rekey glovebox

[Scalmanini Steve]

Gee, I had that cover off to cut down on the travel
required for the lever to open the door, but that was
several years ago.  Lemme go look and refresh my
memory.

(pitter, patter of feet to the driveway and back ...)

Oh, yeah, the first trick is finding the two screws
that hold the cover on.  The one at the left end is
obvious, but the one on the right is hiding under the
latch tongue.  You need a mirror to see it, but you
don't need to see it to remove it.  Just feel for it
with the end of a short (< ~5") #1 Phillips.

The second trick is after two screws are removed; the
cover won't come of until the drawer divider is
removed.  It's press-fit between the back of the
drawer and the cover you're trying to remove.  Grab
the door/cover with one hand and the divider with the
other and pull them apart just enough so you can pull
the end of the divider out of shallow slot in the
cover and move it aside.  Then the cover can be lifted
out ... I think.

Then you'll be able to see how latch assembly can be
detached; it snakes out of the door as I recall.

Oh, the hard part is coming back to me now.  The
handle/lever that releases the door (and contains the
lock cylinder) is a snap fit into the door ... or
maybe it's the lock mechanism.  If you have to remove
it to remove the tumbler, bummmmer.  I broke mine
trying.  (' couln't replace just the handle; had to
get an entire latch mechanism for $30-40).  Anyway,
there's a cantilevered finger/tab on each end of the
handle with a round boss on the end that fits into the
mating piece.  I wasn't able to pry the fingers just
enough to remove it; one broke off.  An epoxe repair
didn't last.  I suggest trying to bend just one of the
fingers enough to get its boss out of the mating part,
instead of doing both ends simultaneously.  If I
recall correctly, only one tab has it's boss chamfered
to enable easy installation; the right end, I think,
so try prying on this end first.

I seem to recall installation instructions for the
handle that are either in the Bentley or maybe came
with the new lock assembly.  If you can't find it in
the service mnl let me know and I'll look in my
service-record file.

So that's the good news and the bad news.


Good luck, I hope it goes well for you,

Steve
Ukiah, CA


PS: FWIW, I was able lessen the travel required to
unlatch the door.  I think I cut a notch in one corner
of the tongue-release bar in the mechanism.  You'll
see when you have it apart, if you want to try it.

_____________________________________________________

I have tried to get the cover off of the latch
mechanism on the inside of the glovebox but haven't
been able to figure it out.  Any ideas, tips and
suggestions appreciated.




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