# mk4 glove box swap gone wrong... HELP



## JGNA (Feb 12, 2014)

I picked up a few things at waterfest this year, the most annoying of which is a new glovebox for my 2000 jetta. After removing the rear ash tray, rear cupholder, arm rest assembly, e-brake housing, lower center console (i have the model with the stupid bracket that makes that part a b**ch) I got to the mysterious 8th screw for the glovebox and removed it. The vendor I picked it up from ensured me that it would fit my model however I haven't found that to be the case...

Old is left, new is right.



Long story short, the new one is definitely a mk4 box but it must be from a late model or golf or something that would make it not cooperate with me but this one is a bit wider on the inside (the holes for the screws still match up everywhere). Differences include a larger interior space for more stuff, the light switch is triggered by a latch vs. the old one having a button that triggers the light to go on when it is not depressed, and the door opens from a mechanism on the left vs. the old one having a hydraulic-style opener on the right.



I really get the feeling I can make this work with only slight modification, but I'm not sure if what I'm removing is important or not (I know that sounds crazy, just look at the pics below).
This is what's blocking the new glovebox and I can't figure out its purpose besides to give the old box extra support.







After I removed that ... thing, it still wont fit, the bracket it attaches to seems to be the issue now...





Has anyone done this before and can tell me which model glove box I bought, what that piece I removed does and after removing it will it fit properly? I could really use some feedback from someone who has knowledge of what this weird part is for? If this doesn't work the only thing I can do is try to trade the glove box for one that will fit and put that weird bracket back in, but who wants to do that?  I haven't had an interior in two days and while I'm all for "weight reduction, bro!" I'd be happy to have my car back to normal again.

The silver lining to this is that while I had all the interior pieces taken out I had the time to clean them thoroughly and get 15 years of goo and sticky sh*t completely off them, which is tight:laugh:


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## JGNA (Feb 12, 2014)

UPDATE: got the "bracket" and bracket support off after a trip to the hardware store for the right tool. New glove box now fits and I have my car back in one piece. I'd still like to know what the thing I took off is for, nut I'm almost certain it's not necessary for anything.


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## Meb3 (Dec 8, 2021)

I know this is a 6 year old post but if you see this I wanted you to know I JUST had this same issue and while no one replied to you, it is a comfort knowing I wasn’t going crazy. I was just changing out interior pieces going from grey to black and ran into this. Thank you for the write up. I’m assuming you had to cut that bracket retainer.


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