I am fitting a spring loaded magnetic catch, from a hifi/glass cabinet to hold it shut, thus negating the need for a handle.

Jonty

[Hutch]

I am fitting a spring loaded magnetic catch, from a hifi/glass cabinet to hold it shut, thus negating the need for a handle.

Jonty

Hiya, Just fitting one myself now. I like the idea of the magnetic catch. Have you go any pics of it in place?
Cheers
Hutch

[JontyG]

Hiya, Just fitting one myself now. I like the idea of the magnetic catch. Have you go any pics of it in place?
Cheers
Hutch

The magnetic catch is still sitting in my garage. I haven't had a chance to install it as yet...been busy on several other projects

I will hopefully get round to fitting it fairly soon...

[Hutch]

Well, I fitted it up. A little tricky to do, especially getting the hinge in the right place. Anyway I decided to put a lock and handle on instead of the crappy strap that they forgot to supply. Bought the flat handle and barrel lock from the local hardware. I fitted up the handle using aluminium rivets (dont want them to rust up), then drilled a hole for the lock right through the the handle and the cover in one go.

You will also need to cut off a bit of plastic that is just above the lock on the inside when in the closed position. Get right down low and look up inside the aux glove box and you will see what I am refering to.

To cut out the plastic panel behind the front cover I used a jig saw with a metal blade attchement, it worked a treat. Here are 2 pics of the lock assembly/ handle from the outside and inside. Sorry they are outa focus, my camera has been playing up lately.

Next thing I want to do is find some black carpet similar to the glove box material to glue over the inside of the door, to give it a more pro look when it is open.
Outside:

Inside:


Happy Installation
Hutch

[fatcatsam]

Hiya, Just fitting one myself now. I like the idea of the magnetic catch. Have you go any pics of it in place?
Cheers
Hutch

The magnetic catch is still sitting in my garage. I haven't had a chance to install it as yet...been busy on several other projects

I will hopefully get round to fitting it fairly soon...

Have you done this yet?

I installed mine but put the hinge and attached the panel on before inserting the compartment. Matter of time i had to work with. it closed fine till i added the sticker carpet to the edges and now it wont stay shut.
Should drill the rivets out and try and reattach the hinge or come up with a latch system which i have no clue about yet? (any ideas about a latch. I don't want it visible as i will be leaving valubles such as headunit face, ipod and sunnies in there.

Cheers

[Hutch]

come up with a latch system which i have no clue about yet? (any ideas about a latch. I don't want it visible as i will be leaving valubles such as headunit face, ipod and sunnies in there.Cheers

My latch looks ok (would have prefered a brown/grey coloured one.... has added benifit of it being locakble so insurance will cover if items are stolen from inside the locked glove box. Plus greatest benifit is that it actually stays shut when im bouncing round those offroad tracks

I also mucked about with the magnetic latch.. but found it still bounced open on rough tracks

[junr]

Hutch- love the locking latch setup- was thinking along the same lines- agree on the colour- been trying to find something coloured right myself. Also agree on the magnetic route- no good- neither is velcro. PS- I left the snap caps off as you can barely see the hinge with them off! The job of stopping the lid from swinging open when offroad has been delegated to the missus

[Hutch]

PS- I left the snap caps off as you can barely see the hinge with them off!

I left them off to at first... but my knees hit them when i'm in the passenger seat seat and those plastic shroud bits #$%^&(! hurt.
So caps are back on. I mean it's also not like im trying to hide it anyway, that lock mechanism makes short work of that.

[junr]

heh heh- good call!!!
Yeh, I left the cap bases off the rivets all together. These 'boxes' are a mint idea- cavernous storage inside too!