As can be seen in the "before" photo below, the upper plastic mounting surround for the glovebox often cracks around one or more of the four mounting screws. In looking at several examples on other cars I've noticed this is not uncommon. As the plastic ages and gets brittle this plastic trim cracks when the screws are tightened or vibration/shock stresses the area.

So I decided to cover and reinforce the area with a piece of fabricated polished stainless steel which I think fits well with the other styling details of the car. The piece covers the broken plastic, and also allows the mounting screws to be tightened down without breaking the plastic further.

If interested, I had "Stainless Supply" (www.stainlesssupply.com) make the part for about $2:

316L Stainless Steel Sheet #8 Mirror, 22G (.0293")
Width: 11/16", Length: 11" (26cm)
Cut Type: Shear
Round Corners: ABCD Radius: 3/16"

If I were to order again, I might get a slightly larger 3/4" width and get one gauge thicker so the part was a bit more stiff.

The total length of the piece is 11" (26cm) with all four screw holes spaced 8cm apart, with 2cm at both ends of the piece after the outside hole. The holes were placed 5mm vertically from the edge of the piece.

 

Looks good. Be thankful that you have a glove box.

 

I bet one could retrofit a late 95-97 glove box to an early 95 without the glovebox? Not sure but I'd be surprised if not.

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I have one if i ever get time to try it out. I'm told the passenger side airbag assembly is in the way.

 

I suppose it may be, but except for taking it apart in person, one would have to look at a factory service manual to see if very early VIN X300s had a different passenger airbag setup that intruded into the lower bolster area where the X300 glovebox ended up. But I suspect they do not.

What I've read is that Jaguar simply didn't have the glovebox design ready to go upon the initial X300 release once the passenger airbag was put where the glovebox had been in the XJ40.

I bet if you find a later X300 lower bolster it is mostly a bolt-in affair.

Would be interesting to hear your report confirming (or not) though. Although it is a relatively rare issue since only early 95 X300s were without the glovebox, a separate thread showing how one would retrofit, if possible, would be helpful and interesting for those that are curious. So let us know


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