European Glove Box

[tongsli]

I'm not doing this mod, guess who is?

 

[schnabba]

"it is exquisite.... I am drawn to it like a moth to flame.... I have tasted remorse, it is delicious".

Ok - so how is it different?

I guess the good news is he doesn't have a crazy hankerin' to have the british version - now THAT would be neat to see.... a full on conversion to right hand drive.... yeah!

Kind of reminds me, in a way, of the "Thesus' Ship Paradox".

[ November 09, 2002, 22:15: Message edited by: schnabba ]

 

[SVTWEB]

Originally posted by schnabba:
Ok - so how is it different?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Inerior volume is about 50% larger than what we already have, Plus it will enable me to use the European Telephone console instead of the bluky afterthought that the dealers sell here in the US.

Now I can carry something other than a Snub-nose or Compact...

[ November 10, 2002, 07:47: Message edited by: SVTWEB ]

 

[DZLguy]

cost?

 

[SVTWEB]

About $150 for all the parts.

 

[schnabba]

ahhh. I always thought the interior volume of these glove boxes was a bit small. Figures they would make a larger one, and offer it in europe.

 

[oldpoopie]

Why would they even make a glove box that doesnt take advantage of all available room???

 

[SVTWEB]

Originally posted by oldpoopie:
Why would they even make a glove box that doesnt take advantage of all available room???

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">In the US we have a government that is out to save you from yourself. Vehicles manufactured for use in the US market have to adhere to motor vehicle safety standards. One of those is "Knee Protection" whitch states that the dash must crash at a certain rate to prevent an "UNBELTED" crash dummy from going under the dash. In my opinion the US should adopt TUV standards make things simple for the manufacturers. I gained a larger glovebox and 2" of legroom in my BMW when I did the change in it.

[ November 10, 2002, 14:05: Message edited by: SVTWEB ]

 

[Tyler Gee]

Originally posted by SVTWEB:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by oldpoopie:
Why would they even make a glove box that doesnt take advantage of all available room???

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">In the US we have a government that is out to save you from yourself. Vehicles manufactured for use in the US market have to adhere to motor vehicle safety standards. One of those is "Knee Protection" whitch states that the dash must crash at a certain rate to prevent an "UNBELTED" crash dummy from going under the dash. In my opinion the US should adopt TUV standards make things simple for the manufacturers. I gained a larger glovebox and 2" of legroom in my BMW when I did the change in it.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I was looking at an '02 1.8T GTi last Thursday that was made in Brasil and it had both the one piece dash without the cover for the passenger airbag and what appeared to be a full width glove box. I'm gonna try to get a better look to see what replaced the alloy impact absorber that normally occupies the space on the left side of the box.

I wish I had the bucks... This car was picked up by a dealer friend of mine at a VCI sale and it has all the options on it. We get to drive a bunch of late model VW performance cars any time we want and every now and then one comes along where everything just works in total harmony. This is one of those rare ones and it is the quickest stock 1.8T I have ever driven.

 

[Variant TDI]

That looks alot like mine.

Do I already have that, cause my car is made in der Wolfsburg?

 

[tongsli]

Can you take some pics and post them??

L

 

[southtdi]

I'm gonna look at my box a little closer tomorrow but it also looks like mine too except the smaller shelf is on the other side of the larger one. I could be vary wrong since I don't go in there too much. I do remember having room past the door and it loks about the same. If so could it have been a running change in the later '02's. My car was built towards the end of April and I seem to have got all of the running changes last year including the better seats.

 

[southtdi]

OK i'ved looked and taken pictures and cannot seem to see the difference between mine and the one above. I was wrong about the small shelf it is the same as teh one above. I will try to post the pictures tonight after i figure out how to. The only possible difference I can see is in the rear of my glove box it is indented twords the door slightly from about the middle to the right side. There is also a small one on the left side but these don't take enough room to justify 50% more space if removed. One big difference is the back of my door is grey but that is for the interior color.

My question is are you sure that they didn't go to a box similar to this in the later part of '02 MY? Not saying you guys are wrong but if they did then someone else who may want to do this later wouldn't have to source european parts but instead could get cheaper US parts.

Again, i'll try to post pictures tonight or I can email them to you tonight if you wish Lito.

 

[Variant TDI]

Mine is exactly like the one pictured. Right down to the 2 compartments.

I use the right compartment for my manual/registration booklet, and the right one is a perfect fit for my Valentine1.

 

[SpamJ]

It looks a lot like my '02 Wagon's box, can't be sure on the depth though.

Sam '02 Wagon

 

[Kennedy]

Originally posted by Variant TDI:
, and the right one is a perfect fit for my Valentine1.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Great idea...
Do you have the external sensor and remote display?

 

[SVTWEB]

It looks like in Late 2002, there May have been a production change on the Braziliian made cars. Some 2001-2002 Wagons DID come with this box (along with European Bumpers) because they were built in Europe, and snuck in without some of the USDOT modifications.

 

[Variant TDI]

Originally posted by Kennedy:
Great idea...
Do you have the external sensor and remote display?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">This is only for when my V1 is not in use.

I don't think V1's have remote senders available. I do, however, have the concealed display, as I am a Virginia resident.

SVT, I did a golf front end conversion last weekend with a guy with a Brazilian 24V VR6 GTI. Our front end parts (the innards) were all identical, down to the foam insert's part number.

 

[southtdi]

Originally posted by SVTWEB:
It looks like in Late 2002, there May have been a production change on the Braziliian made cars. Some 2001-2002 Wagons DID come with this box (along with European Bumpers) because they were built in Europe, and snuck in without some of the USDOT modifications.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Well I don't have a wagon so it may have been a total running change for both Jettas and Golfs. I have no idea I just know I have that box shown above. If I had pictures of the one that is smaller I could easily confirm.

 

[Michael Moore]

Hi Eric:

I would appreciate it if you would let me know if you needed any parts other than the glovebox assembly itself to make the mod.

Reason is (try not to laugh too hard) - I managed to convince my company to buy me a 2002 Golf here in Switzerland, same colour as my 2002 Golf in Canada - so now I am just going to swap parts back and forth between them, instead of buying parts. I'll start by swapping the small right hand side rear view mirror on my Swiss Golf with the big one on the Canadian one (that will make fitting it in the garage easier) - then do the glovebox mod later.

Michael

 

[southtdi]

Oh that's slick.....Very bad also.....But very slick and sneaky.

 

[wkendrvr]

Originally posted by Kennedy:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Variant TDI:
, and the right one is a perfect fit for my Valentine1.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Great idea...
Do you have the external sensor and remote display?</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">There isnt a factory external sensor, is it an aftermarket thing? And I do have the remote display...

 

[KOMET155]

I noticed that US market GTi 337's are now coming with a similar design glovebox. Im sure it uses the "brake element" system for dampening the door opening/closing, but dont know if it will readily allow use of the european cell phone mount.

Originally posted by Variant TDI:
That looks alot like mine.

Do I already have that, cause my car is made in der Wolfsburg?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">

 

[KOMET155]

SVTWEB-

notice that u-shaped scoring on the backside of the glovebox (look at it from the outside)? what do you suppose that's for?

 

[Michael Moore]

For the record, you can retrofit the newer European design phone holder to cars that have the North American glovebox, but it is a fiddley job that requires a lot of time and a lot of measuring before you drill two tiny holes that had better be in the right place the first time!

Here are some photos showing the process I went through to install the new (smaller) cell phone holder in my 2002 Golf:

New Style Phone or PDA Holder installed in my Canadian Golf

Another view of the same phone holder (different car)

Parts List for this holder
(Sorry for the crappy photo - Lito, can you provide an EKTA screenshot?)

What it all cost (note: there are some unrelated parts on this invoice - this mod is cheap to do. Also, these prices are in Swiss Francs, one CHF = one CAD or 0.60 USD)

BUT: The very best product to use for a PDA holder or a cellphone holder is NOT the one pictured above, it is the VW part that you can see in Tongsli's photo-post of May 17, 2002 on this thread: Nav Install Update - It's Almost there (Page 3).

I'm pretty sure this is the USD 107.00 part shown in the Driver Gear catalog, and you can order it from any North American dealer. I had one of these in my '99 Jetta and it worked very well. It is also very simple to install.

The newer European phone holder (pictured above, in my car) it is not really suitable for the North American Golfs because of differences in the construction of the glovebox between North American and European cars (the North American glovebox also serves as a passenger restraint system). Also, from a pure "common sense" safety point of view, the USD 107.00 part is a lot safer than the newer European part. If you have an accident in a car with the USD 107.00 part installed, it won't gore anyone. The European part, although designed to break away, will cause injury in case of a frontal collision. Lastly, to install the European part, you need to drill holes in your glovebox that will be very ugly and visible if you ever decide to remove the holder. Not so with the North American part.

It took a lot of work to fit the newer European phone holder into my 2002 Canadian Golf - see photos below. By comparison, the older phone holder installs in about 3 minutes, no dis-assembly required.

Support Bracket that needs to be installed behind the glovebox

Two holes you need to drill (very accurately) to install the newer phone holder

See also this post, eGeneration Golf with PDA Installed for related information about phone and PDA holders provided as OEM fitment by VW.

[ November 16, 2002, 08:47: Message edited by: Michael Moore ]

 

[Michael Moore]

This is a picture showing the aluminum extrusion that is behind the North American glovebox. Its purpose is to absorb energy when an unbelted passenger's knees hit the glovebox in a frontal collision.

The extrusion takes up quite a bit of space, hence, the smaller interior volume of the glovebox installed in the North American cars. This photo is of my 2002 Canadian spec Golf - I had to remove a zillion parts in order to fit the OEM telephone integration system. The extrusion would have to be removed (3 bolts) to fit a European glovebox.

Structure behind North American Glovebox

 

[Michael Moore]

A better picture of the "older" model phone holder, with the part number and German price, is at this link: VW OEM and VW Aftermarket Telephone Kits

 

[samuel]

I have to agree with southtdi and Variant TDI: the "euro spec" glove box looks exactly like the one in my '02 Golf, with a production date of 2-02 in Brazil.

 

[KOMET155]

are the bolts for the extrusion piece easy to get to?

 

[KOMET155]

Originally posted by KOMET155:
SVTWEB-

notice that u-shaped scoring on the backside of the glovebox (look at it from the outside)? what do you suppose that's for?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I quote myself.