glove box reupholster how to

[White Comet]

alright, i'm well aware theres already an article for this but i went into a little bit more detail in some areas, regardless i hope this is helpful.

Time: an hour (depending on how much of a perfectionist you are) Tools needed:- glue gun- staple gun (optional)- heat gun (optional but i highly recommend it) - screwdriver (Phillips and flat head)- black paint (optional)- sand paper

Materials needed: - glove box (kinda obvious)- vinyl or cloth material to cover glove box in- spray on adhesive

STEP 1: remove glove box Pretty straightforward, but the first step is to remove the glove box. It's held on by 2 screws at the bottom where it hinges. Once those are removed it'll just fall right out when u unlatch it. Using your Phillips screwdriver, remove the 10 screws around the edge, on the back of the glove box where the pocket is. Also remove the 4 inner screw that hold the latch on. At this point the pocket part and the front part should be separated. The latch and lock will pull right out of the front cover as well as the little plastic ring where the lock goes.

STEP 2: remove old material and prep surface Now that the front cover is separate, you can remove the original material by starting at an edge and gently pulling it back. The use of a heatgun aids in this process, but dont just use low heat. After removing the material the front cover should look like this.The best thing to do next is sand that yellow junk down. this can be pretty crucial depending on what type of material you're covering the glove box with. I chose a thicker material that is more padded and doesnt should the imperfections of the yellow foam residue. A thinner material will show that easier, so it's important to get it smooth. after sanding, I decided to pay a little attention to the handle. Since these cars are older, the plastic handle will be most likely discolored and faded. This was the case with mine so since it was removed I decided to repaint it black. Any old plastic paint will do and you can go crazy and use a weird color if you want. I just taped off the lock part and gave it a few layers of black

STEP 3: fitting the material With the front cover sanded down, take the material you are using to recover it with and drape it over the front cover. I used a vinyl like material and decided to spice it up a little with a nissan logo. Once you have your material over the cover, cut the material leaving about 2 inches of extra all around the cover. Remember you can always trim it more later, but you cant add material once you cut. After the material is cut, make small slits where the handle and lock will go. Don't make the slit the length of the handle area or lock in case you need to move it around for a better fit.

STEP 4: securing new materialTurn the glove box over so the face is down and the new material is laying under it the way you want it to be secured.Make sure everything fits properly and that there is enough slack all around. Flip over to the front again to once again make sure everything still looks correct on the front.After you are satisfied with everything you are ready to start securing the new material. First, take the heat gun on low heat to both the new material and the surface of the cover. The heat will help the new material stretch nicely to reduce the chance of wrinkles. Spray the adhesive both on the glove box cover and the back of the new material. line up the new material and place it on the cover firmly and use your hands to smooth it out to reduce wrinkling. What I've found works best is to use hot glue around the outer edge to hold the material tightly at the edges. Do small sections at a time so you can be sure the glue doesn't dry before you get to it, and make sure you pull the edge tight before you lay it in the glue. The trouble spots will be the corners. Most likely there will be some creases around the corners but they cane be minimized by the application of heat and being patient. Make sure you do the corners slowly and pull the material tight. Its almost best to treat the corner as thoguh its a straight 90 degree angle. Cut a slit in the middle of the corner, then glue one part down and overlap the second side on the first.

After the entire edge is secured with glue, trim the excess so there isn't too much over hang. for extra security i used light staples in a staple gun at the corners and a few along the edge. The best method fro this is to heat the back lightly to soften the plastic. This will make it easier for the staple to go into the backing and once the plastic cools, the staple will be secured nicely. I put about 2-3 staples in each corner and spaced the staples about 1 every 2 inches on the straight edges.

STEP 5: the finishing touches Now that the new material has been applied, you can trim the holes for the the handle and lock. Cut the material back to the edge of the hole in pizza slice shaped pieces. Pull the pieces back tight and secure with hot glue and possibly a staple if you feel its necessary.At this point the handle should be dried from being painted. install the handle by placing the plastic ring on the lock hole then sliding the lock through. place the front cover down and rest the pocket on top of it. Line up all the holes and reinstall the screw around the edges as well as the ones that hold the latch in place. Once this is done everything should be back together in one piece.

STEP 6: enjoy your new glove box And you're done. thats all there is to it, now just install back in the dash by using the 2 clips and screws you removed to take it out. thats all there is to it. I hope that was helpful, and feel free to ask any questions.


Modified by White Comet at 10:50 AM 3/12/2008

[kapetaJR]

Awesome write up. How long would did you leave it for the glue to dry?

[White Comet]

thank you. since i used hot glue, it took like 10 minutes to to set nicely. it got soft again when i applied heat to secure the staples. but then redried once again

[MRNA]

Swelltastic dude.

[kapetaJR]

How did you get the nissan logo the the vinyl? I was thinking of redoing my glove box in red suede material

[White Comet]

i cant take credit for teh logo. theres a kiosk in the local mall that does custom stitching and stuff. ya know, put a logo you want on hats shirts, etc. i just took the material to them and said i wanted a nissan logo on it. in like 25 minutes it was done and it was like $20

[positron1]

Nice job!

[White Comet]

thank you. i have a few more write ups coming soon as well

[kapetaJR]

What grit of sand paper did you use?

[White Comet]

i used 100ish grit for the areas that were especially high and 220 for the general surface

[Clawhammer]

Looks great man!

[White Comet]

well thank you. i still have my center console lid to finish and one more door panel to do

[IanS]

Nice write up, any pictures of it installed in the car?

[White Comet]

hopefully soon. i havent installed it in the car yet. i just finished doing my center console lid

[homeslicej2]

Good Job WC Not sure how well glue gun glue is going to hold up to summer heat, but nice write-up nonetheless.

[White Comet]

^ thats why i used a spray on adhesive and staples. the factory stuff isnt even held on by all that so i think im fine, but we'll see

[homeslicej2]

^hmm, must have missed that on first reading. I thought you had only used staples and glue gun glue. I need to recover mine. I took it out and peeled the cover off to find the yellow crap and just haven't felt like messing with it yet. no glove box ftw

[White Comet]

^ yep. i have no glove box now and i dont like having that gaping hole there

[kapetaJR]

thanks for the wirte up. i re-did my glove box and console lid in red. it was a bit easier than i thought

[dickie]

i want to add this to the current article but i can't because i cant copy the pics to my work comp.

what are the differences in this writeup compared to the other one.

[White Comet]

i went into more detail and gave more of a step-by-step process instead of the current article which i felt was slightly vague in some areas. i also included pics of the progress where i felt the other one didnt show as much

[White Comet]

also, im not gonna do a write up, since theres a good one out there already, but i thought i'd share my center console lid