It only took me about five minutes. I used a piece of metal that looks like plumber's tape but it's solid and not flexible. Then I used it as you can see in the picture. Didn't have to lose the light or anything, it's strong enough to stay like that. It's very solid. In fact I'd wager that it's stronger than it was before it cracked. I just had to file a little notch that you may or may not be able to see in the photo to get the catch back far enough.

Problem solved without haunting boneyards etc. I'm jazzed about that!



See my gallery for a larger image.

 

cool, goodjob finding something to work!

 

That's a nice fix! Glad you didnt have to replace the whole dash. That would have been a pain.

 

That was the kind of solution i was aiming when i asked you for a picture, glad it worked out... Btw, don't post a thumbnail, post the actual picture, if you used a hosting site, check for the "forum link".

 

Here's a better piture of the fix. The metal bracket I put on looks like plumber's tape but it's not, it's very strong. I couldn't bend it with my hands. I don't know where the piece originally came from but I know that I can come up with a few more of them. Originally I thought I was going to have to grind it to fit around the glovebox light, but this fix proved so strong that it was not necessary. I only had to make a small (not really visible) notch inside the dash on the right side of the bracket so that I could get the latch back far enough. Also be sure to save the factory screw clip with the catch on it because the clip has slightly raised lips on either side , keeping the catch from moving to one side or the other. When everything was done I colored the fix black so it's much less conspicious

Hope this helps!

PS - I'd advise trying something like this before getting a boneyard dashboard for four reasons - one, because this took ten minutes where changing out a dash is an all day affair, if not longer. Two, because it was free, three because there's no guarantee that your replacement boneyard dash won't crack in the same place after you replace it and four, whenever you chage a dash out you usualy get a lot of squeaks and rattles whereas my 1990 is extremely quiet. It's quieter than a 1995 F150 that I bought brand new!

 

Hey there know I'm a little lat but wanted to know what you screwed it to. My truck has the same problem. My solution same to take the glove box out for 4 months and stew on it. then i found this thread any help on it would be much appreciated.