Ideas Needed - 1994 Cutlass Glove Box Lid Repair

[bluecalais79]

It finally happened, the glove box compartment lid on my 1994 Cutlass broke off, with the hinge attached, screws and all. I was attempting to correct the hinge that shuts off the glove box light ( I discovered the light was staying on 24/7 causing a drain in the battery), and the whole thing blew up on me. 

As a quick remedy I used 2 heavy duty wide velcro strips and I'm using them as hinges. Between them & the latch the lid stays in place and there is zero detection that something is wrong. But, I was hoping someone out there knows of a way to get that hinge to re-attach to the dash so the fit and function is restored. Perhaps a thin metal bar can be placed behind the broken sections and the hinge screwed into it (?)

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I have a custom Dash Designs mat covering the whole mess so it's not noticeable at all, but I would like to think that somehow this can be repaired. For the time being the console compartment will have to do. 

Thanks. 

As an aside, I wound up disconnecting the switch that turns the light off and on. I could not remove the bulb as the factory installed the screw for the bulb socket backwards and I'd have to take out the radio surround bezel and maybe even the radio to get at it. No thanks. At least I now have addressed the battery drain issue. 

 

[jiggity76]

The mount area behind the dash pad...I believe those screws mount to the plastic body of the upper dash.  In other words, the dash pad would have to come off...not hard, and then you would see the exposed structure behind the pad and glove box where those screws attach.  You could then make a repair there.  Now, I think the hinge mount and screws for that area is actually in the plastic body or structure of the dash itself.  If a fix can't be made, you might have to replace that entire structure from a donor car and dash.

I'm going thru this same scenario with my car.  If I can't fix it, this is what I'm going to do.

[bluecalais79]

Thanks 76, I'll give that a look today. I'm getting too close to the OCA Nationals so this repair may need to wait until after I return. Fortunately this is something I hardly ever use and it's covered/hidden by the dash pad cover, so it's not a high priority item. Ironically, my band aid repair scenario has eliminated 2 annoying noises that were coming from that direction, leading me to think this piece was on the way out nevertheless........

[GnatGoSplat]

Got a photo of the damage?  Being able to see it might trigger some ideas.