2 minutes ago, Patcon said:

I believe that glove box in the picture is upside down?

You're right. I didn't even notice that. Lol

There was probably only one Nissan assembly-line employee who knew how to successfully install the glovebox liner. When he/she retired, Z production ended. 😄

Yup, no way that the OE glove box liner will go in from the front. upside down or upside right. LOL

Interestingly, my restored 1970 #957 has a plastic repro liner, and it does go in from the front.

47 minutes ago, CanTechZ said:

Interestingly, my restored 1970 #957 has a plastic repro liner, and it does go in from the front.

I like that. Any idea where it came from?

1 hour ago, Patcon said:

I like that. Any idea where it came from?

No idea, but I will have a look thru the pile of receipts that came with the car.

Can't find plastic, but over on Hybrid Z they say the 260 / 280Z plastic liner doesn't need much modification to fit. Also Skillard sells an aluminum liner box

ALUMINUM GLOVE BOX | DATSUN | 240Z

Hi, For as far i remember, the glove box can be put in from the front, for the 240z. For a 280zx i'm 100% sure it can from the front!

I believe you have to take of the door.. it's probably in the serv. manual.

I can't believe that there are people working on theire own cars, sometimes.. for over 10 years... and still don't have the service manual. i never work on them without one.

The following is a collection (by me) of comments made by various CZCC members over the years on the topic of removing and installing the glovebox liner from the dash. It's a interesting topic (and probably a contentious one, too). I'll follow with a second post, in which I recorded the steps I took to install the liner into my dash from the front.

From the Front

Removal...

·       You must detach the lock latch and lamp before you can pull the glove box out.

·       Remove the Phillips screws that hold it in the dash.  Pull the glove box light out of its socket. Then collapse the liner --  top and bottom and a little on the sides -- and slide it out. Yes, a couple of R&R's will make a new one look old.

Installation...

·       Owner 1: The cardboard glove box will go in from the front. It's pretty tricky, but I've done it many times without destroying anything.  I wish there was a straightforward procedure I could lay out for you, but honestly, it's just one of those things I always do by trial and error and the process of "which side to bend inward" seems to vary each time I do it.  Just go slowly and be careful not to "over-bend" any parts of the cardboard.

·       Owner 2: You kind of have to squeeze it a bit to get it in place. I suspect this is one reason that so many of us tore them up trying to get them out. The blower fan housing and defroster vent tube get in the way. The cardboard will bend enough to get it in but still return to the proper shape (although perhaps with a few wrinkles).

·       Owner 3: I'd forgotten how much you have to contort the liner to get it out. I managed to pretty much destroy my old, brittle liner in removing it. I was a bit worried about damaging the new one while installing it, but it came through just fine.

·       Owner 4: I have always done this with the blower and air box in place. In fact, it's been trickier in my case than I imagine most of you will have because one of my large-diameter A/C hoses is routed right behind where the glove box needs to go.  If it were not there, I think the extra clearance would make it easier.

From the Back

·       Jim Arnett:  For those without A/C, here is an alternative approach that avoids turning the glove box into an ugly piece of origami: remove the heater fan motor to gain clearance space and pull the glove box out the back.

·       A.N. Other: I'll have to second this method as I had a NOS glove box and didn't want any blemishes on my resto! Just remove four bolts and the fan motor (with plenum still attached) drops right down.  Be careful not to let the mounting tabs scrape or gouge anything in the process.

These are the notes I made after managing to install my OE glovebox liner from the front...

·       With the Liner tipped at about 45 degrees off vertical, rest the front edge of the Liner's floor on the lower ledge of the dash opening.  The lower corners of the Liner should sit about ½” outside the lip of the dash opening.

·       Rotate the Liner upward on its front lower edge as far as it will comfortably go with the lower corners still sitting outside the dash opening.

·       Working from behind the dash, push the lower corners of the Liner inward so that the Liner's floor buckles.  Squeeze until the lower corners of the Liner clear the lip of the dash opening.  Working from side to side, push the lower corners of the Liner into the dash opening until the front edge of the Liner's floor is sitting in its proper location.

·       Pivot the Liner upward on its front lower edge until the front edge of the Liner's roof panel is only about 1” short of full insertion into the dash opening.

·       Grasping now at the centre of the front edge of the Liner's roof panel, push the lip inward (down) until both top corners of the Liner clear past the inside corners of the dash opening

·       Job done

Additional thoughts:

1. As noted by someone else, you may end up creasing the liner in the course of attempting this install (the OE liner feels like it was made from recycled egg cartons). It takes a lot of patience (and dexterity), but it can be done.

2. Several years ago, I believe that someone posted on this website a template for making your own liner. Alternatively, you can probably make your own without too much effort. Options for materials would be thick cardstock or thin poly-plastic sheet. Poly-plastic sheet would probably need to be notched along the fold lines to generate good edges.

3. Once you have your car's dash removed, this job becomes really easy!

4. I, too, recall that there was -- at one time, anyway -- a vendor who was offering a molded plastic liner.

Edited April 14Apr 14 by Namerow

11 hours ago, CanTechZ said:

No idea, but I will have a look thru the pile of receipts that came with the car.

@Patcon no luck finding a recipient but after seeing @w3wilkes 's post about a modified 260Z box, I had a look at the open glove box on the nice 260Z currently on BaT, I think mine is from a 260. Looks like the hinge area is modified when comparing to the pic of mine above. I will look closer when I get home tonight.

@Namerow Most excellent comments as always, especially your collection of other owners methods!

It was 25 years ago that I dismanteled my car for its resto work so my mind is a bit fuzzy on the particulars from that time but I did mark the liner as a replacement item. 10 years later when I actually did get back underway on the project, I picked up an excellent repro from good old Black Dragon for $20. It was so rigid that there was no way it was ever going to flex enough to go in from the front so a rear entry was mandated.

Edited April 14Apr 14 by jfa.series1

8 hours ago, Namerow said:

These are the notes I made after managing to install my OE glovebox liner from the front...

·       With the Liner tipped at about 45 degrees off vertical, rest the front edge of the Liner's floor on the lower ledge of the dash opening.  The lower corners of the Liner should sit about ½” outside the lip of the dash opening.

·       Rotate the Liner upward on its front lower edge as far as it will comfortably go with the lower corners still sitting outside the dash opening.

·       Working from behind the dash, push the lower corners of the Liner inward so that the Liner's floor buckles.  Squeeze until the lower corners of the Liner clear the lip of the dash opening.  Working from side to side, push the lower corners of the Liner into the dash opening until the front edge of the Liner's floor is sitting in its proper location.

·       Pivot the Liner upward on its front lower edge until the front edge of the Liner's roof panel is only about 1” short of full insertion into the dash opening.

·       Grasping now at the centre of the front edge of the Liner's roof panel, push the lip inward (down) until both top corners of the Liner clear past the inside corners of the dash opening

·       Job done

Additional thoughts:

1. As noted by someone else, you may end up creasing the liner in the course of attempting this install (the OE liner feels like it was made from recycled egg cartons). It takes a lot of patience (and dexterity), but it can be done.

2. Several years ago, I believe that someone posted on this website a template for making your own liner. Alternatively, you can probably make your own without too much effort. Options for materials would be thick cardstock or thin poly-plastic sheet. Poly-plastic sheet would probably need to be notched along the fold lines to generate good edges.

3. Once you have your car's dash removed, this job becomes really easy!

4. I, too, recall that there was -- at one time, anyway -- a vendor who was offering a molded plastic liner.

Is this the post you were referencing about making your own?

To go down a rabbit hole, here's an aluminum glove box: https://skillard.com/products/datsun-240z-aluminum-glove-box?srsltid=AfmBOopKRupFQbRuynY3YsSU82FYv9mZITO2DRh030kbo90s3HFIW4pH

And you can print a plastic one: https://www.yeggi.com/q/glovebox+240z/